At our middle school in New York, we teach our students to conserve - to reuse, reduce, and recycle - and at the same time we want them to be engaged by what they are reading. Because our teaching is not textbook based, it is often necessary to make multiple copies of stories and articles.
This year in our humanities classroom, my seventh graders are hard-working kids who are eager to learn.
In addition, most of them are special needs children with a wide range of learning styles. We don't work out of a standard textbook, so I've got to come up with some creative ways to have multiple copies of texts for students to read. It is often necessary to make multiple copies of stories and articles so that everyone can read together. Either that, or use overhead transparencies, which are sometimes difficult to see and uncomfortable to use. These techniques are both costly, wasteful, and unpleasant. With budget cuts, even papers is a pricey commodity these days.
My Project
A document camera would be the perfect addition to my Humanities classroom. Not only would it help save paper and the cost of overhead transparencies, markers, and replacement light bulbs, but it would also increase student engagement of my special needs students in a number of ways. Instead of black and white copies and transparencies, students will be able to see articles, pictures, maps, and graphs in color. The clarity far surpasses that of transparencies. Think about charts and graphs that rely on keys with different colors. It's impossible to do that with black and white copies. I have many students who are visual learners and will benefit from this.
By having the camera and projector, students will be able to read along without having to make multiple copies of stories, saving paper. Plus, it's easier to write on a piece of paper than an overhead transparency, and student participation in lessons and group editing and revision will be made easier.
Having a document camera in my classroom will truly revolutionize it.
Not only will it help to reduce waste and cut costs, but it will increase student engagement and participation for all of my students, no matter what their learning styles are!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Pignataro and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.