My students are awesome, especially with the new challenge of remote learning. Out of 176 students, I have had 95% participation in my classes. The children I work with are extremely diverse, both economically and culturally. I have students who reside in the city of Wilmington and in the suburbs. My students are excited for 8th grade, as they are preparing to move on to high school. They are also concluding their three years here at Springer, so, under normal circumstances, a bitter sweet year for them. My students have really put forth a fantastic attitude towards remote learning and it is interesting to see how they are not afraid to "chat" their answers or opinions instead of voicing them out loud. It is a changing world we live in and it is my desire to help them become well informed teenagers in this new world of tech. One of my favorite comments from a student, talking about being remote was, "Well, Mrs. Camfield, I guess the new snow day will be hoping for a power outage!" So we are adapting and laughing together.
My Project
Nearpod is a fantastic program that provides lessons that are interactive for students. One of the greatest challenges as a teacher is getting students to be active learners in a virtual or hybrid environment. Nearpod allows students to interact with the content through various mediums and it provides immediate feedback to both students and myself.
Nearpod will help alleviate the anxiety many students have about speaking or answering questions in a Zoom environment.
Nearpod can be used with teacher direction or student paced. Therefore it fits both formats: asynchronous and synchronous. It provides instant feedback to the teacher and student, as well as being presented in a high interest format to young teens.
Nearpod can be used in the classroom and at home as part of the lesson. The program allows students to learn and interact in many formats in real time. Not only are students engaged in their learning, but they are doing so in many ways, other than just reading and writing. One lesson I used had students use art skills to create their own t-shirt that would tell about themselves. The students really excelled at the ice breaker and their projects could then be viewed by all. Nearpod is standards based so I can find material that will enhance my curriculum and still meet the standards.
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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 Mrs. Camfield and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.