Future Authors of America

My Students

Just like our pencils, writing can become dull. We teach our students how to start stories, how to draft essays, and how to write their feelings. Yet, we don't have enough resources in our room to continue to push students in new ways and genres of writing.

I teach third grade in an incredible charter school in Chicago.

We work with high-needs students to transform their lives. Although together we face challenging life situations, and the constant pressure of raising test scores, if you walked into our classroom you would see smiling faces and students eager to learn. Learning can and should be fun, and we play that out each day as we work to meet the needs of each of our learners. We often plan lessons in parts, making sure that different groups of learners will stay engaged and be pushed to learn as much as possible. We include choice into their learning and encourage them to explore their own ideas and research. Though I am biased, the students in my class are incredible learners, friends, citizens, and students. They push each other each day to learn more and to grow.

My Project

We are so excited that we are working to find ways to incorporate technology into our classroom. One way we are doing this is by starting a classroom reading blog. Students are posting book reviews, commenting on other students' writing, and making book lists to support all the learning about reading that we do during class. During breakfast, small groups get to come up to the classroom to work on our classroom blog. The resources in this grant are to support the learning we are doing with this blog. We will be using the NOOKs by hooking them up to download new books and also to upload highlighted sections of the books so students are able to see the effect of using textual support for their writing. In addition, the other writing materials will help them as respond to prompts, specifically in content areas such as science. As the world is changing, so too must our teaching methods. Incorporating technology into everything we do will keep my students ahead of the game.

Being able to express yourself in writing is powerful.

Giving that gift to students through funding this grant is a gift of a lifetime. Year after year I have seen this proven true. A simple spiral notebook has transformed my relationships with students as we started writing back and forth. This grant provides my students with even more. It will allow my students the chance to express themselves while using the technology that will give them the skills they need for success.