Like many public, second-grade classes around the country, mine represents differing socioeconomic statuses, languages, cultures, and family structures. My students are coming to me with very different technology experiences. Few of my students have been in classrooms with one to one devices, while most of my students have not had that same opportunity.
In order for me to best reach EACH STUDENT, it is essential that gaps in varying personal and technology experiences be bridged whenever possible.
Some of my students are fortunate to have experienced many things in their short lives, while others are not so fortunate and lack many experiences necessary to create a solid learning foundation.
My Project
Many factors affect students' ability to hear. You can imagine in a class of 25 students how spread out learners are. You can also imagine how diverse the levels of confidence are among my students. I remember being a student and being afraid to ask the teacher or a peer to repeat what he/she said because I didn't want to get in trouble for "not paying attention"...when really, the problem was that the words were never loud enough for me to decipher anyways. Other students have terrific ideas that deserve to be shared, but cannot muster up the confidence to speak loudly enough for others to benefit from those ideas.
"On average, speech must be heard at 15db over ambient noise levels in the classroom.
That’s more than 2X what an adult needs! Everything from air conditioning units, to classroom accoustics and layout can impact this. Not to mention those quiet talkers..."- from manufacturer website.
This quote truly captures why the Qball technology will significantly and positively impact the learners in my room. I cannot wait to witness the whole-group discussions in which my students will participate. I plan to incorporate the use of Qball into all content areas as well as our afternoon class meetings, where the focus is on complimenting peers and brainstorming creative and positive ways to resolve conflicts among classmates. Just imagine how empowered the learners in my room will feel when you help them "Hear and Be Heard"!
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Dison and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
