I teach a high school Multiple Disabilities class in a highly diverse school district. We follow a functional life skills curriculum and complete job tasks each day. The biggest challenge for my students is communication - aside from single-switch messages, none of them has a communication device. We are working on choosing between two items and matching pictures to real locations.
My students have physical and cognitive disabilities, and they are full of incredible potential.
The students in my classroom need the same opportunities as any other kid, including the chance to tell their teacher "no", goof around on the computer, and complain about homework. They deserve to be seen and heard in our school, the community, and the world.
My Project
I am requesting an Amazon Echo Plus in order to create a tech-savvy environment for my students to learn and grow. Alexa's capabilities are truly remarkable - with the single switches and voice-output devices already in my classroom, I can record messages for my nonverbal students to activate that will allow them to play music, control the lights, and turn on the TV independently. I am already working on a switch setup for our morning meeting that will ask Alexa for the date and schedule. The Echo Plus will become a voice for my students in a way that they have not experienced before.
As a special educator, I am constantly seeking ways to empower my students.
This piece of technology can enrich leisure activities, vocational tasks, and everyday life skills. The Amazon Echo Plus can set alarms and reminders, report the news and weather, remember your favorite song, and so many other things that my students haven't been able to do by themselves. The possibilities are truly endless, and I intend to utilize the Echo Plus to its full extent in order to support independence (and fun) in my classroom.
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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. M. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
