I teach 7th grade students in a large public middle school in a smaller city. Despite the size of the school, many of the students and families have known each other since kindergarten.
Our classroom is community of math learners who relish the opportunity to investigate rich, mathematical challenges and find creative solutions to these problems.
In the course of a year, they are accelerating through both the 7th and 8th grade math curriculum while completing 3D design projects and other STEM enrichment activities. They are extremely self-motivated learners, who crave opportunities to expand their experiences and skill sets.
The students in my class come from very diverse cultural and economic backgrounds. Approximately 40% of the students in my school live in poverty. This means that a large number of our students face the challenges of poverty, but not a large enough percentage for our school to receive additional funding to support their specialized needs. All of my students receive special education services for gifted students.
My Project
Many years ago, we were fortunate enough to receive a local grant to buy a 3D printer. Our classes over the years have enjoyed incorporating a 3D design unit into our math class. They use TinkerPad to create models of real-life objects. This gives them the opportunity to apply concepts and skills learned in the math class (scaling objects) to an hands-on, STEM project. They also gain valuable technology skills and learn the design process. In addition to school projects, the math department has designed middle school appropriate manipulatives and printed them on the printer. This helps give our students concrete examples of concepts being taught. Some examples of designed and printed manipulatives are sliced solids, NETS, scaled models, and puzzle boxes.
Unfortunately, parts of our wonderful printer need to be replaced.
We are asking for replacement parts and extra filament so that we can continue these wonderful projects in our school and class.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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 Ms. Williams and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
