My students need 5 digital recorders, 5 iMac desktop computers for editing, 5 condenser microphones, and 5 memory cards. They also need 32 rechargeable AA batteries and one charger, 120 blank CDs so that they can take home a recording of their work, 10 pairs of headphones, and 5 headphone splitters so that they can work in pairs when they edit.
$14,386 goal
This project expired on October 1, 2009.
This project expired on October 1, 2009.
I teach 6th grade English. Most of the students come from the neighborhood. Though the demographics of the neighborhood are changing, most of our students still benefit from assistance like the city's free lunch program.
My greatest challenge as a teacher is finding activities that engage the large range of student abilities in my classroom.
One thing that engages students (especially, I have found, students who come into my classroom with identified low levels of reading/writing proficiency)is technology in the classroom. But it is a challenge to find the funding for such materials, and our school has one computer lab shared by 1500 students. Our laptop carts don't work properly because of an Internet problem, ongoing for two years, that our school has been unable to fix.
The most successful project I've ever been involved with as a teacher was setting up a student-produced digital radio station. (The equipment was supplied by a grant.) The collaborative nature of radio production gives itself naturally to structured group work, and students have a chance to learn from each other, which is the way they learn best. They are rewarded with a final product that reinforces ELA-relevant skills such as writing (all radio productions need a script!), editing, revising and public speaking.
The project I was involved in at my former school also helped empower the students, who produced radio pieces about issues both in the school and in the community, ranging from whether the school should have open campus to what colleges students wanted to attend and why.
I know the cost of this project is steep, but it is a durable one. The radio station I helped start three years ago at my former school is still online, with new classes of students being trained in production skills by older ones. The website has also become a point of communication for the school itself, as well as a lure for parents who want to send their children to a school where project-based learning is employed and students have the opportunity to engage in projects that let them express themselves and determine for themselves what they are capable of.
My students need 5 digital recorders, 5 desktop computers for editing, headphones and memory cards. They also need 32 rechargeable AA batteries and one charger, 100 CDs so that they can take home a recording of their work. Lastly 10 pairs of headphones and 5 headphone splitters, so that they can work in pairs when they edit.
Even though I teach 6th grade, preparation for college begins even before students arrive in my classroom. This project will help them on the road to preparation by teaching them the ELA skills mentioned above, recording and editing digital audio also teaches them technical computer skills, which many students lack.
This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.
More than three‑quarters 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
100 students impacted
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