My students need iPads in the classroom. This will allow them to interact with the lesson content, engage students in the learning process, and help encourage them to engage and attend school.
I teach at a themed middle school in the Global Studies Academy. I will have 100 new students; 50 will receive free/reduced lunch, 40 come from a home where English is not the primary language, and 11 will receive special education services. I anticipate the unique challenges that my students may present but also celebrate their diversity.
I love US History and I want my students to love it too.
My passion for both learning and teaching is a result of the support from amazing teachers and professors throughout my schooling career. Every day in class, I strive to provide my students with the tools to understand and appreciate history and also gain confidence in themselves as a historian. My students are part of the Global Studies Program which provides an inquiry-based, project-based program that teaches students how to think critically, problem solve, and create innovative solutions to world issues and global events. Also, I am shifting to all inquiry-based lessons in my US History class. All lessons require students to create focus questions, collect and analyze primary and secondary source and present their findings.
My Project
The C3 Social Studies Standards asks students to "ask good questions and develop robust investigations into them; consider possible solutions and consequences; separate evidence-based claims from parochial opinions; and communicate and act upon what they learn."
Students who do not have the use of technology to apply social studies practices are being left out.
These iPads will help my students get closer to the experience of explaining their investigation while at the same time allow them to show their thinking in a creative way. There are approximately 10% of my students in my cluster failing two or more subject and there are several students who are absent at least once or twice a week. I feel giving these students responsibilities and an opportunity to be more involved with their learning will help to make learning exciting and re-engage them into school. Allowing students to share their learning with both the teacher and their peers in creative ways gives them ownership of their education. My classroom is not yet at the level technologically to meet their needs as learners. This grant will help to close that gap just a little bit 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. Barlow and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.