Help me give my students in the hybrid classroom a chance to better "see" lessons when they are online with the use of a document camera, and explore math with the use of new math manipulatives.
I have been a Delaware public school educator for 16 years and my current group of students are some of the most resilient, flexibly, happy, and fun children I have ever had the privilege to work with. We started out the year together virtually, created a hybrid classroom together in school, and then were able to quickly bounce back to the virtual world without an ounce of resistance. What makes this group of students so special is their ability to find silver linings in any situation and support each other with kindness and a sense of humor. At an given moment in our classroom, you will find a student helping a fellow classmate with a work assignment by guiding them through directions, offering ideas, and giving words of encouragement. In a Montessori classroom, there are students of mixed grade levels, so students learn from a young age how to mentor each other with grace and courtesy. The students in this classroom are always seeking to learn, curious about new ideas, and eager to dive into new topics.
My Project
My Montessori students are navigating two different worlds right now. One is learning in a classroom with new rules and regulations to keep everyone safe, but yet apart. The other is having to also learn some content virtually when they are home online. Both worlds can be hard to adjust to, but I am hoping this grant will help in both dimensions.
Montessori students are use to learning through sensory experiences, collaboration and exploring.
I hope these math manipulatives will allow students to have access to more learning opportunities because they could play them independently or by being guided by a classroom mentor.
The first half of our day is spent in the classroom, but the other half is at home. I have been trying to teach science and cultural lessons virtually but this has been hard to bring lessons to life which are typically hands on experiences. I am hoping a document camera will allow me to enhance the experience for students so they can better "see" rocks, volcanoes, and evaporation from my computer to theirs. Exploding a volcano just wasn't quite real enough by tipping my laptop camera down so they could view it.
So I spy with my little blue eye, students "seeing" science and playing in math as they balance two learning worlds.
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