In 3, 2, 1...Action!

My Students

"A Whole New World," the famous Aladdin theme song, is not just a theme song to me. I want my students to know and be exposed to the many facets of the world beyond the small town in which they live. A whole new world full of opportunities and adventures seems unobtainable for my students.

My school is Title I which means the poverty level is high, and for the most part, everyday life for my students isn't what most of us wouldn't consider traditionally ideal.

I have intelligent and academically capable students who are handicapped by the unbreakable cycle of their environment.

My Project

I want to be part of the solution not the problem which is why I want to assist my students in discovering "a world new world" all of their own. Each semester I provide my students with a variety of careers to read about and a template to record findings. This past year, they made digital presentations and shared them with the class. In the presentation, they had to provide detailed descriptions of the career choices and photos/videos for supporting details. Unfortunately, they were not able to capture images personally to upload but had to copy/paste images from the web instead, which didn't allow them to make the personal connection they so desperately needed. Therefore, it became just another assignment and not enlightening as it was intended. I asked for Nikon Digital Cameras Coolpix L26 that takes pictures as well as records videos, which will allow my students to personally capture "their future" or at least the sense of a real possibility through self discovery and initiative.

If a personal connection is not made, the career choice doesn't seem real or even a real option for them.

Therefore to them, "a whole new world" of their very own doesn't exist, and the need to excel academically doesn't seem so important either. Unbeknownst to them, they create a downward spiral of extracting opportunities/possibilities from their future and creating a lose-lose situation. The students lose by limiting their future, and we as a society lose because they are our future.