iPad for our Lads

My Students

Can you imagine what it was like before computers, tablets, or smart phones? It may be far fetched for some, but it is all too real for many of my students, whose closest encounter to technology is hearing the beep when food items are rung up at the grocery store. Welcome to my world.

Like any children around the world, the greatest asset that my students have is the innocence of their smiles.

Nothing is more precious than the potential that is stored behind the names of those faces. I teach at a public school located in Kalihi, a suburb of big city Honolulu, Hawaii. We are a fairly small school that just a few years ago, were fighting for our school life in being kept open from closure. We are alive and still open with a growing enrollment of 268 students. Many of our families are of lower economic status, some carrying heavy baggage of despair. About 67 % of students receive free or reduced lunch and approximately 50% receive English Language Learner support. Recently, the demographic makeup of our student body has shifted from local Asian-Hawaiian-Filipino-Samoan children to 1st and 2nd generation immigrants from the South Pacific Islands. Regardless of what our cornucopia school demographics maybe, our students all come to school with smiles.

My Project

The resource that I am requesting is an iPad mini. I will be using this technology as a means to connect the classroom to the world. My goal for using the iPad mini is two fold: 1. exposure and 2. direct academic application. I plan to initially use the iPad mini as an exploratory tool to get my students excited about technology. I want my little ones to see what is possible at the click of a button. I want them to realize that information can be reached if searched. I want them to know how interactive and friendly technology can be in working with music, videos, sideshow, etc... Second, I will use the iPad mini as a teaching tool for my students to interact with their learning. Our school incorporates several internet programs to include KidBiz and Discovery Education, so there is a natural match to infuse technology within the curriculum. At the classroom level, I would like to integrate technology by doing real time, interactive web searches and meaningful presentations.

With minimal use of technology amongst my students, some may say that my students are living in ancient times in a modern world.

With technology advancing so fast, it is hard not to agree with that statement. Help me bridge the gap between the haves and have nots. Help me provide the vehicle where my students can get excited about the world beyond the classroom. Help me prove that my students are capable to function in a world that is full of computers, tablets, and smart phones. Thank you!