I teach Music to 700+ Kindergarten through 5th grade students in my school.
We are a very diverse school community where 40+ languages are spoken.
Students come from a variety of socio-economic, cultural and academic backgrounds but the thing that unites all of us is our love for learning! The music classroom is a place where students can discover their creative strengths, explore and share about various cultures, and build community.
This has been a unique year for our community. Hurricane Harvey caused many of our students and teachers to lose their apartments or homes, led to students moving into our school from different areas, etc. Music class is a place where they can escape the chaos and feel encouragement and hope.
My Project
My students are some of the most creative people I have ever met. In my classroom, I emphasize that EVERY student is a musician. And, because we create our own music, they are also composers!
Technology is the gateway to all modern music composition and creation.
Since students are extremely familiar with digital technology in their daily lives, incorporating iPads into their music learning is seamless for them. They speak the language of technology, so they are naturally drawn to doing more and more when allowed to explore creative apps and websites.
One of their favorite things to do is take video or audio recordings of themselves playing instruments, singing, or doing movement activities. While we do have a few iPads, we have to split into rather large groups in order to share them. This decreases the amount of time each student is able to use the iPad. By adding 4 iPads to our classroom, I am seeking to increase our total number to 10 (including my teacher iPad) so that group sizes can be reduced and students' productivity will flourish.
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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 Mrs. Chandler and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
