My students need access to Apple iPads for digital textbooks, screen reader software, the ability to sync to smartboard, etc to overcome their visual impairments.
FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. Schink's classroom raised $991
This project is fully funded
My Students
A typical day as an itinerant Vision teacher is anything but typical. I may start my day teaching a blind student how to graph a trigonometric function, then teach a disabled student how to use his or her senses to interact with the environment, and everything in between!
My students range from young learners to age 21, and have some form of visual impairment or blindness.
They work harder than your average child because they have to learn about their disability and how it affects them. They also learn Braille, Nemeth Code, navigating the physical school environment, understanding their bodily positioning and movement through space, assistive technology, self-help skills, and self advocacy in addition to their normal subjects. Some of my students are also English Language Learners in addition to having a physical disability. I work in a wide variety of schools, from rural to urban and from low income to wealthy.
My Project
My goal with the requested materials is to help my students access the school curriculum as easily as their sighted peers. I have researched apps for the iPad which allow my students to sync the device with a SmartBoard and enlarge it to a font they can read, or use VoiceOver to have information read to them. There are also apps which allow the student to take a picture of a page of text, and use VoiceOver to read the text to them. There is even an app that would allow nonverbal students to communicate! Additionally, braille books are extremely bulky, expensive, and hard to obtain, and having someone read to you can be socially stigmatizing. I hope to help the students use the iPad in conjunction with electronic books in order to gain more independence and confidence.
By donating to this project, you will be allowing students with disabilities equal access to their curriculum.
It will open the door to technology that is, unfortunately, closed to them at the moment.
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 Mrs. Schink and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.