Quiet, sitting lab, we are not! We are energized and busy. Our crowded computer lab/library space is filled with classes sitting at the Smartboard, while groups of kids are sharing seats, working on projects, researching and enjoying the chance to use technology to do their work.
We are a very large elementary school, 650 students in a fairly rural setting, but also close to the coast.
Our coastal address aligns us with many naturalist educators who help us connect our science curriculum, to the wetlands, marsh, coastal erosion and local wildlife.
Our school has a very enthusiastic staff, administration, and PTA. Jointly, they make the school a very exciting and caring place to be. We have a creative theater dept, and music dept that enrolls many of our students in productions and concerts. Our students, are encouraged to be part of the larger community that makes up our school. We have students that are involved in recycling, school council, tech helpers, library helpers, mediators, and mentors for the theater program. Many students come back to mentor younger students for many years after they have left our school for middle school.
My Project
Being on the move is a very exciting way for kids to utilize technology and learn. In fact for some kids it is the only way they learn at all. When kids follow a web-quest or treasure hunt and must read the clues using QR codes around the room, on their iPads, they are excited to learn. When groups of students walk the halls to find and photograph shapes, or geometric concepts around the school, to create a presentation and explain what they have found, they are really engaged. When students can go outside and find evidence of things in nature, or use tools on an iPad to measure, observe, photograph, write about, all while in the outdoors they are learning real world skills. An iPad not only teaches, it helps with the most important part of applying skills in the real world.
While we wouldn't have enough iPads for everyone to use them at the same time, it would allow me to differentiate my classroom so that students that who need a more active learning experience will have that opportunity.
More I Pads will expose more students to a different, more engaging way of learning. I hope it will allow students who don't feel the success of learning in the traditional way, may see a way of succeeding, while moving and using iPads.
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. Raycroft and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.