I have a diverse mix of students in rural North Carolina. My student population is amongst the poorest in the state. When I look out at my class, I see Native American, Black and Hispanic faces motivated to get prepared for a career or college. However, many are struggling readers and in class; internet access at home is a barrier still!
My students need access to updated technology in the classroom.
My current laptop cart contains 13 out of 25 laptops which are able to turn on. At most, 5 can maintain a connection to the school wifi. This makes my 21st century classroom a fail. I can accomplish more with individual chalkboards!
My Project
I am an 80s kid who has grown up loving technology! Raise your hand if you remember the Apple computers in school or taking a basic DOS command coding class, yeah me too! Now imagine the 21st century class room with only 4 computers which connect to the internet. That would be my classroom!
My computer cart had 24 working computers last year, now I am down to 11.
Of the 11, only 4 connect reliably to the internet (and that is with students waiting 5 minutes to log on & connect). My classroom is located in Columbus County, NC.
We were hit HARD by Hurricane Florence. As you can imagine, in a poor, rural school disctrict our funding has to be allocated to repairs and replacement of many things. When thingts are tight, tough choices must be made. However, the 21st century is looking" directly at my students.
There are very few jobs in the workplace where one will not encounter basic computer knowledge. This is an idea I stress frequently to my students.
"Hey, did you know a garbage man even needs to use a computer?" This is one of my favorite conversations to have with students. They are surprised to learn a garbage man must use a tablet to know their routes, log pick-ups & communicate with his dispatch.
I would like 5 laptops to allow my students to rotate & use computers for writing. I use computers to assign online reading assignments. I can rotate students through 5 reliable laptops. I plan to participate in Sonic's Limeaids for Learning to help reach $600 of this project.
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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. Busick and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
