This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
Imagine being a child in a new country where you don't know the language, culture, or expectations of you. You have different subjects with different textbooks, workbooks that you don't understand, and you are expected to keep everything organized.
I teach a highly motivated group of middle school students in a beginning ESL class. My students have very limited English as they are the most recent immigrants in the school; some have only been in the country for a couple of weeks. Some of my students emigrated from countries with limited opportunities for education. As a teacher, I want to give them the best educational opportunities, which includes teaching them note taking and organization skills.
As a veteran teacher, I have gone to many trainings and professional development events. One strategy that has been consistently proven to work is Cornell Notes. Another is History Notebooking. I have combined these two strategies for all subjects I teach, and adapted them for my ESL students.
Last year, my students used a one subject notebook and kept all their notes and work there so they only had one notebook to worry about for all their classes. However, confusion erupted and time was wasted when they had to flip back through pages of notes from different subjects to find what they were looking for.
This year, I would like to improve our organization by using 5-subject notebooks. This way, students will be able to keep all their notes and work for each subject together.
You will make it possible for my students to learn note taking and organizational skills that will not only help make their transition to our educational system easier, but, since these techniques were found to be best practices for college students, they will have tools to help them succeed and become leaders in our society.
This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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. V. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
