Our school is a Pre-K through eighth-grade building that nearly 900 students call their "home." Norfolk is home to the largest naval base in the world. Many of our families are part of the military, which means that many of our students have to deal with one, or even both, of their parents, being on deployment for long periods of time.
I am a fourth-grade reading, writing, and social studies teacher in Norfolk, Virginia.
Between my two classes, I teach nearly 50 students, including students receiving special education services, English Language Learners, as well as gifted learners. Many of my students come to me as struggling readers. One of my biggest goals each year is to help my students become confident readers and maybe even develop a love for reading. Every year I am impressed with how hard they are willing to work to fill in those gaps and see how much they grow.
My hope is to provide the students with a safe and fun place to learn! Over the years, I have worked very hard at turning our classroom into our "Home Sweet Classroom!"
My Project
Back to school looks much different this year. While I am excited about being able to teach my students, I am nervous about the new challenges we are going to face with distance learning. When we return this fall, we will be 100% virtual for at least the first quarter. As of today, we will not be able to teach from our classrooms, which means that very soon, I will share my home with 50 eager children. One thing we will be heavily relying on is technology! Unfortunately, my school laptop is outdated and unable to support our new way of learning.
The laptop in this project will allow me to have a reliable device to hold our daily Zoom meetings, as well as plan for instruction.
Each day, the students and I will be online during our normal school hours. That’s 7.5 hours a day! We will use Zoom meetings, Canvas, Google Classroom, and various online websites to guide our instruction. This laptop has a camera and microphone which will make all of those things possible! Now my students will be able to see and hear our lessons without a problem!
Once we return to the classroom, I will still have a group of students I will be teaching virtually who will continue to rely on our Zoom meetings and online sources for their education.
This device will serve as a lifeline of communication between my students, their families, and myself. This year, their education will be right at my fingertips.
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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. Kilgore and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
