I teach French in an incredibly diverse urban public high school. We attract the best and brightest students with our optional academics program while also serving our neighborhood kids. We serve students from many different cultural, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds.
Our school culture is one of acceptance and tolerance while focusing on academic excellence.
Students learn about each other and our differing beliefs, unique family structures, and varying talents through their daily interactions both in class and by participating in extracurricular activities in the arts, sports, and our numerous special interest clubs.
My co-workers and I are continually pushing our students to strive to achieve stringent goals. Our faculty is on the front lines of trying innovative approaches to teaching and learning to better serve our diverse learners.
My Project
Culture is a huge driving force in engaging my students in the French language. We do not have textbooks, so I use authentic resources that I gather from the Internet for use in class. Some of these resources are easily projected from my laptop, and some are not. Additionally, some students have visual problems and can't clearly see projected images.
If my students had personal access to color images of the topics we are discussing, they could better visualize the topic at hand, and could then speak and write more descriptively.
When students can hold a picture in their hands, it is not only easier to see, it is also more personal and they become more invested in the topic. They are more engaged in their learning, and, as a result, are more successful at mastering the topics discussed.
I would also like to celebrate our successes and attract students to our French program. With a color printer, I could print and post colorful examples of outstanding student projects, and photos of original artwork. This would promote a sense of pride and motivation for my students. I could also print pictures of students enjoying cultural activities in class to attract new students to our program.
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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. Altman and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.