My students need me to have access to a color scanner/printer and 8 ink cartridges to enlarge, modify or create materials for them to use effectively due their individual disabilities.
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.
My Students
Tantrums, pokes, pulls, smiles, nods, that's all I got for about the first 3 months. It amazes me to this day how some of my students made it this far with no language. Then it happened, she picked up an apple, looked very closely at it with her "good" eye, smiled, and signed the word "apple".
Deaf, Deaf/Blind, orthopedically, cognitively impaired, autistic..... I have them all.
We are one big happy family. Most of them are non-verbal but are learning to communicate in a supportive environment. They love "hands on" activities such as cooking, working in the "garden", completing their classroom jobs. Their favorite part of the day is Circle Time. They know the routine so well that I can practically sit back and let them take over. They help each other, take turns, scold each other, just as if they are "mini me's".
Most of my students come from very impoverished homes. So I know that their time with me should be so much more than just educational and when I see the smiles on their faces or the tears in their eyes when they have to go home early, I know it is. While everyday might not go as I plan, and sometimes my classroom looks likes a disaster zone, I know that everyday will be different and challenging in its own way.
My Project
Reading has been our biggest challenge! Most "leveled readers" are just NOT appropriate for special education students and that's a fact. I have to make just about everything I use in class. Why, you ask, are the readers not appropriate? The print is too small. The vocabulary is unknown. The pictures are too busy, too colorful, too weird. The story is not something the students can relate to. Therefore, I make books: sensory books, touch books, experience books, photo books, you name it books. I also add sign language (in color) under all the printed text for my Deaf students.
Are all the books the same for each student? Of course not! Not every student is reading at the same level. A color printer/scanner/copier in my classroom would enable me to make even more books for my students. They absolutely love their books. They each have their library and they share with each other.
Watching the light in a child's eyes as they learn to read is something everyone should experience.
But it is even more precious when you know the odds that are stacked against them. The words that are said, "Well, They can't..." My motto is "They can" if you give them the opportunity and the means by which to accomplish the goal. Please help me obtain a color printer/scanner/copier so that I can modify and create materials to make them accessible to my students. They deserve it.
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
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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 Ms. Lloyd-Carney and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
