Technology has the potential to make all subject matter accessible to students and bridge the learning gap. My school is located in the heart of Silicon Valley, but you would hardly know it by the limited access to technology in the classrooms.
My fourth grade students are ethnically and socially diverse.
They come from primarily middle and low income class homes, with 40% of the student population receiving free or reduced lunch. In addition, over half of the students are English Language Learners. These present challenges that I believe can be met with increased engagement and access to content through the use of technology.
Although every student has their own textbooks, my school limits the number of copies teachers can make and makes us pay for our own paper and supplies out of our own pockets. With class sizes going up, I have to be even more creative about how I plan and teach each lesson so that all of my students can learn and succeed.
My students are eager to learn, and a document camera will motivate students to participate and share their ideas. Especially for the students who are struggling English readers and speakers, using technology will increase their language, comprehension, and participation skills.
My Project
Learning should be interactive and engaging. Students will make stronger connections to the colorful and true-to-life moving images captured through the document camera. I can place books, science and math tools, illustrations, graphs and diagrams, and student work under camera for the whole class to see.
Teaching and learning will be more engaging and collaborative because information can be presented to the whole class more effectively by the students themselves. For example, students can show their work and explain their thinking when they solve a math problem with a document camera. They can show writing in their notebook or materials they used as they talk about how they carried out their problem solving. It will empower students to think critically, share ideas, and learn from each other.
In addition, a document camera in my classroom will also help the environment. There will be less plastic transparencies and paper waste.
Your donation will make learning any subject more engaging and accessible to my students every day.
Students respond to creative uses for technology and having a document camera will allow me to better meet the diverse needs of my students.
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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. Fujikawa and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.