My kids are awesome but that should be what all teachers think about their students. They are resilient, imaginative, creative, curious, energetic, and sometimes drive me absolutely insane.
If you close your eyes and visualize diversity, you very well may be picturing my classroom.
Many of my students are first or second generation Americans whose families emigrated from every continent on the globe (Okay, maybe not Antarctica). They teach me something new every day. One day I might learn a new phrase in Tagalog or Russian; the next I might hear a first-hand account about life in a refugee camp. As a class, we celebrate and draw upon this diversity to enrich our learning community.
That is not to say that diversity does not bring challenges. Lessons must be carefully planned to accommodate the huge range of ability levels and languages represented within our student body. Additionally, our school is in a blue-collar urban area and many students experience all the difficulties that can accompany such an environment. Some students' home lives are complicated or even traumatic, and our school and classroom should be safe, supportive, and welcoming.
My Project
These Chromebooks will provide my students with critical access to computers and assist the implementation of digital learning portfolios in my classroom. Digital learning portfolios are a powerful tool for student learning that require students to present and defend their mastery of the concepts and skills they acquire throughout the school year. They teach computer skills, collaboration, critical thinking, self-reflection, revision, organization, and accountability. Additionally, they open a new and direct channel of communication between the students' families and our classroom.
In my classroom, digital learning portfolios are student created websites that become repositories for their best work.
They review their classwork, find examples that best demonstrate certain skills or concepts, and refine the work until it is ready for public viewing. Once published, their work is accessible to me, their peers, and their parents. The public nature of the portfolio adds to student accountability and reminds them that their academic work should be something they refine and take pride in rather than just rush through to meet the minimum requirements of an assignment. At the end of each semester, each student must revisit their portfolio, present it, and defend their work in order to demonstrate their mastery of the subject matter. Although my classes are currently in the early stages of implementing these portfolios, they are already paying dividends in student skill development.
Unfortunately, my class is continually facing scheduling conflicts with our school's computer carts. The digital learning portfolios require frequent access to computers and it is becoming increasingly clear that I need a dedicated set of Chromebooks for my students. This will free us up from the limitations of shared computer access and allow me to implement even more digital projects that develop the skills my students need for college and career readiness.
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 Mr. Lisuk and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
