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.
Inner-city students are getting left behind in the digital world. They experience digital technology daily in computers, television, and movies, but rarely know how to create anything themselves. They own the equipment necessary to create stimulating projects, but can't always create them alone.
My students attend a small middle school located in Oakland, California.
The student body consists of a diverse group of students representative of the surrounding neighborhoods--lower middle class African American, Latino, and Asian families working countless hours to achieve success. The school is a project-based learning school with a focus on student groups preparing projects that are shared with the community throughout the year. I teach a mixed-grade newcomer math-science core. My students are recent immigrants from all over the world--Central America, Mexico, and Asia.
My students are familiar with the basic functions of a computer, including digital downloads, word processing, and some basic PowerPoint presentations. They understand how to search the web to find relevant information. They know how to listen to music and watch videos on an iPod. They haven't yet discovered how to bring all of these powerful resources together as tools for teaching and learning.
My Project
Using basic technology tools, students will learn to prepare multimedia presentations. Project topics will include mathematics, science, and or other topics relevant to the community. Students will compile essential information on computers much like they have at home. They will then bring these pieces together into a presentation. The presentation, including all support files, will be downloaded onto a netbook and shown to students and parents.
For this project, I am requesting a netbook. Netbooks allow students to use the full features of a computer (webcam, card reader, audio, visual effect) while being completely portable. Students will have the opportunity to take the netbook out of class to complete the project and present it to others.
The purpose of this project is to help students use the technology that is readily available to them on home and school computers. It is not intended to inundate students with a number of new technologies that are not currently available to them.
Too often students are asked to learn how to do something at school but can't export that learning away from the classroom.
By helping them to further develop the use of tools they already own, they are much more likely to make use of them and become independent learners. These skills are absolutely necessary to function in the 21st century.
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. Lake and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
