My classroom consists of 4th and 5th grade African American male students, as part of Oakland Unified School District's African American Male Achievement Program under the office of equity. The focus of my class is to instill the value and self esteem into my students that our society doesn't always give them, by educating them on their history (both ancient and contemporary) so they can see they come from greatness. Each student is unique, and my favorite part about teaching is being able to connect to certain aspects of each of their identities to engage them in lessons. Rather that be beginning class with trivia questions related to their previously expressed interests, or connecting the building techniques of the ancient Egyptians to their Lego sets, our (virtual) classroom is a special place where students can question their existence and relationship to the world around them, with their identities at the forefront.
My Project
As a first year teacher who recently graduated from undergrad and graduate school, I chose to come back to my hometown and spend time teaching students who look like me. In this unique time of distanced learning, having access to fully functioning technology is integral to being able to teach students without interruptions such as my laptop freezing or struggling to remain connected to internet.
I've spent hours being trained as an African American Male Achievement Program facilitator, learning best practices to engage with each student, retain attention, and create interactive lessons, but in order to put my professional development to best use, I must have a functioning laptop to run my lessons.
With a functioning laptop I would be able to download more apps, create and scan documents, create movies, and do so much more to engage my students than I can with a chrome book. It looks like online learning may continue for the school year and it would be great to have more student engagement tools, and be able to teach an entire lesson without my computer malfunctioning and disrupting my teaching flow.
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