My students need to see presentations at the same time in a large format using a data projector. They also need colored paper for a variety of hands-on activities.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
The challenge facing my students is the lack of motivating activities and the use of technology in their classroom. The students perk up and remember more when using manipulatives in science and can see the demonstrations and videos on a large screen.
My students are in an inner city high school whose demographics are about 90% Black, 9% Hispanic and 1% other.
The school is an at-risk high school based on NCLB. In general the students are difficult to motivate and need manipulatives and visuals to help them grasp the biological concepts being presented.
My Project
Today's youth are bored listening to a teacher lecture in the sciences. When they are able to view dissections and chemical reactions on video, they become more excited about learning. Using a data projector will accomplish this goal in the classroom. I can pull videos and DVDs for the entire class to see. Not only see the videos and demos in class, but using the colored paper allows us to create hands-on models of items such as cells, cell parts, and models of DNA. When students are able to put these items together in a colored coded fashion, they are able to retain more of this information because they experienced it themselves. It was not just handed to them by the instructor. It is also my goal by using these simple items to help more students pass Biology by meeting the district's exit standards and satisfy a graduation requirement. In pushing these hands-on items in class, the students will be more successful in school and realize learning science is fun.
Teenagers have a short attention span and want to be entertained not talked at.
Using the data projector and colored manipulatives will help bring about some excitement among the students. The students become quickly bored but when items are placed in their hands they seem to learn more, retain it longer, and I want my students adequately prepared for their assessments from their experiences in class. Having their work on display provides them a sense of pride in their accomplishments.
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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. Johnson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.