Yes, it is true. Our school’s budget is so undersized that there is not even enough money for paper. As a teacher I find this appalling, but as a person I find it criminal. How am I supposed to teach when I can not even provide my students with any sort of handout, article, outline, model assignment, or survey? The answer is you can not teach effectively without such basic necessities. While others are figuring out ways around the scarcity of paper, I refuse to cut my students short. I have still been making copies. I plan to continue making copies just as I would any year. Except this year, I am paying out of pocket for every sheet of paper I use. I estimate that I will spend three four hundred dollars on paper. However, I may spend as much as six hundred dollars on paper. Without buying paper last year, I spent 950 dollars on supplies for my students. Since I have more students this year, I expect to spend much more.
I don’t complain and hardly every speak of how much I spend on my classroom. I have two reasons for this. My first reason is, I buy items my students deserve and need for a fair education. I buy items that other more affluent school districts are able to purchase for their students. The second reason is I absolutely love teaching. If someone told me I had the choice between a thousand dollar pay cut or my job, I would pick my job every time. Money is money. No price can be put on helping students to achieve goals and dreams they otherwise would be unable to reach.
All of this being said, I work hard every day to insure my students are able to learn in a college bound environment. I am constantly reevaluating my lessons and teaching strategies. I am continually trying new strategies and approaches to teaching literature. One strategy that is repeatedly effective is using technology. Last year, I was privileged enough to use a LCD projector in my classroom. I spent hours creating interactive lessons using the projector. This year, I will be unable to use any of those lessons. The lessons that previously engaged some of the most difficult students in the city of New York will be lost. I feel so bad. I feel without an LCD projector, I am disservicing my students.
With an LCD projector my students will be able to participate in interactive engaging lessons. Last year these lessons included, tours of Shakespeare’s hometown and Verona for when we read Romeo and Juliet, videos of 1960’s Harlem for when we read The Contender, maps and tours to follow Salamanca Tree Hiddel on her adventure across America when we read Walk Two Moons, or to see the hell of the migrant farmer through the photographs of Dorothea Lange's when we read Of Mice and Men. These were just some of the many lessons I fear I will never be able to teach again. Without an LCD projector, engagement and understanding will be down, and students will be even further behind than they already are.
Thank you for taking the time to read this proposal. Thank you for supporting teachers, it really means the world to us!
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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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 Mrs. Fiore Cardillo and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
