"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn," Benjamin Franklin wisely noted in his day. He was an inventor even when he was a child. Our children today need tools to begin to invent tomorrow's changes. They must know what is out there, so that they can make it better.
When my students come into our third grade classroom they are ages 8 and 9.
They are either halfway to learning to drive, or halfway to becoming an adult. When I look into their little faces, faces growing older each day, I know I am looking at doctors, lawyers, teachers and innovators. They attend a public school with a total of about 600 students, and 30 of them are in my classroom. Some of them are second language learners, and some of them are not. Some of them require help from the school to have meals throughout the day because their parents are struggling. No two students are exactly alike, however, and every individual is valued. I am lucky to teach beautifully diverse learners from all walks of life. They are all on their way to becoming something . . . something great.
My Project
With just one iPad and a projector, I can give the students keys to unlock all that is happening in the world around us. I am a teacher who is well prepared to integrate technology into our curriculum, but I do not have the tools at my current school. That means my students do not know what the innovators of our time are introducing to us. I can use an iPad to teach them to read and build fluency with one another. I can teach them about the universe and tap into visuals that none of our old textbooks could begin to offer. Instead of drawing a scale model of the planets on our white board, I can project the awesome images those at NASA are providing us. My young learners will see things differently, as well they should, because they will be changing the world soon enough. I am eager to teach them with current tools. The world we live in is dynamic, and one iPad with one projector is all we need to make sure they know what today looks like so they can change it soon enough.
Benjamin Franklin invented the first indoor stove.
He did that with tools and an imagination. He never caught on to math, according to his own words, but he caught on to the time in which he was living and found ways to change his world. He is not different from each of my students. We need tools. We need to know what today looks like so that we can change tomorrow. It might sound funny that I think one iPad and one projector will allow me to show the students that world, but it is true.
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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. Veravanich and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.