A year ago, I got hired as an elementary teacher at a school on the north side of Chicago. All of my prior teaching in CPS was on the south side of Chicago. I have faced many new and different challenges this year.
The majority of my students are now English Language Learners and I even had some refugees who entered my classroom with no English speaking skills.
In my classroom this past year, there were 7 different languages spoken, the primary one being Spanish (in our entire school, there are 47 languages represented!). My new school is an amazingly diverse melting pot and the varying learners are what makes it so unique!
All of my students come from low-income families and many do not have the supplies they need for school. As a teacher, I often have to provide these things for them.
My Project
Chicago Public Schools is in the middle of a budget crisis. Over the past 3 years, my school alone has lost over $150,000! The school system as a whole is $1.2 billion in debt and no long-term plan has been made to rectify this deficit. As a result, teachers have to make many classroom purchases out of their own pockets.
My students need opportunities to practice and learn English.
I am requesting various picture books and picture dictionaries to help students learn simple vocabulary. In addition, the Boardmaker computer program will allow me to print symbols for my refugee students who do not know any English, yet need to be able to communicate basic wants/needs. This program will also be useful for students with special needs. It will allow me to make a variety of visual supports to assist in language and literacy goals.
I have also requested a "Wobble Stool" for some of my wiggly students who have trouble sitting still. The floor pillows are for my classroom library so that students do not have to sit at their desks during independent reading. I like to provide children with opportunities for movement throughout the day (I remember struggling to stay seated when I was in school!).
Lastly, I included some tuning forks for our physical science unit, fluency cards to assist beginning readers, a math workbook with daily warm-up problems, and some book bins for our growing classroom library.
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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. Wipf and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
