Sci Tech 10th Graders: Tools for Collaborative Learning and Feedback
My students need the basic materials, chart paper, sticky notes, shared whiteboards, and markers and pencils - that allow them to create, showcase, and comment on collaborative work as they learn and practice.
$566 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
I teach 10th grade in Springfield, a "typical" multi-racial inner-city environment where all students get free lunch, and the majority experience the "typical" symptoms of growing up in a high-poverty environment, from low literacy rates to housing inconsistency to low family and community expectations for growth and success. If these kids graduate and move on, most will be the first in their family to go to college, if they go at all.
Because high schools in Springfield are magnetized - that is, each has a special focus that "pulls" students from across the city, rather than serving a particular neighborhood - students struggle to feel like a "community".
it can take as much as two hours for students to travel to and from school each day. This, coupled with their housing insecurity and conflicted lives, can make it unrealistic for us to expect them to bring and track resources from home to school, including novels for classroom reading and basic supplies.
That said: I love my "kids". They are often quite bright, and sensitive, under their well-developed outer selves. Harnessing their "street smarts" in the classroom is a wonderful chance to teach THEM.
My Project
As they learn and develop new ideas, my students are working in groups, engaged in student-to-student discourse and creating (and showcasing, and commenting on) products that represent their shared understanding as they scaffold towards strong independent work.
The resources requested in these projects support community and collaboration - key foundations of strong student-centered learning.
Most of the time, my students are in groups of 3-4, talking about and tracking ways to present, represent, and organize ideas, creating artifacts which analyze and break down content and ideas. Chart paper allows them to all work together in these groups, planning and then posting and sharing their work; the sticky notes then allow them each to comment on and annotate for feedback and praise on these publicly posted artifacts, in bright, engaging color and symbolism. The collaborative and expressive skills they learn will help them as they grow into a 21st century world!
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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 Mr. Farber and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
