My students need this computer to explore, develop, and apply the technology skills necessary to be successful in the 21st century classroom and world.
My AMAZING students attend a small, progressive Title I middle school located on the Upper West Side, where we are dedicated to cultivating a school community of collaboration, high academic expectations, and upstanding citizenship. My students come from a variety of backgrounds, ability levels, and households which include 27% of students with a disability (receive special education services), 20% living in temporary housing, over 90% eligible for free/reduced lunch, 2% English Language Learners, and 90% identify as black and/or hispanic.
My school places a special emphasis on providing social-emotional learning opportunities, while maintaining rigorous academic expectations for all students, and I must say that my students are truly exceptional.
This year I am not only focused on expanding my students minds academically, but to equip them with the tools and motivation to challenge what they hear, be confident in their abilities, and to become life long learners.
Everyday they walk through my classroom door, I am reminded why I love being a teacher. My student ignite my passion in education, and inspire me to be the best teacher I can be.
My Project
Next school year my students will be communicating and collaborating with students of the same age across Norway! Through electronic communication such as email, Skype, Google product platforms, and blogs students will build relationships with Norwegian students, to discuss current issues in educations, politics, and education. Throughout the school year, students will be choosing topics that are important to their everyday life in the U.S., research their topics related to their culture (social justice issues, educational issues, political and societal issues, etc) including the impact on their life, and prepare a presentation which they will then share with students and classrooms in Norway. Alongside this, they will be communicating with Norwegian students electronically, to build a connection, gain insight, and share their ideas. The Macbook being requested will be linked to classroom ipads, and be used by students individually to complete these projects, communicate with their counterparts, and "sit-in" weekly via Skype with classrooms in Norway.
The relationships that my students cultivate, will build a global connection to a culture that is extremely different from their own, and allow them to share their different cultures, in hopes that they will not only build crucial collaboration skills, but open their minds to new possibilities, and opportunities they may not have had before.
This incredible opportunity is a chance to cultivate new relationships, and collaborate with peers from across the globe, plant the seeds of knowledge, self-worth, global community, and change, in the minds of our future, and better the lives of all my students.
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