Students with Learning Disabilities Require the Cool Factor
My project needs one 30 GB iPod.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Ekstrom's classroom raised $386
This project is fully funded
I am the resource specialist at Leadership High School, a (public) charter school in San Francisco. I support students with mild to moderate disabilities with their general education classes. I also teach a study skills class called Academic Literacy that works to teach students about their learning styles, bolster their skills, and provide a place where they both give and get help. Our school has been successfully teaching at-risk students for 10 years, and more than half of our students are low-income.
A year ago I transitioned from being an English teacher to working with my current students, all of whom have disabilities. What struck me was how much energy some of my students put into hiding their disabilities. It was often when they were struggling that they were most resistant to help. Especially in high school, students are very conscious of appearing different from their peers or of calling attention to their disability. Because of this, many of my students don't access the technology that would help them be more successful students.
Many students have a learning disability that effects visual processing (dyslexia is an example), and therefore have an extremely difficult time reading. Yet Leadership requires students to read some very demanding books: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian, Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Night by Elie Wiesal, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and A People's History by Howard Zinn. In order to access this material in the same way as their non-disabled peers, my students greatly benefit from having the books read out loud to them or from being able to listen to the books. Right now, however, our program only has bulky tape recorders and old walkmen. Many of my students say they feel "stupid" listening to the books on tape and not surprisingly won't do it in front of their peers.
I would like to purchase an iPod that would allow me to download audio versions of books and novels for my students. When I shared this idea with some of my students who currently won't listen to books on tape, they thought it was "cool" and said, "Well, I would listen to a book if it was on an iPod." Using popular technology gives my students the opportunity to access the resources they need while simultaneously "saving face" with their peers and not feeling as self-conscious about their need to learn differently. The use of iPods would also provide students with more autonomy because they would not need to rely on someone else to read them the material.
This next year I am looking to significantly improve the access my students have to sophisticated technology in order to increase their learning. Students would be able to check out the iPod from me during their classes, or come to the resource room to use them after school. Thank you for helping to make this happen!
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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. Ekstrom and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.