My students need headphones and a printer for Journalism class so that they can watch news clips at their own pace and print and edit their stories in class.
At the start of each Journalism class, students work on their weekly news journal in order to prepare for the end of week "Week in News" or "WIN" quiz. Being up on current news and events helps to inspire students to write their own news stories for our school newspaper, The Kenwood Kaleidoscope.
My Journalism students are 7th - 12th graders.
They are honors and AP students as well as regular level and special education students. The greatest thing about this class is the diversity of students' experiences and points of view. They are curious and lively and love to interview peers and staff, they love to conduct surveys, take pictures, design and even sometimes, they love to write (especially when it's about self-selected topics!).
Ours is a public school that reflects the diversity of the neighborhood. The student body as a whole is full of talented and creative kids. Many excel in the classroom, at sports and in the arts. We stand out from most public schools in our city because of our well rounded student body and dedicated staff.
However, there are still needs within the public school system, so, much needed donations from Donors Choose supplement what is lacking in the school and system.
My Project
I want my students to work at their own pace and focus on the topics that are most interesting to them. I am lucky to be able to teach a class in which I have the freedom to direct my students to the things that engage them the most.
That being said, in a small classroom with 30 computers, it is difficult for anyone to focus when 30 different video clips are playing throughout the room at any given time. The headphones will allow students to focus on their own news clips and research without distractions.
We do not currently have a printer in the classroom and many times there are not viable printers in the school for students' use. Since the Journalism students are the writers and editors for the student newspaper The Kaleidoscope, they need to be able to print and pass around their stories for editing while in class. Having a printer in the class will make the writing and editing process so much more easy and efficient.
Donations to this project will make not only the Journalism class more streamlined and efficient, but it will ultimately impact the student newspaper The Kaleidoscope.
The headphones and printer will allow students to fully function within the classroom (and after school). It will alleviate any stress that students have felt in the past about getting their work printed outside of the classroom and less stressful students make more successful students!
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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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. Schelewitz Gerdes and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.