"Who dares to teach must never cease to learn." John Cotton Dana captures well my attitude about teaching and learning. Every day I learn something new and remarkable about at least one of my exceptional students that makes my day and causes me to be proud of the job I do, despite its challenges.
My school is in a high poverty area of Brooklyn with the majority of its students receiving free or reduced lunch.
I serve and teach 12 special needs students who are exceptional, not because of their disabilities, but rather their willingness to share, participate, learn and grow. They enjoy hands-on exercises and activities that allow them to express themselves in creative and dynamic ways. I refer to them as my "grape bunch" as this helps me to define better the essence of their characters. I am constantly impressing on them the need to take pride in their work, to try another strategy if the one they are using in math, let's say, is not working, or to problem-solve with their peers. More often than not they rise to the challenge. One student in particular is always "checking" on me, asking me how is my day and if I am okay. I find this truly touching. The progress I have seen in them so far is remarkable. My students make me laugh and they make me cry, but at the end of each day I am happy.
My Project
I showcase a great deal of my students' work. I have artists in class and they like to draw, paint and design. The IB curriculum lets them be creative, whether they are designing Native American artifacts, tracking the route an explorer took, or graphing a math problem. They use markers often, either on their personal or class white boards or as they make their designs on paper. Markers need to be constantly replenished. Additionally, I encourage my students to do a lot of research which they then use to formulate projects. It is very common for my students to complete a project and have no paper to print on, or worse still, no toner in the printer. Copy paper and toner go quickly and are difficult to be had from the office. I hate to see my students' expressions drop when they have completed their assignments and cannot hold their finished products. These items are referred to by some of my peers as "scarce commodities." Please, we need these items so my students can smile even more.
What a pleasure it will be in my classroom to have the essentials we need to help realize our activities and projects!
Markers, toner and copy paper are items used constantly by my class. It is really frustrating to create a perfect image or picture, then to be met with dried out markers or a printer with absent toner or paper. My students are creative, expressive and dynamic and want to be able to proudly showcase their work. Please help them get the items they need to enhance their work.
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