Have you ever had a computer crash in the middle of creating a document? My students have, up to three times in a class period! Our current computer lab is archaic and dying, with desktops from 2003. The bulky CRT monitors and failing towers chain them to the walls, restricting collaboration.
My students are an award-winning yearbook staff of 40 in an advanced journalism class, and 120 photography students.
The photography students use the computers daily to upload their pictures online, explore websites for tutorials and collaborate on our class website. My yearbook staff uses the computers to build and design yearbook spreads, create and edit copy, and upload and caption pictures. This all happens while using advanced software in the Adobe Creative Suite 4 series, that overwhelms our outdated computers.
My Project
These two shiny new laptop computers puts two old dinosaurs of desktops out of their misery. It gives students the chance to edit an image in Photoshop without the computer crashing in the middle of the process. It gives students the chance to learn Adobe Illustrator by giving them a computer that can open a file instead of freezing on the start-up screen. It gives the kid who can't afford a card reader a chance to upload pictures with its integrated card reader. Most importantly, it gets us one computer away from being tied by cords to a white, brick wall, and gets a student out at a table where they can see eye to eye with their peers and collaborate with others. The computer can be used when it needs to be and shut when its done, allowing students more time to work together and less time staring aimlessly at a screen waiting for a webpage to load. These laptops are a step that changes the entire atmosphere of my classroom.
New computers aren't just a luxury in our classroom, they're essential to our success.
It isn't just the success of a future photographer winning a state-wide contest, or my journalists winning a top honor nationally. It's about creating meaningful and lasting work. It's a photograph that will shape a portfolio that launches a career. It's about journalists creating the only record of our school's history. And it's about these students coming together to do it successfully, on a modern laptop.
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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 Mrs. Hanks and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.