My students need adapted keyboards and Chromebooks in order to access the internet and academic writing in class.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Steff's classroom raised $708
This project is fully funded
My Students
My students are as diverse as a group as can be and that is something to celebrate. They are placed in my class based on mental, physical, and behavioral disabilities. We have students with Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, and a variety of other disabilities. All of my students have fine and gross motor delays. I have 3 students in wheelchairs and one in a walker. They enjoy jet setting around the school! Many of my students do not go many places besides school, so school has become a refuge for them.
In addition to diversity in terms of disability, my students are very culturally diverse.
We have students from Vietnam, Peru, Mexico, Somalia, and the United States. I have 13 students, and 9 speak Spanish as a first language. It makes for a very fun class.
I teach in a Title I school, so all of my students have economic challenges. My students love science, social studies, and art. They love the hands-on approach that science gives, the ability to express learning through art, and the rigor of social studies. You will see amazing art related to academics outside our classroom displayed with extreme pride.
My Project
Several years ago our state adopted the Essential Elements for children with severe disabilities. Simply put it is an adaption to the common core. It created a whole new educational world for students with disabilities. A very different and heavy change was the addition of writing to their education. You might be asking yourself, "Why wasn't writing adopted before?" The reason is that the focus used to be on fine motor development. Now, my students are composing thoughts to paper. I have seen amazing things!
The new core opened up communication possibilities to those that had no voice.
There was still one pesky problem. What do we do for the kids who don't write because they can't. The answer has been amazing, the use of Chromebooks and adapted key boards!
We have Chromebooks in our school for every general education class, however, due to budgeting, my students do not have access to them. We can borrow the keyboard for a short amount of time, but then we have to return it and wait our turn again. This cycle takes away from the time my kids can be engaged in writing, typing personal information, and playing academic games on the internet. It would be so nice to have something consistent that stayed in our class.
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. Steff and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
