Virtual Visitors: Bringing Authors and Speakers Into Our Classroom
My students need a wireless microphone and webcam to bring authors and guest speakers from all around the world into our classroom.
FULLY FUNDED! Mr. Steinacker's classroom raised $156
This project is fully funded
My Students
My students have heart, even when they're hit hard. Many of them come from diverse backgrounds and families that struggle to make ends meet, but they come to school regardless. Several are immigrants, or children of immigrants. Some will be the first person in their family to attend college. Many of them are also painfully unaware of their potential. I'm determined to empower them.
It's my personal mission to help my students connect with the power and inspiration that come from good literature.
Many of them are low-level readers, and if I can inspire a love of literature within them, or teach them the crucial skills of reading, writing, and thinking critically, then I will have given them a strong foundation for all future success.
My Project
For several years I’ve wanted to bring authors and guest speakers into the classroom, but time and financial constraints have made this very difficult. Even if we could find times that worked well for high-profile visitors to come see us, most of them do not live locally, so it would be hard for us to cover their speaking fees and plane tickets. A webcam will allow us to bring authors and speakers from all over the world into our classroom, and a wireless microphone will allow us to have engaging conversations with these speakers where multiple students can pass the mic around to ask questions and participate.
The process of writing a novel is like alchemy to some of my struggling students: it seems mysterious and inimitable.
Conversations with real authors will help students to change that mindset. They will see that authors aren’t wizards who just magically bring publications into being, but rather artists and researchers who work hard to bring their stories to light. Few things can encourage the next generation of writers as well as a current writer who connects well with teens.
Video technology can open up an astonishing array of opportunities for my students. If we receive the webcam and mic, my current goals include asking Gene Luen Yang for a video chat (after our reading of one of his graphic novels), contacting a guest speaker connected to the Holocaust (after reading Wiesel’s “Night”), talking with a lawyer to enhance our argumentative unit, consulting news reporters to enhance a nonfiction writing unit, and possibly interviewing Shakespearean actors as we watch “Romeo and Juliet.” This video technology will open up the world for my English and ESL 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 Mr. Steinacker and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
