I teach high school Earth & Environmental Science in a high-need community. My students are mostly 9th graders who desperately need an awesome education to inspire them to go to college and break free from their surroundings. They are mostly 9th graders who need lots of support and motivation. Science is usually not their favorite subject, so my goal is to change their opinions by the end of their semester with me.
I used to teach at a school that had SmartBoards and my students were excited to come in my classroom everyday! Now that I am at a highschool that does not have the latest technolgy, I am finding it difficult to motivate my students on a daily basis. I have flash drives full of powerpoint presentations, photographs, videos, podcasts, and simulations of earth's natural processes, but no way to share it with them.
My students are often more street-wise than academic. They crave drama and entertainment of any sort, positive or negative. I want to change their opinions about school, especially science. I want to give them a hands-on, minds-on experience so they become intrigued with all that science has to offer, but the resources at my school are quite low.
My students make sure they have the latest technology for their personal entertainment: ipods, blackberries, laptops, flat screen plasma tv's. But when they walk into my classroom its like going back in time. The only technology I have to teach with is an old overhead projector in front of the room. Black and white overheads are boring and printing colored overheads is too expensive for my wallet.
I know for sure that an LCD or DLP projector and a mount to hang it from my ceiling will enhance my teaching and the learning experience of my high school students (who need to be entertained all the time!) Having it hooked up to the internet will allow us to immediately find answers to questions they pose, as they watch the process (full-screen) of how to research using the internet. We could watch current event videos and even observe the latest space mission in real-time using the NASA website. Having a projector hooked up to the internet will broaden the visual base of my students' learning experience tremendously.
I have flash drives full of amazing video clips, current event photographs, simulations of different Earth processes, podcasts and more. But I have no way of sharing these amazing views and sounds with my students. I need a projector hooked up to the school's internet to bring the real life drama of Earth to my classroom. A projector will help me motivate my students on a daily basis. Their minds will be turned on and tuned in to the latest information regarding the most important planet, the Earth.
Your donation would help these struggling students become interested in science and technology. You will make it possible for them to see outside the walls of their school and home life. This simple piece of technology will make a huge difference in the ability of my students to understand and remember the facts that they learn.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. K. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.