Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand" is an old Chinese proverb. Worksheets and workbooks have their place, lecture and oral lessons are fine, but hands-on activities make learning so much more fun and develop the mind.understand
My students go to a rural public school in one of the poorer counties in Pennsylvania.
They do not always have the use of computers in the classroom or a workable smart board that would add to their educational experience as much as we would like, but the majority of my students are eager to try new activities. We try to expose ourselves to a variety of lessons from Chinese New Year and PI Day to developing a trip through the Solar System for the 3rd graders and hatching eggs for 4-H. They loved trying to follow the Scientific Method when we were able to gather the needed materials even when they had to bring in items.
My Project
Worksheets and workbooks are good, but to really get through to some students, hands-on activities and lessons can get a discussion going, experiments planned and carried out, data collected and reported on.
I would love for my children to be able to work in small cooperative groups to complete activities with me as the facilitator allowing them to use the Scientific Method to work through the process and steps and form conclusions.... and maybe come up with some questions.
Learning centers can be set up with the needed materials so that learning can continue to take place individually or in pairs. Allowing the children to expand on what they know or are learning about and sharing that knowledge to the rest of the classes. My students need an electric circuit kit, a classroom magnet lab, and a weather forecasting lab to learn the scientific method and think.
Being in a poorer county and not having some of the materials that would make a richer educational experience for my students is heartbreaking to me.
Sometimes funds are not always available.
I want to give them a chance to explore, learn, question, and share their thinking. They deserve the right to develop into excited learners. Once they are excited about knowledge and learning, I want them to be able to carry those feelings on into their futures.
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 Mrs. Hough and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.