This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
If you were teaching in a critical needs school district in which 75% of your students were on the "free" lunch plan, would you find it appropriate to ask the students to pay a laboratory fee? Well, I certainly don't; especially when that lab fee is to purchase something that should be available to the students from day 1--LAB STOOLS! At the high school where I teach biology to 9th, 10th, and 11th graders my students, upon entering lab, looked at me with faces of utter confusion because there were no seats. I asked them to be patient and reassured them that the principal will be procuring lab stools as soon as possible. Well we are now on our 5th week of school and there are no lab stools to be found. When I spoke with the principal regarding the lab stools he replied by telling me that I need to ask each student for a small lab fee to help with the cost of the stools.
There are several problems that arise from the lack of lab stools. First of all, the lab appears less official to the students. We want our students to have as close to the experiences they will have in college at the high school level, but how are we to do that when they can't even sit down in a lab! Secondly, for the students the lack of stools suggests a sense of mobile freedom. It would not take a genius to figure out that giving students assigned seats in lab has a better appeal than telling your students to remain standing in a particular spot for 40 minutes at a time. Finally, the lack of lab stools has already been the cause of lab behavior issues. For example, several students have felt the need to find their own seats on top of the lab counters to rest their weary legs. Not only are students more apt to break things when they are not seated, but they could potentially harm themselves or others. Although sitting on the counters is against the rules, such potential problems could be solved if the students just had a place to sit.
To solve this very simple problem, all we need are 25 plain old lab stools - no fancy swivel seats or bucket seats necessary. With lab stools in place the laboratory will be a professional, safe setting that will be much more conducive to learning.
Your assistance will ensure that my students are safer, better behaved, and more focused in the biology lab. Once we get the lab stools we can begin planning for more exciting labs like the frog and sheep's heart dissections!
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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. Kirby and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.