My students with disabilities are advocates for their learning. They want be active participants in class, yet do not have the supplies needed in order to do so.
My students (regardless of their disability) are highly motivated and have a constant thirst for learning.
Since we began our full inclusion program, my students need for learning have been insatiable. They want to learn more, participate more, and arrive in the classroom expecting to be included in every activity that their peers are doing. This is the first time that have been exposed to the curricula that all their friends are talking about at lunch. Each student is self-driven and consistently ask their teachers for ways that they can actively participate. They want to be more included, they want to be "a part of their schools wolf pack." They advocate for themselves and desire to do more so that they are high school ready -- in their own words, "College is not an option Ms.N, I WILL go to college one day." This statement has been the motivational force for all of my students this year and they refuse to accept anything less.
My Project
My students are part of a fully inclusive program. Thus, they are with their peers all day and do not receive separate instruction. An iPad and a protective cover would grant students access to: Read2Go, BookShare, CodeWriter, and text to speech applications that will expose them to the curricula taught in the general education classroom. These applications grants access to novels, articles, and reference texts that students did not have before. In addition, students who can process and comprehend the material being taught, but cannot read at grade level would have applications that can read the text to them. For example, students are currently reading a novel with the class, however, they cannot read at grade level. The iPad program Read2Go and iBook would have the novel read aloud to students. It also highlights that word/passage that is being read so that students can follow along with the reading. This is only one of the many ways an iPad can greatly assist my students.
Donations to this project would greatly impact my students' lives.
These are students who are self-driven and want to excel academically. However, they lack the materials and supplies that would open so many doors for them. By having an iPad, students with disabilities would not only be exposed to what their peers are learning, but also actively participating in literature circles, book groups, and classroom discussions due to the access that the iPads would grant!
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. Estrada and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.