"Culture shock!" What an understatement when it came to the eye opening experience of my first year teaching in New Orleans, Louisiana after moving from Los Angeles, California and teaching for two years in rural Alabama. I realized that many things I had taken for granted in my own educational journey were things that were almost non-existent to many of my students.
The disadvantages my students have inherited do not make them any less capable, however the resources they're allotted do.
There are many resources I had available when I was a student that my students do not have the luxury of having. My English classroom is a place of challenge and discovery. My students overcome obstacles on a daily basis, both in their personal and their academic lives. The zip code they live in should not determine the type of education they receive. However, unfortunately, at this time it does have an affect. That being said, their struggle is a story of triumph.
In my classroom sit future politicians, doctors, lawyers, professional athletes, educators, and scientists who will have risen from the epitome of humble beginnings -- if -- you help us out.
My Project
These books will give my scholars access to the knowledge that they deserve! My classroom library is a place that my students really enjoy, and we take independent reading time very seriously! All of these books have been chosen with my students in mind.
With these new books, my students will have access to rich, culturally relevant text which will lead to overall academic growth during independent reading.
With a bigger selection of books, they will also be able to choose something that interests them. The best way to increase reading ability and literacy is to read more, and these books will continue to help my students grow.
I have chosen these books because they have direct connections to the standards I teach in class, and they will help us reach our end-of-year goals in passing end-of-course exams. Many of these books are also great resources that can help my students with their end-of-year capstone projects.
According to a prominent education analytic program, "Only students who read 15 minutes or more a day saw accelerated reading gains—that is, gains higher than the national average—and students who read just over a half-hour to an hour per day saw the greatest gains of all."
Having access to these books and this literature in my classroom library allows my students the access they need and deserve to make leaps and bounds in their reading literacy and will also help grow their language economy.
If you donated to this project, you can sign in to leave a comment for Mr. Kling.
DonorsChoose is the #1 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 Mr. Kling and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
