Our school is on the up and up! Less than 10 years ago we went bankrupt due to a corrupt superintendent. Over the past three years that I have been teaching English here, there are more students passing the California Exit Exam, more students graduating and going to college, and last year, we increased our base API(academic performance index) from 622 to 649, a 27 point increase! The demographic diversity of students is 70% African American, 14% Hispanic American, 11% Asian American and 5% Caucasian and Pacific Islanders; 80% live in poverty and 13% are English learners.
My students struggle with reading and writing. Most of my ninth graders are reading at or below the 7th grade level when they enter my class. My 9th,10th graders and AP students desperately need the writing skills and reading strategies to help them access content across the curriculum, and especially help them to get to college, and stay there! I currently use an overhead projector to instruct my students in writing. Modeling is critical to learning how to write better. My overhead projector and burns out bulbs (which cost 40.00 to replace) on a monthly basis. This often happens in the middle of a lesson. Likewise, for every lesson in which I use an overhead projector I need to make copies onto overhead transparencies. These transparencies often jam the copy machine, and are timely and costly.
An ELMO docu-can would improve my teaching and my student's learning! With a docu-cam, I would be able to edit essays with my students, model how to write papers, and deliver engaging instruction in real time! Also it will allow for students all over the classroom to see on a large, clear screen, allowing access for all my special learners.
Your support for this project would show my students that education isn't stuck in a time of overhead projectors and transparencies. It will show them they are valued and important to donors who care about their academic success!
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