Past projects 5
eTeams Make the eDreams Work!
Funded Oct 16, 2019I would like to thank the donors for their efforts and contributions. The students are able to use the laptop in the classroom and sometimes after school to do activities that they would not be able to do otherwise. We have an HTC Vive (VR Headset) that before this laptop we were having a hard time using, but now we are able to use it for certain classes and clubs. We can connect the HTC Vive and the laptop and take tours of different areas on google maps. We are able to explore under the sea, create three dimensional and living paintings as well as explore different parts of the human body.
The laptop helps to drive both incentives and learning goals for the students. When we read Sophocles they have little to no frame of reference for what Greece looks like, but when we are able to take three dimensional and interactive tours it is a real game-changer. The students love being able to do something that not everyone is able to do, not all classrooms or schools have this technology.
Our school might not have all of the best technology but we are working on improving it, and we do have both excellent students and staff. The administration is very supportive and as long as the technology is going to drive instruction they are happy to be of help with projects of any size. Thank you all!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Pasternack
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron Fuel Your School.Carting Along Sucess
Funded Nov 27, 2018The Nintendo switch that my students received is an excellent opportunity for them to be both be able to use the device for recreational purposes in playing games, but also in learning problem-solving skills as well as educational programs available on the console. The console is the new line of Nintendo products that don't just have a dock but can also be used portably, so it allows the students to use the device in the singular sense or on a larger screen for the collective.
Recreation is often overrated but a good learning activity is also an engaging learning activity. Rewards are half of the reason that people work, to begin with, but working on something that you are engaged in allows for a more productive experience overall. Beyond that, the switch can function for both productivity and reward. The switch has digital content that allows for them to learn vocabulary and sentence structure, the basic reading devices, as well as the benchmarks which apply to language arts, can be used on any given reading passage and prompt. Not all work is required to be from the textbook especially as the textbooks are now attempting to go more and more digital themselves.
Several of my students who have problems working in a more traditional, lecture and then an essay, setting are much more capable of doing work with a digital component or reward. The switch has several word games that allow them to not only increase their vocabulary but also to increase their fluency and frequency of the use. The switch might only allow a few of them to work and play together for now but it is a first and valuable step towards moving the kids into an area where they feel like doing more work and are willing to work towards it.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Pasternack
Virtual Dreams Can Become Virtual Reality
Funded Oct 17, 2018The new laptop has made the world more accessible to my students as a whole. It allows us to do research and look deeper into our subject material. Prior to the laptop my students were attempting to make old tablets work or using their phones at various intervals to try to find the information. The laptop can be used by itself or it can be projected on the board in front of the room. The old desktop would only be able to project on the board for so long before heating issues became a problem.
The laptop also has a nvidia 1060 graphics card in it, so we can combine it with the HTC vive headset and use it for virtual reality. We had a program that allows the students to use virtual reality and travel between all of the locations previously mapped on google maps. Further, there are virtual tours of museums and other more natural marvels. The technology allows the students to not only experience virtual reality on a good system, but it also allows them to see the different pieces of the world. When we read the Odyssey, they can take turns experiencing different Greek islands just like Odysseus.
Some of the students who have trouble connecting with text's have a problem because of their different types of learning mindsets. Students who work best with words and phrases might be okay, but other students are audial or visual learners, further some even require kinetics and different activities to truly engage in the process. The more the students can engage the more they are taking in and the more they want to take in. The new laptop, as well as virtual reality as a whole, offers the students incentive and an entirely other realm of opportunities. We thank you for your donations, your help, and your time.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Pasternack
This classroom project was brought to life by Chevron Fuel Your School.I Can Show 'Them' the World!
Funded Apr 19, 2017We thank you for your time and your effort on behalf of our kids! This technology is wonderful and has already started to help some of the kids just by sheer encouragement alone. The students love the idea that we have something at our school that the other schools do not. The virtual reality headset when it gets up and running will be able to transport children to far away places without ever having to leave the classroom.
We haven't had an excessive amount of time to work with the equipment yet because our school lacks a computer strong enough to do V.R. therefore I bring a computer in from home. I am attempting to get a second project funded so we can have a laptop at the school so the kids can work with the V.R. equipment on a daily basis in place of when I am able to bring outside technology in.
The clubs I work with in particular are extremely excited about having this technology available. The kids I work with in English are going to be able to see the locations described in stories, working with history they are also going to be able to see many places of historical significance. I have a program that allows them to do S.C.U.B.A. for their environmental sciences classes, and one that allows them to travel around inside of the human body. All together this technology is amazing and we all appreciate you all, very much!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Pasternack
Windows to the World
Funded Jan 26, 2016Technology is present throughout the world, and the more technology grows the more the need to grow with it arises. The students are stuck in a troubled time where the growth of technology is outpacing their ability to keep up with not only the "latest and greatest" but the very image of what the future will be. The students all have cell phones, which at this point are all smart phones, but they have little concept of the technology beyond these phones, and the televisions and video games at their houses. The ability to see clearly what other people are using, and more importantly will be using is a vital driving force to inspire the children to learn. With the laptop in our classroom the students realize that the video game systems are not all that cutting technology they believed them to be, that the real world is full of technology all of which moves forward at a rapid pace and will be out of date almost before the advertising has finished for the current product. The laptop allows for the use of the projector in the classroom, so any time I need to show the students a clip, or a website or anything from the internet, they can all see it.
The students were most excited about the idea of being able to all work together again. With their cell phones they are able to find our online text book, but without looking over each students shoulder, it's impossible to keep track of where they are. With the projector and laptop in play we can all follow along the central screen and work together. They also love the look and the feel of the laptop, the computers at our school are literally older than the children at our school, and as such have a very dated appearance. The sleek and modern look of the laptop itself and not even what it can do really seems to excite some of the kids. When they begin to realize the graphics and processing capabilities of the machine they get even more excited, it's fun to watch.
Some of the students assumed because the laptop wouldn't be going home with them for them to play games on that it wouldn't be worth their time to care. These same students are now some of the first ones to volunteer to control the board or to drive forward the interactive lessons. I think the laptop will help the students not just to grow through its use, but in being able to share that use and experience. Many of the children take for granted the things that are not theirs alone, but are used by everyone. Just because everyone has access to the road to the school, doesn't make it any less invaluable to all of us who get to drive down it to show up at school. I think the children who were closed off and thought it wouldn't affect them are opening to the concept that the good of the many might just also be the good of the one, and vice versa.
The laptop itself has been invaluable and has allowed both me, my students and the class as a whole to grow. We thank you with all our hearts and hope that we can continue to grow and repay you kindness by moving forward and paying it forward.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Pasternack