Funded Oct 31, 2018Words cannot express the gratitude that is felt for giving our class such a charitable donation. I am always amazed at the generosity that many are willing to share towards the improvement of student learning. As you can imagine many teachers do not enter this profession for the salary and most still do it knowingly that a good portion of their paycheck will be put back into the classroom to benefit their students. However even amidst the growing strains on teachers, there is still not a day that goes by that I don't leave my classroom completely thrilled with what I have accomplished and not a penny of my own that is spent that I would have no problem spending over and over again. Large purchases on technology are usually the responsibility of the teacher unless we are lucky enough to benefit from a grant. The fact that we were gifted not only one iPad, but two is so remarkable to me and even more is that it was done so by perfect strangers.
We use iPads for an array of activities from math apps, to searching about weather, using QR codes to listen to books online, our school wide literacy program from Imagine Learning, recording ourselves as we present reports on animals and practicing our sight words and forming letters properly. There are so many tools that are literally at our fingertips, and the best part of all is, no matter the lesson, the students are always thrilled when there is technology involved.
When I found out my project had been funded, I of course was shocked...again that others would be willing to donate to the classroom of teacher they had never met and never seen teach. Following that shock I may have jumped up and down in my classroom reading the email. I immediately informed my class that we would be getting two new iPads and that complete strangers were giving them to our class as gifts. They immediately asked me "Why?" I said "because I asked them to and because they care about you and want you to learn and be successful in school". As typical first graders, their response was simply put with the word "AWESOME!" I cannot agree more. Each day I watch as they are used during literacy centers, math and science and wonder what our classroom would be like without technology. What will these students be able to learn by having so much information at their disposal? Anything they wish to achieve.
This year, I have the opportunity to have a very intelligent student with autism in my class, but who struggles very severely with sensory sensitivity. He LOVES the iPads! He uses them daily for his morning work and can do alternate centers on them when his emotional stability is struggling that day. When he refuses to do regular classroom work, I know that we will be willing to work on the iPads and that he can control the volume to a level he is comfortable with that day.
The most wonderful thing about this technology is it does not end at my 25 students I have this year. It will continue for years to come. There are so many industries and politics out there who may try to belittle teachers and say they don't matter. That their job can be done by anyone or that you don't need special training and we are really just babysitters. Donors Choose represents the opposite of that. They continually show us that we do matter, that each and every one of our students matter and they will support us and they show us that what we do is important. To you and all of the partners at Donors Choose, to our donors specifically who gave us this wonderful opportunity to enrich the lives of our students, I say Thank You!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Williams