Your web browser might not work well with our site. We recommend you upgrade your browser.
The past seventeen months have been some of the most challenging, grueling, and stressful months that we've experienced, students and adults alike. Teaching from home, the lines between work hours and personal hours became blurred. To better support my students, I became constantly accessible and on-call for them, at any time day or night, whether it was for academic matters such as making up work or personal struggles like losing a pet or getting sick. This steady stream of availability took a toll on my laptop. As the new school year begins, I find myself needing a new one to support a new group of students who have just gone through an unprecedented, traumatic event unlike anything before in their lives and will now need more assistance than ever before. With a new laptop, I can provide my students with the individualized and creative support they need as Special Education learners. I can pull students outside of class for extra support if I notice they are confused and work with them on a laptop to provide any resources they need. With building space limited in all schools this year, a laptop would allow me to turn any free space into a classroom for students, even if it's an empty corridor. Within the classroom, I can run around to meet each student's need, whether it means pulling up videos, images, articles, and definitions, so they can keep pace with the lesson. I can let students use the laptop to finish assignments if they are falling behind or come up during lunch to edit an essay together. I can also use the laptop to write IEPs, which will help advocate for my students' needs. My students' needs are great, but with a laptop, so are the solutions.