Past projects 77
Roman Myths In Modern Life
Funded Dec 3, 2013On behalf of the students I want to thank you for your generosity and support. My students were amazed that so many people cared so much about their learning. As an example of their excitement, the students (politely) quibbled over which class got to read which books first.
Currently my students are reading the books you have provided them.
The freshmen honors class is reading The Aeneid. These students, and especially the junior year teacher, are quite appreciative because the English translation of the Aeneid is part of the requirement on the Advanced Placement exam.
The junior/senior Latin Poetry Honors class are each reading one of Ovid's myths. Their task is to draw out the story in four to seven pictures. They shall then create a pic-stitch of their story so that we can tweet out the collection of myths.
One freshmen class is reading the live of Caesar and Cicero and are comparing these figures either to a real life person they studied in their US History class or to a fictional character they have studied in English class.
The other freshmen class is very excited to be reading Robert Harris' Pompeii. The major motion picture Pompeii just came out and the students have been coming into the classroom discussing all the errors in the movie. "That's not how it happened!" they shout at me, as if I made the movie. Also, that class has a student teacher who comes from Seattle. He is telling the class how Mt. St. Helens changed his affected his state.
In summation, the students were excited about receiving the books and are now excited by what they are reading.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Maguire
Coloring the Classics
Funded Mar 26, 2013I simply cannot thank you all enough for your kindness and generosity. Highlighters and dry erase markers don't seem like much, but my teenagers act like gleeful kindergarteners when they use the items you purchased for them. Honestly, when they use your products, they forget that they are learning; and that's the best kind of teaching.
We begin each day with two students metrically scanning lines of poetry. Then we next project the passage onto the whiteboard so that we can color-code similar poetic elements. The differentiated colors allow the students to see more clearly certain patters of words such as chiasmas (an ABBA pattern) or synchysis (an ABAB pattern). Occasionally we use small whiteboards and markers to mimic the ancient Roman wax tablet and stylus. The Romans would reform the wax as a way of erasing their work; we use very small erasers that you purchased for us. All of this work is shown in the pictures uploaded to this project.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Maguire
Pump Up the Volume (Latin Style)
Funded Feb 6, 2013Nothing focuses a teens attention like sound. When I turn on the speakers you have purchased, the students perk up as if summoned by a Muse.
The audio speakers have been put to two distinct uses. Their primary use is to aid in the presentations of videos and DVDs when played on my laptop. Additionally we are using them to play contemporary songs while we translate them into Latin.
We are translating songs from Aerosmith to Bruno Mars into Latin. Moreover, we are matching the number of syllables of our translation to the original English so that we can sing along to the music. And we can hear that music on the speakers you purchased for us. :-)
Please don't tell the students, but they are having fun in Latin class.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Maguire
iTabula, An iPad for Latin Class
Funded Dec 16, 2012I can't thank you enough for the iTabula (iPad) project you have funded. From the simplest task of checking homework to a more student-friendly research project, the iPad is in constant use in our classroom.
The district does provide us teachers with a laptop, but it is heavy and awkward to carry around and is often needed for other tasks. I have the laptop hooked up to a projector so that the students can see today's work. While they are working on the current assignment, I can walk around with the iPad and check off homework assignments. (Our district now has switched to an online grading system, but if I'm using it to take attendance and track homework then I'm not using it for class work.)
Occasionally, when students are working on group projects, I let them use the iPad for reference checks. It's like having all the books about Latin at our fingertips. If only we had such devices in my day. :-) Again, I thank you. Ego gratias vestribus ago.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Maguire
This classroom project was brought to life by American Tower and 8 other donors.Modern Media for Ancient Language
Funded Nov 9, 2012On behalf of my students, I want to express my deep gratitude for your generosity. The ELMO which you purchased for us has become an indispensable part of our classroom.
Every morning I assign a "Do Now" (or as we say in Latin, an "Agite Nunc") to my students. I have them decline a noun or conjugate a verb, or translate a passage, or some similar "warm up" item in order to prepare them for the day's lesson. In the old days, I'd have one or more of the students go to the chalkboard to put their work on display. Now I have student put their work under ELMO. The advantage here is that there is no down time; their work is immediately projected onto the whiteboard.
The kids love seeing their work on the big screen. They are more engaged and all want to have their turn. So, again, I thank you.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Maguire
Write Like a Roman
Funded Nov 2, 2011I would like to thank each of you for your kind and generous donation to my class. Although you donated months ago, it is only now that the students are benefiting. Here's a little back story to help me explain.
DonorsChoose.org uses a variety of vendors for its teachers. The book store that they normally use did not have as many books on hand as I had requested. Truth be told, I don't think they'd even had such a large request on book concerning Caesar's conquest of Gaul.
So, when the book store ordered more books, it discovered that the book was no longer in print. This is when DonorsChoose.org really stepped up to the plate.
The people at DonorsChoosse offered me a replacement book. However, it too was in short supply. So we decided to buy some of one and some of the other. Then DonorsChoose.org scoured the country looking for books. Over the next several weeks, I got mail deliveries of a book or two from all sections of America. Eventually, DonorsChoose fulfilled my request.
Sadly by the time all of this happened, my students and I had moved on to other Latin authors. Not wanting to wait until next year to use the books, I offered them to the students for extra credit. Can I tell you that I wish had even more books! The students loved the books and recommended them to their friends for pleasure reading. The AP teacher liked them so much that she has made it required reading for next year's students. To say I am pleased with you donation is an understatement.
Thank you for you gift of money and support. Thank you for you patience as it has been a long time since you donated. And thank you for believing in my students. I am honestly sad to let them go on summer vacation.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Maguire
Illuminating Latin
Funded Dec 31, 2009I want to thank you for your generosity. The white board is prominently placed in the center of our classroom. My students and I equally use it. Its primary function is to project the Latin text so that we can mark up the projection with notes.
In many ways it functions like a regular chalkboard with one major exception: when coupled with a laptop computer and projector, I can change images and projections with one command stroke. This one change is enormous. When I first started teaching I used a chalkboard just like the teachers before me. I would place information on the board and have students write on the board, but it took time to erase and re-write material. In that wasted time the students would become restless. Furthermore, I could not "go back" to erased materials.
Now, however, I can move forward and backward with PowerPoint quickly and with no lost time. Our (new) usual classroom procedure is this:
I project a Latin sentence on the white board. I ask students to come to the board and "mark up" the text by either underlining verbs, bracketing phrases, drawing arrows from adjectives to the nouns they modify, et cetera. I have a few students mark and erase each other's work until we come to a consensus. Then I advance my slide to show the same sentence with the correct mark ups. Most of the time the students are right, but when they are not they can now literally see where they have made an error.
Prior to the white board I would verbally correct the students. I still do; but with the addition of visual stimuli, I believe the students are "getting it" faster. I have far fewer questions from students when we are doing corrections which means we are spending more of our class time on new material and less on repetition. It's still too soon to tell if their grades have improved, but their mood sure has.
And brings me to my real thank you note. The students are amazed that strangers would spend money on a white board for a teacher and a class they haven't even met. What they are saying is that they are amazed that unknown people would spend money on them. Every day they see the huge white board in the middle of the room. It's a reminder to them, and to me, that other people are concerned for their well being. And that is an education in and of itself. Gratias vobis agimus. ”
With gratitude,
Mr. Maguire