Past projects 13
Remote/In-Person Theater Education Technology
Funded Sep 4, 2020Your generosity and commitment to public education has improved remote learning for my students in a great way. Not only has our new green screen encouraged an increased use of live video during remote class session, but my classes have noticed an improvement of video quality because of its presence. When used without a virtual or image background, the fabric acts as a backdrop and therefore limits the amount of visual distraction that comes with teaching from home.
Additionally, students are excited to come to class when digital features are used as a tool to adjust scenery. A students commented one time "it looks like you're in a library!" Similarly, our new selfie light has improved video quality by illuminating the view that students see on a daily basis. Pedagogues throughout the country agree that live video conferencing is best practice in terms of distance learning techniques.
Finally, I have not had the opportunity to utilize our new projector because of the amount of time our school has spent in quarantine due to positive test results. In the future, this will be essential to bringing access to digital content to students who opt for in-person learning within classrooms that lack presentational technology. One example of met need is those classrooms where wired or wireless connections to a projector board is not accompanied with sound. This has proven to be an issue when our class engages with viewing professional theater productions or listening to digital materials or Broadway cast recordings. Further, I know this technology will be extremely useful when education returns to its norm and students are eager to experiment with creating their own visual projections to alter their physical space.
You are a change maker.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Gonzalez
This classroom project was brought to life by Con Edison and 2 other donors.Improving Remote Teaching
Funded Aug 13, 2020Thank you for your extreme generosity! This project supports teaching and learning in a remote setting and helps bridge the gap between teacher and student. In person, this project helps create a sense of normalcy where students are dealing with a complete different world than they are used to. For one, digital technology is supported by way of streaming my computer screen to my second screen to assist in managing live video conferences, virtual curricula, and a variety of open windows in my web browser and computer files. Similarly, I have converted the flexible desk to be equipped with the roll on dry erase surface so that my work space is transformed into a canvas for which to takes notes on or make important lists. To keep organized, the magnetic dry erase boards have been essential given the many tasks that are assigned to teaching and learning remotely.
During our limited time in-person, students appreciated the use of our new hall passes. It is important to manage student travel through hallways, and our traditional and oversized hall passes were not effective given health and safety policies. Students could be confident in using our helpful and user-friendly hall passes, and were excited to return to class in order to douse the plastic-covered tool with hand sanitizer.
For the resume of in-person learning, this project also assists paraprofessionals working with students with special needs and overall increase student engagement. My vision is to apply dry-erase surface to the walls of my classroom to allow for peer interaction and the creation of visual aids. This kind of tactile and visual learning is important In respect to engaging multiple intelligences and honor the diverse learning needs of my students.
Your dedication to public education is applause-worthy!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Gonzalez
This classroom project was brought to life by Kleenex Brand.Black Box Theater
Funded Jun 25, 2016Thank you so much for helping provide resources that are essential components of our black box theater. Students utilize the black curtaining to section off playing space and backstage/storage areas. Black foam tiles allow for actors to participate in activities "on stage" and differentiates the acting space from audience/learning space. Lastly, the transformational tables create student seating within the classroom and students convert tables into audience seating with ease. One specific project on creating dialogue for tableaux used all three donated materials at once. Students created physical images of characters from Roald Dahl's "Matilda" on stage and then wrote authentic dialogue, presenting finished products in front of curtains.
Students expressed amazement and awe when our donated materials were first presented in the classroom. The floor tiles came first and shortly after, we had a stage in our dull classroom. Next, our curtaining arrived and covered the wall with windows, blocking sun lights and aiding in creating the aesthetic of a black box theater. The long-awaited tables were the icing on the cake and I can still hear the gasps of the student actors when they saw the bright red seats/tables that contrasted with the blackness of the playing space. "Whoa, this is so cool," is the response I get when alumni return to the school and find this new space in our school building!
Students will continue to use the stage and audience spaces now available through our exploration of theater literacy and scene production. Students will become familiar with the ways to describe stages and spaces, using our own black box theater as a model. As a culminating project, students will work in groups to rehearse and present select scenes from plays. In this unit, students will utilize the curtains, foam tiles, and tables as set pieces and fundamental components of our theater. For years to come, you have revolutionized this Bronx classroom. Thanks again.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Gonzalez
This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and 22 other donors.