Newton Needs a New Apple

Funded Dec 2, 2020

I cannot express my gratitude and appreciation enough for all of the donations that funded my first ever DonorsChoose project! As one of the many many teachers who was thrown into online distance learning last year, I experienced many challenges and struggles trying to adapt my curriculum into a digital setting. A lot of my teaching has been heavily reliant on my ability to improvise discussions on Physics topics with my students and being able to use my limited artistic ability to draw visuals and diagrams on my whiteboard. When that physical whiteboard was taken away from me, I knew my highest priority would have to be finding a suitable replacement.

I tried different methods of digitizing my handwriting, from pointing cameras at pieces of paper that would be blurry and unfocused to trying to write using a mouse with a shaky hand and wrist pain, but nothing could replace the ease and fluidity of handwriting something. This iPad has allowed me to continuously engage more with my students in a way that each of them can see clearly from their own devices and offers me a more extensive selection of tools to use in my classes.

As a Physics teacher, most of my curriculum is based on handwritten diagrams and equations that are not easily reconstructed in a digital format. I will admit that I have somewhat enjoyed trying to figure out how to make this curriculum more digitally accessible to my students, but it has definitely been an incredibly slow process. For my Advanced Placement (AP) class, time has not been on my side. This iPad has allowed me to support my AP students the most in the past semester in preparation for their AP exam at the end of the year.

Thank you all, again, for your contributions to my DonorsChoose project! I wish you all the best :)”

With gratitude,

Mr. Lee