District 75 houses the highest needs special needs students and, oftentimes, these students also fall into the highest needs economically disadvantaged category. Over 90% of my students fall into this category. We are a 12-month program, where students attend year-round to receive services.
My students are part of the largest school district in the country (the NYC DOE) and fall into the highest needs category.
For years, I have poured my own money into my classroom, but it is not enough! I have reached out to local community members and collected used and refurbished computers, but they do not meet the requirements to run modern software.
I teach grades K-8 and a total of 9 classes, a daily lunch club, and a weekly positive behavior intervention club as a reward for students. All students would have access to these resources! That is why today, I am reaching out for global support to help our highest needs students get an equal chance to succeed! We truly need your assistance to level the playing field. Many students come from homes that do not have Internet access or technology, further increasing the achievement gap.
My Project
For a decade, I have been using video games to engage students and to teach social/emotional, critical thinking, and creative skills. Recently, a new game was released that pushes the limits of a block building game, called Boundless.
What many people do not realize is: video games have a unique way of teaching and engaging students that carry over to real life.
If a group of students do not get along, it is going to be very difficult getting them to work together on a group project. However, when the project is working together in a video game, everything changes! A common practice in group work is: assigning roles. Each student has a purpose and works together to achieve a result. This skill applies to any collaborative work later in life when they enter the workplace. At its most basic level, Boundless accomplishes these social/emotional target goals. It demonstrates how much more they can accomplish as a team, instead of by themselves. This will carry over to real life group work and overall behavior.
On a critical thinking level, the complexity of recipes and formulas is astounding! In math and science, there are constant formulas to memorize. Students struggle with this. Yet, I could ask any of my youngest students how to craft a torch or a pickaxe in Minecraft, and they can all tell me the components as well as the order the items are placed to make the recipe. Many formulas are multi-step. This is in direct correlation to the critical thinking skills we are trying to develop in mathematics word problems, memorization and UNDERSTANDING of math and science formulas and the scientific method.
Boundless will allow us to create meaningful student-led, creative and collaborative STEM projects. Thank you so much for your support! #TechForGood
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Kamer and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
