Half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education.
Support her classroom with a gift that fosters learning.
Monthly
One-time
Support Ms. Sweeney's classroom with a gift that fosters learning.
Monthly
One-time
Make a donation Ms. Sweeney can use on her next classroom project.
In my fourth and fifth grade math classroom, I strive to give my students multiple opportunities to represent their thinking through models. The content that students are learning at this stage in their education is laying the foundation for later math classes, and it is my goal to help each student develop a deep understanding of the content being presented. I strive to involve students in my teaching by using their work and explanations as part of my lessons, as I believe that this shows them that their thinking is valuable and that it helps to boost their confidence that they can not only learn the content for themselves, but that they can also help their classmates to learn it by sharing their thinking.
In my classroom, while I am fortunate to have an a plethora of wonderful math manipulatives and a class set of whiteboard-top desks, I have yet to find a convenient way for my students to share the thinking that they do with these manipulatives and on these desks with their peers. While gathering around a student's desk to view their work is a possibility, this is not always practical and can disrupt the flow of a lesson. With the help of this document camera, my students would have the opportunity to grow in their math knowledge by learning from their peers' thinking in an accessible way, while also having the opportunity to grow in their self-confidence as they begin to see themselves as both capable learners and teachers with valuable ideas. In the classroom that I completed my student teaching experience in last spring, I was amazed by the clarity and engagement that a document camera was able to add to a math lesson. Now, I would love to give my own students this same experience!
About my class
In my fourth and fifth grade math classroom, I strive to give my students multiple opportunities to represent their thinking through models. The content that students are learning at this stage in their education is laying the foundation for later math classes, and it is my goal to help each student develop a deep understanding of the content being presented. I strive to involve students in my teaching by using their work and explanations as part of my lessons, as I believe that this shows them that their thinking is valuable and that it helps to boost their confidence that they can not only learn the content for themselves, but that they can also help their classmates to learn it by sharing their thinking.
In my classroom, while I am fortunate to have an a plethora of wonderful math manipulatives and a class set of whiteboard-top desks, I have yet to find a convenient way for my students to share the thinking that they do with these manipulatives and on these desks with their peers. While gathering around a student's desk to view their work is a possibility, this is not always practical and can disrupt the flow of a lesson. With the help of this document camera, my students would have the opportunity to grow in their math knowledge by learning from their peers' thinking in an accessible way, while also having the opportunity to grow in their self-confidence as they begin to see themselves as both capable learners and teachers with valuable ideas. In the classroom that I completed my student teaching experience in last spring, I was amazed by the clarity and engagement that a document camera was able to add to a math lesson. Now, I would love to give my own students this same experience!