I am here today to share with you this awesome website called DonorsChoose.org
At Donors Choose you can create a class project that you need help funding. It may be technology, materials, a guest speaker, and so much more. Once you type up the information it has to be submitted to the website. They will let you know if it has been approved (you may have to make adjustments). Once it has been approved you may send it out to everyone you know and hope and pray that you get your project funded!
I was in need of some technology in our classroom. I created a funding project for an iPad and an Apple TV. I posted it to Facebook and asked my friends in family for their support. I NEVER thought that in 1.5 days the project would be funded and I would have the materials in my classroom less then a week later!
One of my favorite thing about Donors Choose is that they have a period of time where your family/friends can type in the code INSPIRE when they donate and another company will match their donations up to $100. It makes everything so much quicker! So a $20 turns into $40 - a $100 turns into $200 - and so on!
So this was my first Instagram post after I found out that I was funded! It was just 1 week ago today!
This was me yesterday holding my brand new iPad! The apple TV is on my desk ;)
I will warn you!! If you are trying to hook up the apple tv to your projection screen you will need a special cord. It may depend on the projector type! This is the one I ordered from amazon! Click on the picture to buy it from Amazon. You may want to check with your tech department to be sure it is the correct cord for you!
A few friends on Instagram were curious how an Apple TV would work in the classroom. I thought I would give a few details for those who are interested.
The Apple TV just plugged in gives you access to Netflix, some news channels, Discovery, your music, your videos, YouTube, etc. That is a nice feature, but the reason it is beneficial to a teacher is because it allows you to mirror most apple products.
When you mirror an iPad it can be wonderful!! There are times where you want to show the class how an app works, so this would allow you to teach it quickly to the entire group. You can display class books from apps like Book Creator (see my previous post about this app). Then with a basic drawing app you can use it as an interactive white board. I do not have a smart board so this is AMAZING!! Then if you have more than one iPad you can bounce back and forth to view other screens.
Lets say you are teaching a math problem. You tell the students to solver the problem 4+8 using any method that they choose. You can quickly flash a students work onto the screen and show them how this student used a picture, then flash another one up to the screen to show how another student used a different strategy. It is super easy to teach the students how to do!!
There are also other apps like Show Me or Educreations where a student may be working independently to solve a problem or respond to reading. You can show the students work to the class by again just mirroring the iPad!
If you have any questions feel free to email me or comment below. I will try to post some more directions on hooking it all up next week!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Smiles,
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