My Students

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb

My students are high-energy 7th graders.

They have grown up in an age of ever-increasing technology use, but their school experience has not kept up with the times. My school is known as the "happy school" in the district, which is unusual considering the age of the students (middle school).

My Project

Students will use the Chromebooks to access Khan Academy exercises. I have been acting as a Khan Academy coach to my students since 2011. Last year, I was awarded a grant by the Morgridge Family Foundation to purchase twelve Chromebooks for my students to use in class. Prior to receiving the grant, students were required to complete the vast majority of their Khan Academy work from home. This was far from ideal because many students became frustrated that there was no one around to assist them if they struggled. Once the Chromebooks arrived, student engagement increased and my students had so much fun working on rigorous math exercises. Students were eager to help each other and the technology helped "humanize the classroom experience" (as Sal Khan would say). I also noticed that students who in the past would give up easily and ask for help - persevered instead. It was a thing of beauty!

This project will allow there to be at most a 2:1 ratio of students to Chromebooks in my classroom.

In other words, every student will be able to work on their own, or at most with one other student, while completing Khan Academy exercises.