Cheshire Teacher Raises Funds for Classroom Computer Center

A Highland School teacher is hoping to raise the funds to provide her students with some extra technology to supplement the lessons her second-graders are learning.

Teacher Nicole Dostaler turned to the website Donorschoose.org, which is an outlet for educators to fundraise for projects that outside of the regular school budget.

Dostaler is hoping to purchase a Google Chrome laptop and headphones for her students to use.

"Imagine students actively engaged in their learning, researching from books & videos, taking notes, writing books and teaching others about their topics... Seems like a high school, doesn't it?" she wrote on the request. "Well, this is what my second graders LOVE to do, but we need a computer center to help us do so!"

Her students live in a middle-class town, she says, but come from "a wide-range of backgrounds and cultures. 

"Several students in my classroom are special needs, as well as from low-income single-family households and join us from another school district," she says. "Despite these backgrounds, they all show a love and enthusiasm for learning. They are more than willing to challenge themselves to meet the academic goals they set for themselves, especially with the recent implementation of high-level Common Core Standards."

The total for the request is $308.93, and so far $155.29 has been raised, leaving a balance of $153.64 to go.

"The Acer Chromebook and headphones will provide an immense amount of extra support to our classroom in all subjects, but especially reading and writing workshop. It will enable all students research information online, watch videos related to our topic areas, allow students to type and publish their work, provide support for struggling students to participate in enrichment activities, and have students practice improving their typing skills," she says. 

"The Chromebook will create a permanent computer center in our classroom for students to use independently or in small groups throughout the year whenever we need access," she said. "Access to technology is immensely important in today's world and I want to provide my students with the opportunity to integrate it into our curriculum outside of our one weekly trip to our school's computer lab."

To donate to the project, go to http://www.donorschoose.org/project/informational-reading-writing-and-rese/1142151/