So this post is a shameless plead for help.

For those of you who have been following me on Twitter for a while, you may know that I have started a new job at a charter school in North Philadelphia. The students have never had a technology teacher who taught more than keyboarding and the school is in the process of upgrading the technology in the school. We have a new Mac lab for the older students (3rd-6th grades) and an old Dell lab for the little ones (K-2nd grades). I am planning on introducing my students to multimedia projects as a way to show understanding and I know from experience that my little ones will need to spend some time navigating sites like Starfall to get used to using the computer.

However, the school did not have the funds to purchase headphones to go with the computers.

As a result, I can imagine 25 computers all spitting out various music, sound effects and other noises while my students work on videos, and I foresee podcasting as impossible.  The older lab’s computers don’t have external speakers, so my little ones who are beginning reading won’t be able to listen to stories or directions on sites we will be using. As for providing my students with screencasts to help teach them how to use various applications or complete an activity, that will be totally out of the question, too.

I have begun to realize that in order to provide my students with the skills they will need to be successful as 21st Century learners, we need something as simple as headphones.

So PLEASE help us achieve that goal and allow us to complete exciting digital projects and build our literacy skills by donating whatever you can to our Donors Choose Project.  And of course, pass the project along to anyone you think might want to help!

Click here to view the project

8 Comments

  1. JWagner

    Reply

    We had this same issue on our campus.
    Then one student asked why they could not use their own earbuds.
    Which made sense to us — both cost wise and also eliminated the need to continually clean the headphones.
    Just a thought.

  2. Reply

    I have no problem letting kids use their own headphones. Only issues: 1) K & 1 don't bring earbuds to school. 2) the school culture isn't always tolerant of kids bringing electronic devices to school 3) what to do for kids who don't have them 4) kids remembering to bring them on the day they have computer class

    I haven't ruled it out as an option though!

  3. Reply

    Just to add to that… Dollar stores will usually have $1 ear buds… That are not high quality, but better than nothing, and a lot easier to swing for the money on… Might even get some parents to sponsor 25 at a time for the price of fast food for 3 or 4 people…

  4. cbcurtisttl

    Reply

    Ear buds shouldn't be shared. I had headphones but some of my students destroyed them so now looking for more resilient ones

  5. Melody_ugdsb

    Reply

    Most of our computers do not have any external speakers (not sure why!) so the students must have headphones to hear anything. In kindergarten, the students purchase (from the school) or bring in their own headphones which stay at school. They are kept in Ziploc bags and passed on from grade to grade until the student graduates or leaves our school. I store my class' set in two Rubbermaid tubs, one for boys and one for girls, for easier access. This has been a successful program for the most part. A few have been broken or misplaced but not many. Good luck!

  6. Aaron Fowles

    Reply

    Have you tried computers4learning? I'm getting some mikes from them. Maybe they've got some headphones, too?

  7. Reply

    Happy to help in your quest for headphones – I also have the same problem, but my middle school kids can almost always find a pair of earbuds to bring in.

    I accidentally referred to you as Mrs. H instead of Ms. H on the donation website. Got a little carried away! 🙂

  8. Ms. I

    Reply

    Radio Shack has $4 headphones that are well reviewed… I just ordered a set for my classroom.

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