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