How a Simple Computer Accessory Helped after Hurricane Harvey

In a traditional mathematics class, the teacher stands in front of the room and teaches a lesson. But what if some of the students aren’t there? They miss the lesson. And what if lots of students aren’t there? The effectiveness of the classroom is brought to a halt.

That was the situation that Mrs. Sapp was facing in her classroom at Travis High School in Texas. After Hurricane Harvey came through and brought extensive flooding to her area, many of her students lost power in their homes, or worse. A sizeable percentage of them were forced to stay home to make repairs. Even months after Harvey, many of her students were struggling to rebuild their homes and their lives and, as a result, were missing school.

What was the solution? Mrs. Sapp decided that if she could record her lessons on her tablet instead of delivering them just once in her classroom, her students could watch them at different times. And they could watch them remotely if they were unable to get to school. If they watched, their learning could stay on track.

That’s brilliant, right? The only thing was, Mrs. Sapp needed a way to stabilize and position her tablet while she recorded her lessons. She opted to buy a Belkin Tablet Stage stand, a simple tablet stand that retails for $156.69. So she posted her need for that money as a project on DonorsChoose.org. And now, thanks to contributions from the Rebuild Texas Fund and the Student Research Foundation, Mrs. Sapp has her tablet stand and is recording and posting lessons.

These photos show how you can use the stand to position a tablet over a sheet of paper while recording a lesson:

Thanks from Mrs. Sapp

Dear Student Research Foundation,

Having this screen has improved the efficiency of my lessons tremendously. I have been able to record lessons, share student work, and incorporate many discovery lessons.

My students have been able to correct their misconceptions by re-watching lessons posted that they either missed or just didn’t understand the first time. They are able to rewind, pause, and watch as many times as they want. Students are able to differentiate their own learning.

Students have technology all over the place, so incorporating it into their learning provides “buy in” for me. They are so much more excited to explore on an IPad than they are with a worksheet.

Thank you so much for providing for my students!

With gratitude,
Mrs. Sapp

We look forward to writing about additional DonorsChoose.org teacher projects here on the Student Research Foundation blog. Stay tuned!

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