So, as you may know (since it is in my profile and all), I am a Speech-Language Pathologist, and I am now working in Detroit Public Schools Community District. I don't work directly for the district, but for EBS Healthcare as a contractor, but still...
I'm really enjoying DPSCD, for a number of reasons. The Communications Disorders department is like a big family, and they are all very supportive. Not only do I get great support from EBS (much more than from the contract company I worked for previously), my DPSCD supervisor is responsive to questions and concerns, and my coworkers are always willing to help when I have a question. The department also has a materials library that we can go to once a month to borrow assessments and therapy materials so we don't have to purchase our own.
One of my biggest complaints about my previous district (which I won't name here, but I probably have named in the past) was that we were not given sufficient direction when we were asked to do something, and supervisors were not responsive at all to questions (I mean, phone calls went unreturned and emails went unanswered for weeks, when we have timelines we have to adhere to in order to be in compliance with federal law). That is certainly not the case in Detroit. These folks are organized! And I appreciate it. And it still feels like a family, even in so large a district.
All that being said, I still like to have a bunch of my own stuff for therapy with my kids. Working with preschool and elementary school age kids, I often like to do literacy-based therapy, especially at my Head Start. Many of my kids don't get read to regularly, and I want to help instill a love for books and reading, as well as give them a good foundation for language growth and development, so I have quite a collection of picture books with related activities that I use a lot. I also have my own iPad that I have purchased several speech apps for - articulation and language/concepts apps. The kids really enjoy using the tech, and so it becomes something of a reward to have an iPad day. I have even used some of the reinforcer games in the apps as a break when I'm testing a student - we will take a short movement break and they can play a game before moving on to another test. The problem is, my iPad is getting old and glitchy, and since I can't update the OS any further (I'm currently running iOS 7, and most of the new apps require iOS 9 or higher) it crashes a lot. It's getting frustrating.
Enter Donors Choose, the website mentioned in the title of this post. Donors Choose is a website where educators can post projects with very specific requests for supplies and materials for their classrooms, and, like the name says, donors can choose which projects they will donate to. You can see exactly what is being requested and exactly how much it will cost, and when the project is fully funded the website staff purchases the requested materials and sends it to the teacher at their school. There are pictures of the classrooms, and when appropriate, students will write thank-you notes to donors and you get to see your donations being used by the students so you know what kind of difference you made.
I have created a project asking for a new iPad to use with my speech students, so I can get some updated speech apps in order to engage them with technology that doesn't constantly crash on them and frustrate them when they are trying to learn. If you want to look at my project, here is a link: Putting the FUN in Functional Communication.
If you decide to help fund me, thank you. If you just can't right now, I understand, but thanks for looking anyway. Maybe you know someone who is interested and able to help.
Happy holidays!
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