Tell us the teacher you want to support

Jessica Chan

I have been teaching at P.S. 130M for the past 5 years. I myself, was a former student at this school. It has been an honor and a privilege for me to work with the children in Chinatown and to give back to my community. My first grade class gifted and talented class is full of incredibly bright children with various family backgrounds. Some children in the class have special needs and some are also English Language Learners. Each and every parent is so involved with their childs education and support all that we do in our school to better their childs education. With the New York State Common Core Standards raising the bar on higher expectations and rigor across all grades, there is a great emphasis on math, science, and technology. I have a science curriculum based on the water cycle, which I teach to my first graders. We focus on a lot of the content through literacy but also on the hands-on aspects of the unit. Children learn in many different ways. Giving them an opportunity to take interest in this subject can greatly change their outlook and ideas on what they want to do in the future. My hope is to have the latest iPads (or even the iPad 2, if vendors and donors can gain access to them) for differentiated instruction. It would be incredible to watch videos or simulations of how water affects all living things in our environment on an iPad. Interactive games or examining a water molecule without leaving the classroom can spark greater interest in Earth science for the class.