CLASSROOM COPIER

I have just "moved up" with my sixth grade class to the seventh grade. Our school is a SURR school in the South Bronx. We find ourselves in a precarious position this year: the Chancellor's new curriculum and accompanying materials do not apply to seventh grade math and science this year. So, we're working with a shortage of everything: books, supplies, lab equipment, you name it.

Three weeks into the school year, I have spent countless hours in line at the copy shop and I can't begin to count how many dollars o­n photocopies of handouts, worksheets, reference materials, group notes for collaborative projects, and homework sheets because we simply don't have access to the resources that would allow us to function without these copies.

Because I try to structure all of my lessons in a "workshop" format, we need copies of primary resources to work with. My students, always working o­n group projects, need copies of their teammates' notes and research so that everyone in the group can literally "be o­n the same page."

Having a small desktop copy machine in our classroom would allow me and my students to reproduce materials we need in a timely manner. We would be able to photocopy readings, missed assignments, rough drafts for multiple peer editing, data for math projects or science labs, and other important papers quickly and easily.

The cost of a Canon Personal Copier and a case of copy paper, both purchased from Staples, is $224, including shipping and fulfillment.