Navigating the Grant Process

The financial reality of teaching is the cost incurred by the teacher who wants to do the right thing by the students. This often means incurring costs, as much as $1, 000 per year according to AdoptAClassroom.org. Sadly then government only allows up to $250 in reimbursement for out-of-pocket teacher expenses. That leaves most teachers with a $750 deficit each school year. Many organizations and even school districts have taken up the banner and are offering grants to help teachers purchase much needed items, curriculum, and technology for today’s classrooms.

The three major school districts in the area where I live offer educational foundations where teachers and students can apply for grants. The district where my girls attend uses DonateNow, an online grant program, allowing potential grant donors the opportunity to scroll through requests and put their money where their heart is.

Within my school there are two ways to fund needs for the classroom. One way is through PTA grants. One grant is for creative ideas and the other can cover anything from classroom supplies to fieldtrips. In addition, once a year the PTA holds an auction. The newest most popular addition to the auction is the teacher wish list live auction. Teachers request an item and parents offer bids to purchase this item. Last year I received an iPad Mini from the auction. One local business paid for half and then several donors covered the rest of the cost. It has been invaluable in my teaching this year.

Two sites which offer grants are geared more towards matching you with donors on the web. AdoptAClassroom.org and DonorsChoose.org both allow the teacher to design their grant need and post those needs. Then the websites keep the grant request open so multiple donors can contribute to meet the classroom need. This inventive way of covering costs makes it more likely a teacher will receive needed items.

Tech and Learning grants, as well as Vernier Software and Technology grants are wonderful resources for finding matching grants for a teacher’s needs. However, the lists can be overwhelming and difficult to navigate. The key is to keep looking and taking the time to match appropriate grants with your needs. This applies to the US Governement Office of Technology which provides competitive grants, as well. Although a great source, trying to muddle through to meet your specific needs can be somewhat time consuming and daunting.

However, the Edutopia Resources To Get You Started information on edutopia.org is helpful and relevant information. Following these steps the teacher can more easily navigate the other sites and be more efficient with time and effective with requests.

As with most things in education these days, grant writing and proposal take time: time to research, time to write the grant, and time to allow for donors to meet the need. The reward is great, but the time required can be exhausting.

Collaborative Teaching

It is an interesting concept to collaborate via technology. I can honestly say, this never occurred to me, nor did I realize this existed. I thought I’d reached teaching Mecca when I found Teacherspayteacher.com. Looking through the collaborative sites was informative and overwhelming at the same time. Exploring the sites, I found Share My Lesson to be easy to use and allowed me to limit who I shared the information with during each lesson. This offers a level of privacy and limits the online “dredge” of information overload which can occur when it is a public setting. As I was trying to explore with Curriki, I felt it was too busy and complicated. This might just be my limited knowledge of technology, but sometimes it can be overwhelming when sites offer too many options. I felt the same way about Learnist. My thoughts lead me to wonder if part of my frustration is the grade level in which I’m seeking collaborative efforts. Is Kindergarten not a hot topic; clearly not as hot as geometry topics. I found many opportunities to collaborate on that topic. My favorite site is Google for Educators. My class takes a virtual fieldtrip around the United States to see the nation’s symbols and landmarks. I could see the virtual fieldtrip offerings on Google Connected Classrooms being beneficial and more meaningful than the PowerPoint presentations we use for our trip.

In the realm of Collaboration for Students, I could envision using Skype to talk with classrooms in other states. This is actually a project my sister-in-law and I have talked about. She runs the learning lab for the University of Montana and we think it would be great to connect our classrooms through a shared project and Skype. The roadblocks have more to do with hardware deficiencies than desire. Voice Thread would also be an appropriate venue for Kindergarten. It would be fun to use Voice Thread as a means of storytelling with another classroom – in the building or across the country. How fun would it be to try it with our book buddies and use it to tell fantastic stories.

One thing I would like to try is a collaboration project with our third grade book buddies. Using Share My Lesson, the other teacher and I can devise how to make a shared storytelling lesson and use VoiceThread as the technology for the students. The students would initially collaborate on paper, deciding on the story plot together. Then the kindergarten students would start the thread and the third grade buddies would continue it; passing it back and forth between classes two times. Once the story is complete, the partners would collaborate on illustrating the story. The teachers would scan the illustrations and work to aligning them with the story. If the story could be published, it would make a great school auction item!

There is so much to offer teachers and students. It is shaping up to be a busy summer of exploring more of these technologies in order to provide more opportunities in the classroom; even for little ones.

Serious Games in Education

The use of technology-driven games in education is an interesting topic. For this tech savvy generation it just might be the way to engage more learners, immerse them in learning, and assess skills such as problem solving, application of prior knowledge, and connections with real world situations. Research suggests students learn 75% to 90% more when they are doing the work, rather than listening to a lecture. (www.futurelab.org.uk/projects/games-in-education, 14) This applies to “doing” computer simulations and games which require the learner to predict, solve, and comprehend the nuances of the game.

Serious games is defined as one which is thought out and intentional about its use in education more than its benefits of amusement. It is expected the game will be entertaining and appealing, but it is more important for the game to reach learning targets and goals. (24-25) Examples of serious games would be Edutainment, Simulations, Games for Change, Games for Good, Immersive Learning, Educational Games. The topic is wide and diverse which meets the needs and attentions of a diverse student population. Although there are different definitions of a serious game, most researchers conclude the game must have a “learning model embedded, the content is integrated into the game to learning is intrinsic to play, and the assessment of learning may be integral to the game or occur through mediation around the game”. (27)

In the article Why Games & Learning at www.instituteofplay.org the author suggests games offer the player an opportunity to be a risk taker, experience failure, and find solutions to problems. While these are added benefits of game playing, I wonder if they are transferable to real world problems and situations requiring an element of risk or the opportunity to re-attack once failure has been experienced. If it is a transferable skill, then gaming is an excellent tool for not only teaching to the learning targets, but also for developing lifelong learning skills outside of academia.

I appreciated the author of the Edutopia blog entitled Game-based Learning in Practice, Matthew Farber. His actions to include game-based learning in the classroom resulted in motivating and encouraging students in the learning environment. I most appreciated his use of non-computer based games and computer based games. Although I am learning more about how to integrate technology in the classroom, it is important to offer opportunities for students to unplug and interact with others in a more personal, meaningful way.

 

While researching serious game options for the classroom I found BrainRush.com. This site appeals to me first off because it is free! As an educator, I could spend money on many wonderful things and experiences for my classroom, but when something comes along and its free...I want to jump on it. Apart from this BrainRush.com offers gaming experiences which are already complete or a template to design your own game for the needs in your classroom. The ultimate "selling point" is the ability to track student progress. This information is invaluable for a teacher and is often tedious. BrainRush.com makes it easy for the teacher and because it is accessible on the iPad, it is even more accessible to the students. I can envision using this site to design games for sight words, letter recognition, and simple math problems.