Chimacum School District

Teachers & Technology

Grant Program

Application Form

Grant Application

1. Vision (5 points total)

Technology in K-12 Learning Environments

 (Times New Roman 12-point type, 1” margins, maximum 350 words). Word count does not include the question.

·          Describe your vision for technology in K-12 learning environments.

Middle school teachers will work towards this vision through ongoing professional development. Our common focus is to develop a growth mindset in all our students. Chimacum Middle School students will participate in engaging work to produce either solutions to problems or interesting ideas for an authentic audience (project-based learning). Students will work at their own pace using tools that best meet their needs (student-centered, personalized instruction, tech integration). Students will be assessed continuously by their teachers to inform the student how to proceed to his or her next steps (formative assessment). Feedback will be given to the students as information so they can drive their learning even further (growth mindset). Failure will not be seen as something to be avoided or feared but instead seen as a roadmap to success (growth mindset). In order to help motivate students to become lifelong learners and to motivate themselves to work hard and succeed they will be given choice as to how to learn and, when appropriate, choice as to what to learn. Students will be provided support to help them learn independently (autonomy) as well as given ample opportunity for mastery by comparing their work to their previous work instead of their peers (mastery). Students will learn how to work as part of teams as well as on their own, including working with students outside of our school district (connecting and collaborating). Students will be taught to be digital citizens just as they are expected to be contributing members of a positive learning environment and positive climate here at CMS. Students will see that learning is an activity that happens all the time, even when they are out of school. School will be an extension of their learning instead of a separate event (24/7/365 learning, mobile learning). Students will be guided to mine the Internet for resources so they can become effective online researchers, a skill needed in this information age. Students will be able to connect, collaborate, curate, communicate and create using critical thinking to share their learning with each other, their teachers, their parents, and the world.

2. Project Proposal

2a. Project Description 

 (Times New Roman 12-point type, 1” margins, maximum 500 words). Word count does not include the question.

·      Describe the class activities you plan for this learning project (or learning projects), including how your students will learn. (10 pts)

CMS is requesting to implement a 1:1 program for all of our students 6 - 8. We want to purchase Chromebook Flips, Laptops, or iPads (the technology changes so fast that we will purchase what we can get for the best price that works for our students)  for each student to keep, take home and take to the next grade level.

By having students in our classes with devices they can use for learning, we the middle school teachers plan to transform our teaching to better prepare our students for their futures in the 21st century. Learning in our classrooms will become student-centered meaning that students will take responsibility for their learning. With Google at their fingertips students no longer need the teacher to be the holder of knowledge. No longer is lecturing the sole method of passing knowledge onto students. Research shows that kids are not vessels to fill with knowledge and any teacher can tell you that kids come to school with many ideas of how the world works. We just need to guide them in dispelling the myths from the facts. Teachers will become facilitators of learning in their classrooms and truly be side-by-side learners with their students.

In a 1:1 classroom project-based learning will be more effective and efficient. Online research will happen as needed instead of having to wait for a turn at the computer lab. Students can work individually while still connecting and collaborating with their peers, whether they are in the same class or not. With Chromebook Flips in hand all our students can practice Communicating, Collaborating, Curating, Creating all while using Critical thinking skills (the five C’s of 21st century learning).

Students can use blogs and social networks to connect with each other or students from around the world. Blogging is a great way for kids to showcase what they are learning in class and get feedback from teachers, parents and peers. Using social networks such as Edmodo students can participate in class discussions even with other classes! This type of connection and collaboration allows students to harness not just their own expertise but also the expertise in their class or grade level or school. By commenting and evaluating each other’s work students will use critical thinking skills needed to evaluate and improve their own work. Peer and self-assessment are invaluable tools our kids will need in any career.

Students can use social bookmarking sites as well as their class blogs to curate information and knowledge by saving links. Links saved on their blogs or on social networking sites such as Diigo allow students not only to access their links but also to share them with anyone. Students can then use apps for drawing, creating videos, making tutorials, creating animations, creating websites and other ways to share and showcase what they are learning. Creating is at the top of Bloom’s taxonomy of learning objectives.

By putting technology into all students hands and allowing them to take charge of their learning and providing them options as to how they show evidence of their learning we will empower students to take advantage of their education.

2b. Technology Integration 

(Times New Roman 12-point type, 1” margins, maximum 500 words). Word count does not include the question.

·           What technology or technologies do you plan to integrate? And why did you choose these technologies for your learning project(s)? (5 pts)

·           How will this technology or technologies support the needs of your students? (5 pts)

We chose Chromebook Flips because of their mobility. Learning and working in the 21st century is dominated by mobile technology. Being able to access information, data, and communication anytime, anywhere is something our students are familiar with but too often it is not allowed in school. We will change that at Chimacum Middle School.

With a Chromebook Flip in hand a student can take any topic being studied in any classroom and conduct research with the whole of the World Wide Web at his or her fingertips. Students can choose to read an ebook, watch a Youtube video, or choose from hundreds of apps to help them understand any topic of study. But the Chromebook Flip isn’t just for content consumption, students can also curate their newly found information by saving links, adding photos or embedding Youtube videos on blogs or websites and creating their own Youtube videos. Students can then share their information on Edmodo, Twitter, social bookmarking sites, or on a class social network. With so much information curating is a necessary 21st century skill and students can be problem solvers and well as authors by sharing solutions and creations on the web.

Students can connect with each other via their blogs or Twitter or the class social network to collaborate on class projects. As a team students can use their strengths to create presentations, videos, animations, blogs, websites, essays, songs, music, drawings, photos, or any number of approaches to show what they are learning. What students create to showcase and share their learning can also be used to persuade, make a point, or even change the world. The opportunities are there for all our students.

We cannot know which of the current technologies are going to provide students with the skills that will help them in the future but by offering a wide array of options we can give students the most opportunities. Having options does allow students to choose ways to showcase their work that they are good at but it also exposes students to new ways to share and present.

Blogging and social networking have the capacity to open Chimacum Middle School to the world. Our students can connect and collaborate with students all over the world and with experts by reading others’ blogs and commenting and having others read their blogs and comment on their work. Social networks such as Twitter or apps such as Skype allow us to bring experts into our classrooms. Imagine a group of students researching the effects of genetically modified foods. One student could be reading current studies while another student gathers data from different websites into his own graph to analyze, while another student gathers photos for a slideshow, while another Skypes a Scientist working directly with GMO products. With an Chromebook Flip in each child’s hands, this is possible.

2c. Project Assessment

(Times New Roman 12-point type, 1” margins, maximum 630 words). Word count does not include the question.

·       Describe the formative and summative assessments you will use to evaluate student learning. How you will use that information to adjust your instruction? (5 pts)

·           How will you know if the project meets its learning goals? What evidence will you collect that demonstrates your students understand what this project is designed to teach? (5 pts)

Students will be assessed formatively (as students are learning to help them improve) and summatively (after they learn to see what they retained, how they use their new learning). Teachers assess students continuously as part of ongoing, personalized learning. By not having to be at the front of the classroom all the time, teachers are freed to visit with students and consult. Feedback works best when it is part of a conversation. This can be done when class size is small enough to allow teachers to meet with individual or small groups of students throughout each class period. As students become proficient at working with their Chromebook Flips, teachers can focus on meeting with and consulting with individuals or small groups.

Using apps such as Socrative or websites such as Kahoot the Chromebook Flips can be utilized as clickers where teachers can ask questions of all his or her students and get instant feedback of who understands and who still needs help. Using Google Forms teachers can conduct surveys and collect data while their students are working and learning in class. Assessment does not have to be merely multiple choice. Teachers will be free to evaluate students using multiple methods, including having students create and present.

The five strategies of assessment for learning or formative assessment include Sharing Learning Expectations, Eliciting Evidence, Feedback, Self-Assessment, and Peer Assessment. We will include training in each of the five areas to ensure we are assessing our students, not grading, rating, or sorting them, to inform them as to the best ways to progress to the next steps in their learning.

As students share their learning via class blogs and social networks the teacher can access all that work and provide feedback from his or her Chromebook Flip using Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Moodle. Teachers already take work home, papers to read, now teachers just need to take their Chromebook Flip home and they can read and provide feedback to their students anytime. Even if students are working from home teachers can see their work as it gets done. Learning is not just limited to the four walls of our classrooms nor to the times our classes are in session.

We will be looking for increased engagement from our students. As students learn how to use Chromebook Flips and other tech tools for learning and for working and for curating and creating they will see that their “toys” are for more than just fun (even though working, learning, curating and creating is fun). Having happy students will help with our school climate, one of our school improvement plan goals, and will aid in classroom management. The evidence that this 1:1 Chromebook Flip project is successful will be in more than just test scores. It will be in instilling in our children a love of learning and a willingness to work for a goal. We want to encourage our students to have a growth mindset where they see that through hard work and effort success will come. That is how we will know that this project has been successful.

Ways to measure the successes of this program -

1. The work that students do, both the variety and the quality.
2. Student engagement, meaning more students, especially “at-risk” students, doing school work and learning more than before the implementation of the 1:1 program.
3. Increased student learning as shown by teacher reporting and feedback to students and/or standards-based grades (meaning that more students are meeting standard).
4. Students love to learn, we want to see that love of learning happen in school. By making student learning relevant, students will enjoy coming to school. This can be measured by increased and/or improved student attendance.
5. Better student behavior.
6. Increase in positive school climate due to increase in positive behavior. Students will be happier and more engaged, which will lead to a happier school climate.
7. Improved test scores.

3. Proposed Budget for Chromebook Flips

Budget

Complete an estimated budget using the form below. List each item and amount separately. Write an explanatory note if you need to clarify the purchase of an item or its price.

Click here to see proposed budgets for iPad Minis and for Chromebook Flips.

4. Share & Communicate

Project Experience

(Times New Roman 12-point type, 1” margins, maximum 350 words). Word count does not include the question.

• How do you plan to share your project experience and new learning?

• Among district peers.
• Outside your school district.
• With your community.

Teacher professional development will include teachers practicing Connecting, Collaborating, Curating and Creating. We will practice on our Chromebook Flips using social media. Increasingly, social media is how people are keeping abreast of what is going on in their profession and in the world. By forming and interacting with a Professional Learning Network (PLN) teachers will be able to model for students how technology and social media can be utilized for growing as a professional and not just for staying in contact with friends (something that most students are proficient at already, ie Facebook).

Teachers will be able to maintain a class website or blog as well as use Twitter or Google+ to connect with other educators all over the world. Teachers will also be able to use Facebook pages and/or groups to connect with their students and student families. Email is still a viable form of communication but commenting on each other’s blogs, maintaining a website or Facebook page or group, and communicating via Twitter or Google+ are new forms of communication we will learn to share our experiences with the High School and the Elementary and the Primary teachers in our district.

Those same technologies, blogs, websites, Twitter and Google+ will also be used to communicate, share and collaborate with educators outside our district about the adventures of 1:1 Chromebook Flip computing in the middle school setting. In this community Facebook, texting, phone calling, emailing, and using the district and school website are all excellent ways to share our experiences with our community.