Running head: INNOVATION GRANT PROPOSAL 1

SED 464

Professor Smudde

Grant Proposal

Justin Beauvais

Innovation Grant Proposal

Running head: INNOVATION GRANT PROPOSAL 2

Abstract

This is a grant proposal that is meant to search for funding to provide my classroom with

the necessary tools to aid our student in their learning. I have a diverse group of learners, who

would have great use for iPads in their class to assist them. I will cover what is needed and also

why it is needed. I will also be including what the cost will be for these products.
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School Environment Narrative

My name is Justin Beauvais and I am an eighth grade U.S History teacher at Highland

Lakes School. Highland Lakes School is just one of 38 schools that are part of the Deer Valley

Unified School District. According to the DVUSD Demographic and Enrollment update for the

2015/2016 year the district has increased its enrollment over the last two years, still about 2,600

students below the all time high of 36,408. Highland Lakes is a kindergarten through 8th grade

school, with nearly forty percent of its students enrolled in seventh or eighth grade. According to

NES.ed.gov This schools demographics are as follows, White 73%; Hispanic 12.38%; and Black

4.43%; Asian/Pacific Islander 5.63%; American Ind/Alaskan .46%; Two or More Races 3.69%.

With all that are enrolled 50.37% are females and 49.63% are males.

Highland Lakes School has several different types of technologies available to the

students and staff. There is a computer room filled with thirty-four desktop computers, allowing

each student to have their own computer. There is also a school issued laptop to each teacher,

staying in their rooms. Each class is also issued a white board with markers, to help illustrate

their lessons. There is also a television in every room, which broadcasts every morning the daily

news. The daily news is created by the journalism class, where they learn how to produce a show

as well as be on camera. Each class is provided a projector and a touch screen SMART Board,

which can be a great tool for many teachers to help students who are visual learners. The

students have very little access to technology in class. The students are not allowed to access

their cell phones to use them for class either. The students are in desperate need for iPad tablets

for their daily use in class. They could be used for their Interactive Students Notebook (ISN), as

well as many inquiry and project based learning projects. I have

Running head: INNOVATION GRANT PROPOSAL 4

Each class of mine is filled with thirty kids in every class except one, which has thirty-

two kids. My classroom is a tad overcrowded, and has table seating with eight tables throughout

the room. As soon as you walk in there are the desks to the right, with my desk in the very back

right hand corner. Along the back wall, there are cabinets as well as a sink with a drinking

fountain in it. Next to my desk, I have my podium where I take attendance and then report it into

the school issued laptop on my desk. The front wall of the room has a white board across the

entire wall. The far wall is covered in artwork from students and different keepsakes from my

students as well as a bookshelf and one window. The near side wall, has more cabinets that hang

low and have a hard surface that I use to put graded papers and papers yet to be handed out on.

Each class I have is a little different but one thing most of my classes have in common is

they have far too many special needs students. In fact this is the case in three out of my four

general education classes. Due to budget cuts, we do not have the amount of Special Education

teachers needed, which has led to an overflow of students into the general education classes. My

class also has a paraeducator who is intended to help those special education students who were

pushed into the general education classes due to classroom size restrictions. In theory this should

be of great help, however the need is so great it seems almost like a drop in the bucket. Each

class that I have, has an ISN that they write in daily, as well as cut out and glue articles in the

notebook. Simple activities like these, have proven to be complicated and require much more

attention then what the general education kids require. My other students also sometimes require

a lot of attention and special direction. Although there are many challenges in my day to day

operation, I am ecstatic to have this opportunity to show these students a good work ethic and

have an impact in their lives. These kids who have learning disabilities can use the iPads as a
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tool to aid them in their learning. There are many apps and games that can be used, as well as

using the audio for the hearing impaired.

Introduction

The students will be using these iPads for their project based learning and inquiry based

learning projects. The students will be using these to record videos, edit them and use them to

express any other form of art they would like. Also, the students will be using these iPads to surf

the internet, finding content for their various assignments. The iPads can and will also be used as

a reward for good behavior, allowing those students to have free time. I look for these iPads to

help my students become better at communicating and better people in general. These will be

tools used to help them develop empathy for others through their inquiry based project. These

iPads will also aid the students in becoming comfortable with public speaking, and will give

them life skills for job interviews.

Brief Biographical Description

I am a graduate of Arizona State University, and have been teaching for 3 years at

Highland Lakes School. I grew up with Attention Deficit Disorder and was not treated until

college due to my parents fear of the medication. I struggled with school my whole life, but the

one subject that always kept my attention was history. History is almost like a fairy tale that

would allow me to escape where I was, and imagine being in that type of setting. My students are

a huge part of my life, and these projects will help my students in more than just school. I am

very interested in helping my students gain academic success, but I would much rather them be

good, well rounded people than being good at taking tests. This is what this project will

accomplish, growing young men and women.

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Project Narrative

Objectives and Goals

I am looking for my students to gain an appreciation for the technology that this world has to offer

them, and to the students why it is important to keep working and striving to meet the needs of the world.

I am looking for the students to take a look outside of their everyday life, and think of the big and little

things that are considered technology. The way we grow plants and vegetables, experience entertainment,

transport goods etc. I am looking for the students to answer the essential question of what the world will

be like without their technology. How would that impact their lives? How would that have changed

society in general?

Activities and Impact

Technology has been an integral part of nearly any thriving culture throughout history. Learning to

develop, build and use chisels eventually led to the ability to develop, build and use the wheel. This

pattern continues even to this day, where technology is weaved through nearly every aspect of society.

Technology has changed the way we make money, the way we eat, drink, learn and live. I will be

teaching the importance of this next generation to keep building and developing technology, so the world

can continue to improve with a couple of questions. How has society been formed by technology? Also,

Without your chosen technology, how would this world look different? They will then elaborate on how

the world would look different without this technology.

The students will have this assignment that will cover the public speaking portion of their required

standards, and will hopefully help bring students out of their shell. Every student of mine will have choice

of their technology, and will choose between the wheel, the television, the hammer and the telephone.
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After the student has selected their technology, they will then be responsible for exploring this topic and

gaining a better understanding of it. The following week the entire class will be put in groups according to

their topic. At this time they will share their findings and have a discussion about how to improve upon

their own ideas. After this one class period, the student will then be required to also seek opinions of

additional people to gain a larger perspective. The reason for this is high school students do not always

have a full grasp of reality, and having a more mature point of view could do wonders for their

comprehension. The students will have to create a project that will give the students a choice of their

preferred method of presentation. This project will be some sort of art whether it by a skit, poem, song,

diorama movie or art. The art will be used to answer the question of how society has been formed by

technology, by showcasing what the world would look like without their chosen technology.

This project promotes student choice by allowing them to not only pick their technology, their

preferred presentation style but also they can choose who they think will provide the best feedback to

benefit their project. Even though many will have the same topics, these choices ensure a different

product every time. This project provides solutions to many things, the opportunities are limitless. There

are so many needs whether it be a cure for cancer or aids, or create technology to benefit special needs

children.

Technology has come so far and will continue to do so for real world problems like these. In

today's society, there is nothing more relevant than technology in this social media era. Another reason

this is relevant to my students is there is so much disease and sickness throughout the world, many will

know of people effected by these sicknesses that one day will be solved by technology. The technology

that would best serve my students varies based on their presentation style. The most effective technology

would probably be an iPad, PowerPoint, a projector and a screen. There will plenty using video cameras,

paint brushes and more. The idea of this project is not only to artistically express themselves through

technologies history, but also its about planning to change the world. I am looking to inspire change and

for my students to leave this world better than they found it.
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Project Impact

This project will allow families and or friends to communicate and share stories with each other, while

helping with the students education. This will also help the students gain a better understanding of how

technology works, instead of just taking the technology at their disposal for granted. Lastly, the students

will hopefully be inspired to move towards changing the world.

Standards

Strand 1 concept 2

PO 7. Compare present events with past events:

a. cause and effect
b. change over time
different points of view

Strand 3 Concept 4

PO 4. Demonstrate the skills and knowledge (e.g., group problem solving, public speaking,
petitioning and protesting) needed to accomplish public purposes.

Assessment

The project my students will be completing is reviewing the rights of students in America, and comparing

them to their choice of country. The students will research on their own time, based on an outline

provided by the teacher. Once class begins the research is expected to be done already, leaving time to

work on their findings. The class will have a three question summative assessment using Plickers, scoring

at least a 70%, ensuring they understand the content before getting started. The students will start the

period forming a circle, and all will participate in a mini Socratic seminar, which is a formative

assessment. The students will reach out to each other, relaying their findings and ideas to one another,

trying to gain a better understanding of the content. This is an open environment where students can listen
Running head: INNOVATION GRANT PROPOSAL 9

and learn from their peers, who will often word things in a more relatable manner. During this time the

teacher will be using a checklist, ensuring that everyone has a spoken and has a grasp on the topic. The

teacher will evaluate the students by listening to understand that they have fluid knowledge of the content.

Next the students will select their own preferred method of art i.e. Drawing, poem, song etc. and

create that within the next fifteen minutes. They will be using this art, as a way to depict their opinion,

which will reflect their understanding of the content. Once the students have finished, they will then give

a brief presentation explaining their art work. This is a summative assessment, as they will be graded on

their ideas and concept of their work. Once the class has completed their presentations, they will be

graded on their understanding of the students rights in America, as well as their creativity and overall

presentation. Next they will then have another summative assessment which is a Kahoot! The student will

show they grasp what is and is not considered to be their rights as a student. Each subordinate will be

responsible for scoring at least a seventy percent on their final assessment in order to prove their

comprehension of the material.

Support

The district will be providing the technology for the classroom via my grant proposal, and part of that

will include storage for the iPads which will be located in my classroom. This will allow the students who

do not have mobile devices to complete the Kahoot! And Plickers via classroom tablets.

Sustaining

I plan on sustaining the project years after its origin by being flexible and adjusting. The assessment

portions of this is based on technology which is always changing, but also technology is here to stay. I

will use my flexibility to be unbiased and look at what did work and what didn’t work. I will seek the

opinion of my peers in an effort to find ways of improving this project. Also, I will share my lesson plans
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and will recommend my peers who cannot find funding for iPads to implement a bring your own device

(BYOD) program in their classroom.

Innovate

This project will innovate the students in my classroom by truly understanding the content. The

content of this subject is possible to at best change kids lives, at worst give them a better understanding of

the education problems around the world. This will also encourage the students to learn more about their

chosen country, which will inherently familiarize the students with more culture. Having a better grasp of

other cultures will help these kids relate to them, and hopefully seek change.

Budget Table and Narrative

I am asking for a total of $7,821.26 to support my classroom and their hunt for a greater

education. My class would be need 30 refurbished iPad mini 2’s, which are straight from apple

for $209.00 even before tax. There will also be a supplemental cost that comes with these iPads.

I will need to store and charge these iPads, and I am budgeting for an iPad charging/docking

station that acts as a locked storage for $676.34 after tax. The iPads will need protection, so I am

also looking to get a case for each iPad which is 11.82 after tax, from walmart.com. my last bit

of supplemental cost is a surge protector, preventing any damage to the equipment, in case of an
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electrical malfunction. With the tax included, this grant proposal is for $7,821.26 and my class

and I appreciate your consideration.

Item Cost #of items Total

iPad mini 2 $209.00 30 $6270

(Refurbished)
+Tax $471.94

+S/H 1079.32

Total $7,821.26