The second artifact I chose for EEND 678 was my Grant Writing Proposal. The reason I chose this artifact is because it is something
that I had never tackled before in my career as an educator. During my ten
years teaching, I have seen many colleagues write grants and receive funds to
do amazing things in their classrooms. I have always been so impressed by these
teachers. I have been impressed by their creativity in creating projects, their
ability to convince others of the value of their ideas, and the way they have
turned an idea on paper into a real life project. Although I have been in awe of
the amazing things I have seen my colleagues due through the help of a grant,
it is something that I had never attempted, and never thought I was able to do.
This project really pushed me to try something new. I am so glad that I completed
the writing for the grant. It gave me confidence to continue to pursue grants
for projects that I think will benefit my students.
One of the biggest challenges in regards to this artifact
was determining what exactly I should write a grant for. There are so many
amazing possibilities available and can think of about a million things that I
would like for my classroom that I think would benefit my students. However,
for the grant I had to choose one project that I thought was the most valuable,
would be the most beneficial for my students, and that those who decide the
grant can understand the value of. I went back and forth between a few
different projects or ideas before deciding that mobile recording stations would
be of great value to my students and the rest of the students in the grade
level. I chose this project because I felt that the value of the project
extended beyond just one subject area. Students could use these tools to
improve their assignments and projects in every content area. Also, by creating
5 mobile recording stations, each one could be housed in a different classroom,
then the project would benefit all the students in fourth grade, not just my
class. It was challenging to determine which project to write a grant for;
however, I feel like I chose a project that would be of great value for more
students across multiple content areas.
Although the actual grant cannot be implemented in the
classroom, if I win the grant money, my project can be implemented. I wrote a
grant to create 5 mobile recording stations. This school year when we went 1:1
Chromebooks, we have increased the number and type of digital projects that students
are creating. More and more frequently, my students are creating projects with
audio or video aspects. However, my students often became frustrated when
trying to record audio on their Chromebooks. The audio was often hard to hear,
either drown out by other noises in the classroom, or interference from the
Chromebook itself. However, these mobile recording stations would eliminate
these problems. Students could use the higher quality microphone and mobile
recording “booths” to ensure a quality audio that the audience would be able to
understand on the first try. This would increase student productiveness and
improve the quality of the assignments students are creating.
Finally, I feel that this artifact speaks to my growth as an
educator. Educators every day are faced with what can feel like an impossible
task. We are often stretched thin with a laundry list of things to accomplish
with minimal time and resources in which to do so. We are expected to help a
crowded classroom of students, each with their own strengths and challenges, learn
and grow at their own pace and skill level. We seem to be expected to do it all
with very little resources. One way in which I can grow and improve as an
educator is to seek out resources that will help the students in my classroom.
One way in which I can do this is to write grants to supplement the resources
that I am given. I think it takes thought and reflection to decide what tools
would benefit your students and how to get those resources into your classroom.
I think that by writing grants I am working to improve the learning environment
and resources of my students, and therefore am becoming a better educator.
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