Candidates research, recommend, and implement policies, procedures, programs and funding strategies to support implementation of the shared vision represented in the school, district, state, and federal technology plans and guidelines. Funding strategies may include the development, submission, and evaluation of formal grant proposals. (PSC 1.3/ISTE 1c)
Reflection: I wrote this grant to support the shared vision that the administration, the school leadership team, and myself collaboratively developed and implemented into the technology improvement section of the school improvement plan. The initiatives outlined in this grant directly align to the goals set forth in the shared vision for technology improvement at our school. Not only will this grant support the shared vision for technology improvement at our school, but it will expose our students to advanced technologies and promote student engagement through the content standards. Also, one of our school district’s main initiatives is to develop twenty-first century thinkers and learners. The implementation of 3D printing to enhance the content of the standards supports this initiative. The grant proposal supports standard 1.3 because the elements of the grant proposal directly support our school’s shared vision of technology improvement. The proposal also supports the district initiative of developing twenty-first century thinkers and learners amongst our students. While authoring this proposal, I also developed detailed timelines and programs to ensure that the technology would be implemented effectively. I also detailed exact recommendations for how the funds would be allocated throughout grade levels to ensure equitable opportunities for the 3D printing to be readily available for all grade levels and students. Throughout the process of writing this grant, I learned that there are many opportunities available for educators to receive funding to enhance their school climate and instructional strategies. I also learned that when creating policies and developing programs in which to implement items received from grants, it is best to create shared visions amongst administrators and the school leadership team to ensure that there if staff buy-in for the policies and procedures that were created. If grade levels feel that they are included in the decision-making process and have a voice, they are more likely to be active participants in the implementation processes. If I were to change anything through the grant writing process, I would have looked for co-authors from grade level representatives. Writing the grant was an extensive process, as I strived to represent each grade level equitably when listing my objectives. I believe if I had asked for grade level representatives to help me write the objectives specific to their grade level, the process would have been more seamless and completed quicker and grade levels may have felt more involved in the process. The purpose of this grant was to work toward addressing the shared vision for technology improvement in our school’s improvement plan. The details of this initiative directly aligned to several of the descriptors listed in this section of the plan. They also aligned with part of our county’s mission statement of creating twenty first century thinkers and learners. The impact of this effects of this grant can be measured by the student products created amongst grade levels.