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Tel 311 Project Proposal 1
Tel 311 Project Proposal 1
Abstract
In this paper I discuss all of the pieces that go into creating my project. This project is driven by
the question: How can we create change in our community? I looked at the community my
students are in, focusing on the demographics to see what they might want to discuss. Through
this project many different people will be impacted from the students completing the project, the
teacher facilitating the project, any collaborators brought in to help with project, and the
audience that sees the presentations the students give of their final project. A calendar has also
been created to understand what will need to be done and when it needs to be done to complete
the project. Also included is a budget table and narrative so the students can get all of the
material they will need in order to successfully complete this project and properly present their
final product.
CLASSROOM POJECT PROPOSAL 3
Arizona. I graduated from the Mary Lou Fulton School of Education at Arizona State University
in the Fall of 2020, but while I was there I also completed 3 semesters in the school of business
before I switched to an education major. While taking these business classes I learned how to
think in very practical, real world situations and how what we learned in class are important
topics that impact our society. So in the first part of my education at Arizona State University I
looked at problems that impacted a lot of different people, like taxes, technological
advancements, and financial crisis, then in the second part focused my attention to a smaller
scale looking at classrooms and individuals, and how I can best help them.
For my philosophy of teaching I believe it is best when students are active in the
or being an active group member. I also think the social climate of a classroom has a large
impact on the success of students in and out of the classroom. Making an environment where
students can make friends and social bonds, are valued for expressing themselves and being who
they are, and valued for the ideas and opinions they bring to a discussion, will truly allow the
students to grow, not only as students but also as people who grow and go through changes in
life. I value seeing the teacher not as a disciplinary and authoritative figure, but as a facilitator
creating the environment necessary for growth; safe place to express oneself, valued for who
they are now, not what they can or might be, and perhaps what I value most is letting students
know they are loved as humans and capable of loving others as this is when people can grow in
all aspects of life, as a learner, friend, leader, teammate it all starts with being accepted and loved
as you are.
CLASSROOM POJECT PROPOSAL 4
Project-based learning is one way were I believe we can accomplish much of these
aspects in my classroom, although through my internship and my first 2 years of teaching I have
struggled to grasp all the necessary aspects of project-based learning I am confident I know have
the knowledge and plan to carry out an effective project for my students. Through this project
my students will be able to create necessary social connections with their peers and community
members that will help them become confident in who they are facilitating an environment
where they can best grow in all aspects of life. This learning style will also allow for students to
build their knowledge in a way they are not used to and that will be more interesting as they are
now the active participant in the process of learning instead of having me give them instruction.
The final major important piece of project-based learning is that students are addressing an issue
in their community, so they have an investment in the outcome and are more attuned to the finer
details of it. Through this project I also hope to keep integrating technology in my students’
learning as they will continue to be technologically fluent as they progress in life. One of the
most valuable lessons I see my mentor teacher implementing, that I also plan on taking into my
future classroom, is having her students completing simple things with technology, like creating
PowerPoints, taking quizzes, or keeping track of assignments, as these simple tasks still have
profound effects as the students will become more familiar with technology, more willing to use
it, and less afraid of being tasked with a technology-based task in the future.
Looking at the demographics of Scottsdale Unified School District it easy to tell that the
community will most likely have particular needs and problems they want to be addressed.
Looking at the demographics of the community we see that out of the total population of
240,,032, 98.7 percent identify as “one-race”, of this 98.7 percent 90.9 percent identify as white,
and of the total population 10.9 percent identify as Hispanic or Latino. So we can se through
these figures that race plays an interesting dynamic where a certain group may feel surrounded
by people different than them where race may be a big factor in their life compared to a large
group who may not pay attention to this dynamic or see race as a big factor in their life. This
same dynamic could also play out in families where about 10 percent of the families in district
are single parent homes. Another important aspect of the community is that 30.3 percent of the
over 25 population has a bachelor’s degree, and only about 20 percent of the population attended
no college, as college is often tough for first generation students these numbers bode well for a
large part of the community. Looking at the income of the community we see that the median
income is 66,743 and the mean income is 105,867, and also where only 7.5 percent of the total
After being in the classroom with my students and being in the community more I have
noticed that the contentment that can come from homogeneity of a large group might be the
greatest problem a community like the one I am in may face. So educating the kids on what
happens when a community stagnates is pertinent to creating a successful project where students
understand how important being active in the community is and the great things that can come
My project is focused through the driving question: How can we create change in our
community? I chose this topic because the idea of activism and change can be impactful in any
homogeneity that is present from race where around 90% identify as white, to economics where
only 7.5% of the population lives under the poverty line, and in education as only 20% of the
adult population had not attended college. In my community this homogeneity and no large
problems of poverty or lack of education can create a sense of contentment as the community is
seen as good enough, but change is an inevitable part of life and if we do not create change that
helps our community, the community will at best stagnate but more likely start a downfall.
To start this project I would like for my students to find and research a change they want
to see in their environment. They can discover this wanted change through reflection of past
experiences, discussion with others, or research of the community. Another activity would
involve them speaking with community members who have sought and created change in the
community, answering why they wanted this change to occur, how they started on their journey
of creating change, how it came to fruition, and why they see change as an important part of a
community. My students would also meet with community leaders, like a business owner, board
member, representative, department chief, or local politician to discuss with them how they
receive the ideas of change from the community, how they decide what is worth changing, then
how they create that change, and finally again discuss why they see change as important in our
community. After these discussion my students will start working to build a presentation arguing
for the change they want to see, as the final point in the project will be presenting what my
students have found to an audience of community members, who may be local business owners,
elected officials, members of local clubs or groups, or administration in local schools, interested
in making positive changes members of the community want to see. Working to build this
presentation would involve my students learning how to conduct proper research, one piece of
this being judging the credibility of a source. The students will also need support in writing
CLASSROOM POJECT PROPOSAL 7
strong, clear, reasonable arguments by using the research they have gathered as evidence for
support. Finally being comfortable using technology and presentation tools will be crucial for the
students so they can build a presentation they are comfortable and confident to present.
Through these activities where students will look at real world implications and be able to
have discussions with people of the community they may not normally communicate with will
increase engagement through new experiences. Learning will also be positively impacted
through this project as students will be learning in ways not usually seen in the classroom like
real world experiences and by looking at a problem that interests them specifically instead of a
As the teacher facilitating this project perhaps the most profound impact this will have on
me, is that I might be able to see what things my students are attuned to in their community
outside of school. From this I will get a better sense of who my students are and what might be
affecting them or important to them in their personal, helping create a better relationship where I
understand my students and can create a dialogue around things are care for and are interested in.
Doing a project like this is going to force me to be a facilitator in the classroom instead of a
direct instructor, helping me to empower my students as learners and allowing them to discover,
grow, and collaborate at their own pace in the areas they need to. Also because of the nature of
this project I will need to collaborate with others in the school, like administrators with whom
my students my start a discussion with first as they are more readily available. Collaboration
with other teachers like social studies/history teachers or government teachers could also be
beneficial as history is showing students how change has happened in diverse contexts and
through a variety of strategies, the government teachers can look specifically at change through
CLASSROOM POJECT PROPOSAL 8
the government and the steps that could be necessary to accomplish certain tasks or discussing
ISTE Educators – 7b discover and discuss on the topic of what they Google docs/slides so
ISTE Students – 6a changes that have would have done students can conduct
LO: Students will be occurred; differently synchronous work in
able to research what Note what could have been class;
changes have done differently Socrative where
happened in the students will write and
community, how these turn in their short
came about, and what answer online
they could have done
differently
Day 5: Student will: Conduct Have students share their Laptops to conduct
Standard – 8.W.8 individual research on their LiveBinders with me so I individual research;
ISTE Educators – 3c chosen topic; can check that students LiveBinders so
ISTE Students – 3a Create a LiveBinder to have created a LiveBinder, students can store and
LO: Students will be have a place online they chosen a topic they will be access their work; and
able to research their can store materials, always researching, and have so I can check the work
topic (the change they have access to them, and looked at what has been my students are doing
want to create) finding appropriately cite their done in the past
what has been done research
before, what they can
do to be successful,
where they can find
support, and who is
best to contact to
create this change
(business owner,
elected official, etc.)
Day 6: Student will: Conduct Check students LiveBinder Laptops to conduct
Standard – 8.W.8 individual research on their to see that they have individual research;
ISTE Educators – 6b chosen topic; identified what they can do LiveBinders so
ISTE Students – 3a Use LiveBinder to store to be successful, where students can store and
LO: Students will be new and relevant they can find support, and access their work; and
able to identify what information they, making who is best to contact to so I can check the work
they can do to be sure to keep it organized, create their desired change my students are doing
successful, where they updated, and accessible to (business owner, elected
can find support, and me official, etc.)
who is best to contact
to create this change
(business owner,
elected official, etc.)
Day 7: Student will: Discuss in Move around looking for Projector connected to
Standard – 8.SL.3 small groups and make students to be sitting up, internet so we can
ISTE Educators – 4c note of questions they have facing the speaker, and Skype our speaker to
ISTE Students – 7b for community leaders on taking notes; make it easier to
contact them;
CLASSROOM POJECT PROPOSAL 11
LO: Students will be how to create change and Check students journals to Camera connected to
able to assess our their topic; see that they took note of internet so speaker can
speaker’s arguments Take notes in their journal relevant information see us and hear
for the best way to go on the points the speaker question/reactions we
about creating change (business owner/ manager) have
is making that are relevant
to their topic;
Ask the speaker
appropriate questions to
clarify or justify points
they made making note of
the answers
Day 8: Student will: Take notes in Move around looking for Projector connected to
Standard – 8.SL.3 their journal on the points students to be sitting up, internet so we can
ISTE Educators – 4c the speakers (elected facing the speaker, and Skype our speaker to
ISTE Students – 7b official and school taking notes; make it easier to
LO: Students will be administrator) are making Check students journals to contact them;
able to assess our that are relevant to their see that they took note of Camera connected to
speaker’s arguments topic; relevant information internet so speaker can
for the best way to go Ask the speaker see us and hear
about creating change appropriate questions to question/reactions we
clarify or justify points have
they made making note of
the answers
Day 9: Student will: Take notes on Call on groups to identify Whiteboard so I can
Standard – 8.W.1 what a claim and evidence what they decided were the write out what a claim
ISTE Educators – are; claims and evidence in the is and what evidence is
ISTE Students – Read an argumentative essay; so students can write it
LO: Students will be essay and in small groups Make sure everyone is too;
able to formulate a identify the claims and participating in the kahoot Projector where I can
claim and use evidence; Have students write in their display the kahoot I
evidence from the Reflect on of the journal a short answer created;
research they argumentative was with one claim and at least Computer where
conducted to support successful in what they one piece of evidence to students can participate
their claims were arguing and if so how support it in the kahoot
these same strategies can
be used by the student to
successfully argue for the
change they want to see
Play kahoot where they
identify claims and
evidence;
Use the new knowledge to
write in their journal their
own claims with
supporting evidence
CLASSROOM POJECT PROPOSAL 12
Day 10: Student will: Go through Check LiveBinder to see Computers where
Standard – 8.W.1 the argumentative essay that students have created students can access
ISTE Educators – 7b again to see how the claims logical paragraphs using their LiveBinder
ISTE Student – 1c and evidence were put into claims, evidence, and a
LO: Students will be a logical, flowing concluding statement
able to create paragraph;
paragraphs that clearly Look through their
states their claim and LiveBinder gathering the
evidence with correct evidence they want to use;
citations, and compose Write paragraphs about the
a concluding change they want to see
statement that ends that are logical and flow
and supports the well stating claims and
paragraph using the evidence they
have gathered in their
research to support those
claims and putting it in
LiveBinder
Day 11: Student will: Read the Move around the room Projector to go over
Standard – 8.W.2 argumentative essay and checking if students have with students the
ISTE Educators – identify the hook, the correctly highlighted and correct identifications
ISTE Students – supporting details, and the identified the different for the introduction and
LO: Students will be thesis statement; parts of the introduction conclusion
able to identify the Identify what makes a and conclusion
different parts of an strong conclusion,
introduction and rewriting what you have
conclusion stated and leaving with a
strong final thought
Day 12: Student will: Write a Check LiveBinder to see Laptops so students can
Standard – 8.W.2 strong introduction that students have write their essay;
ISTE Educators – 7a focusing on introducing the submitted their essay with LiveBinder for
ISTE Students – 6a change they want to see a strong introduction and submitting final essay
LO: Students will be and conclusion to combine conclusion
able to compose an with their paragraphs
argumentative essay containing a claim and
supporting the change evidence and submit their
they want to see in the final essay into LiveBinder
community
Day 13: Student will: Use a Move around looking that Laptops to create a
Standard – 8.SL.4 presentation tool to create a the students are starting the presentation:
ISTE Educator – 7a presentation to argue their presentation by clearly LiveBinders so
ISTE Student – 6a topic using their essay as a introducing the topic and students can submit
LO: Students will be guideline on what to using clear arguments and their presentation
able to assemble a include and submit their evidence
presentation that presentation into their
clearly introduces LiveBinder
CLASSROOM POJECT PROPOSAL 13
Day 14: Student will: Use a Check LiveBinder to see Laptops to finish the
Standard – 8.SL.4 presentation tool to finish that all students have presentation;
ISTE Educator – 7c their presentation and submitted a presentation LiveBinders so
ISTE Student – 6c submit their presentation that has a clear topic, students can submit
LO: Students will be into their LiveBinder; arguments with evidence, their presentation;
able to finish Use JING to create a and a strong conclusion; JING so students can
assembling their screencast of them Watch screencast of screencast their
presentation where presenting their finished presentation to see how presentation
they make clear, final product and put in well students understood
arguments with LiveBinder topic and were able to
evidence and have a articulate their ideas;
strong conclusion
Day 15: Student will: Use Buncee Look at the screencast of Laptops to use Buncee
Standard – 8.L.5 to create images on a flyer their flyer the students and create the flyer
ISTE Educator – 6d that relate to their topic and have made and assess online, a printer to print
ISTE Student – 6b will garner interest from whether it is appropriate to out the flyers to hang
LO: Students will be other people and print it their topic, contains some them up, access to
able to create a flyer out and hang up; of the main ideas, and has JING so students can
that generates interest These flyers will be used to differing images and screencast their flyer
in their topic inform what the topic designs to create interest
being discussed is and to
give a time and location as
to where the presentations
will be held so people can
show up if they are
interested
Use JING to screencast
their flyer and explain what
each part of it means and
why it is important
Day 16: Student will: Travel to Use final checklist to Computer for access to
Standard – 8.SL.4 ASU where they will give ensure students have clear students presentations,
ISTE Educator – 4d a presentation to local claims with supporting projector to view the
ISTE Student – 6d community leaders and evidence, and are using presentations
LO: Students will be members, like local sound reasoning in their
able to give a business owners and presentation;
presentation to the managers, elected officials, Also check that students
public and answer members of local clubs or are making appropriate eye
groups, or administration contact with audience, are
CLASSROOM POJECT PROPOSAL 14
questions from the in local schools who may using a good speaking
audience be interested in making volume, and clear
positive changes for the pronunciation
community
The goal my project and all of project-based learning is to transform the classroom and
help students learn in new ways that will support them now and in the future. The main way my
project will transform student learning is by having them look at issues in their community that
they care about. Integrating technology is also a large portion of my topic. Using different types
of technology to help students prepare for their future by making them more comfortable using
technology and giving them different tools to explore and use for their project. Also being able to
present their finished products to a public audience of community members who care about their
topics and could support them in making progress with creating change moving forward.
After my proposal period I would first get feedback from my one class of students that
participated in this project to see what they felt could be done during the entire project that could
help support them more in areas they struggled or wanted to further explore. Then getting
feedback from the audience of the presentations would be crucial as they are outsiders looking
only at the final product. After this, moving forward, I would hope to get more community
members interested in seeing the presentation and even helping to support the kids in creating
their project. Having this project include a larger number of kids and working in groups is a
future goal as well where students can raise more issues than just one class would, and
encouraging collaboration where students might be able to specialize more in certain areas and
For this project there is a list of items students will need to have in order to
successfully complete the project (See Appendix B). To start they will need laptops because of
the amount of research the students will be doing on their individual topics and so they can have
a place to submit and store items online. Being able to submit and store items online will help
students work at their own and pace and help the facilitator of the project more easily see where
students strengths are and where they may need extra support. The next three items on the list,
Socrative, LiveBinders, and Kahoot! are online tools that can be used to help assess the students
and where students can learn how to submit and store items online. The webcam will be used to
have a video conference with the community leaders the students have decided will be most
beneficial to converse with. Using the webcam will ease the burden of scheduling making the
meeting easier to come to fruition. Buncee and SnagIt are tools students will use to create a
product that can easily be assessed. Buncee will allow them to create a flyer towards the end of
the project to summarize their project and help garner interest in their presentation, and SnagIt
will allow them to create a screencast where they will explain the flyer, helping them gain
appropriate presentation skills. Finally the list concludes with the items that will be needed so the
students can present their final product in a professional space, allowing for an adequate number
Then to help gather funding for the project some options could be using Fundly.com,
have to be paid back. All of these options are easy to setup and user friendly but DonorsChoose
and GoFundMe have a section where users can look at campaigns that are near them which can
help improve funding by making the campaign known in the community. GoFundMe is also
CLASSROOM POJECT PROPOSAL 16
more popular than the other two sources so starting there might be a good route to take as it
might help get more exposure. All three of them however have a section where the users can
look at campaigns in the category of education creating a niche for donors who have special
interests.
CLASSROOM POJECT PROPOSAL 17
Appendix A
Key vocabulary: connections, chart, table, group Materials: technology to show video to class,
discussion, class discussion, notes, articulate technology that allows students to conduct
independent research in class, paper to take notes
Engage
How will you activate prior knowledge?
How will you hook student attention?
What question will you pose, based on your objective, that students will seek to answer in Explore?
Teacher Will: Show video “The Story of Martin Luther King Jr. by Kid Students Will: Pay attention to the video and answer my question,
President” noting specifically why he would focus on this
If MLK was alive today in Arizona what is a change he might for?
Explore
How will you model your performance expectations? (Remember you are not modeling what you want students to discover but need to
model expected behavior or required procedures.)
How will students take the lead and actively use materials to discover information that will help them answer the question posed in the
Engage?
What questions or prompts will you be prepared to use with students while they are “exploring”?
CLASSROOM POJECT PROPOSAL 18
Teacher Will: What did MLK see in his community that made him want Students Will: Write what they know about MLK, looking at what
to change something? he saw in his community, why he wanted change, the change he
What changes did MLK help bring and how did he do it? helped bring about, why he saw this as important.
Assign groups to do a quick research of different people in history to Then move on to other people and take notes of what they are
see what changes came from it, who helped spur these changes, why finding as they research, answering the questions I have asked
they did this, and how did they do it: Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Nelson them
Mandela
Co-Teaching Strategy
What co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?
Differentiation Strategy
What accommodations/modifications will you provide for specific students?
How will you anticipate students that need an additional challenge?
Explain
How will all students have an opportunity to share what they discovered?
How will you connect student discoveries to correct content terms/explanations?
How will all students articulate/demonstrate a clear and correct understanding of the sub-objectives by answering the question from the
Engage before moving on?
Teacher Will: Students Will:
Tell students to discuss with their group what they have learned Discuss thoroughly with their group what they discovered about
through their research, focusing on the specific questions I asked. their topic
Ask students to make note of what questions they have about their Describe the strategies they used to research the topics and what
research pros/cons this strategy had
Walk around groups making sure they are staying in task and
answering questions
Ask students how they went about researching their topic
Co-Teaching Strategy
What co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?
Differentiation Strategy
What accommodations/modifications will you provide for specific students?
How will you anticipate students that need an additional challenge?
Elaborate
How will students take the learning from Explore and Explain and apply it to a new circumstance or explore a particular aspect of this
learning at a deep level?
How will students use higher order thinking at this stage (e.g. A common practice in this section is to pose a What If? Question)?
How will all students articulate how their understanding has changed or been solidified?
Co-Teaching Strategy
What co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?
Differentiation Strategy
What accommodations/modifications will you provide for specific students?
How will you anticipate students that need an additional challenge?
Evaluate
How will all students demonstrate mastery of the lesson objective (though perhaps not mastery of the elaborate content)?
How will students have an opportunity to summarize the big concepts they learned (separate from the assessment)?
Appendix B
Budget Table