Course rosters for upcoming iPad classes!

 Between Nov 21st and Dec 9th, West Des Moines Schools accepted teacher applications (http://wp.me/p1JF02-9S)  for piloting 3 iPads in their classroom.  134 applications were received for the 70 available spots.  We also invited schools, parent groups and curricular areas to use additional resources to increase our number of selections.

Here are the rosters for the 7 upcoming iPad courses in Jan…

Section 1
Instructor:     Brooke Dey and Julie Orris
Location:       Crestview Elementary, Room 1225      

Friday, January 20,  4:00 – 10:00 & Saturday, January 21, 8:00 – 5:00
Ballard, Pam	HD
Buising, Susan	WH
Campbell, Kristen	WR
Ceasar, Marisa	WR
Clark, Lisa	JC
Dornacker, Patty	WR
Foley, Nancy	WR
Healy, Susan	JC
Hoover, Katie	JC
Keeler, Kristy	WR
Olson, Shana	CL
Reif, Brant	VA
Rothfus, Cari	CL
Selzer, Nicole	CL
Weber, Brady	ST
Woodke, Kayla	HD

Section 2
Instructor:     Pete Bissinger 
Location:       Stilwell Junior High, Room 233     

Friday, January 27 4:00 – 10:00 Saturday, January 28 8:00 – 5:00
Blobaum, Denise	IH
Card, Judy	JC
Cochran, Dave	VA
Costello, Sara	CV
Garland, Kirsten	CV
Hall, Wes	IH
Nidey, Adam	CV
Panos, Jackie	CL
Rasko, Don	IH
Samuelson, Barb	HD
Sinram, Zac	SW
Wells, Jennifer	IH
Zenti, Tammy Hephner, Emily	ST WH

Section 3
Instructor:     Stephany Henderson and Julie Kaufman       
Location:       Westridge Elementary Media Center    

Saturday, January 28 8:00 – 3:30 Sunday, January 29 8:00 – 3:30
Barkela, Kelly	WH
Bohn, Shelley	WR
Boyle, Sue	VA
Brase, Carol	CR
Cawthorn, Kris	PH
Cooper, Sarah	HD
McCulley, Kelly	CL
Miller, Justin	IH
Peters, Andrea	JC
Rayner, Micah	CL
Samuelson, Sue	FM
Smith, Christina	CR
Sobotka, Lisa	SW
Zahrt, Misty	CL
Zimmer, Heidi	PH

 

 

Section 4
Instructor:    Jeff VerHelst
Location:       Jordan Creek Elementary, Room 605      

Wednesday, January 11    3:45 – 8:45  Monday, January 16   4:00 – 9:00Wednesday, January 18  3:45 – 8:45
Bird, Sarah	VA
Cox, Sharon	CR
Eichhorn, Ashley	IH
Fancher, Katy	CR
Hargens, Brandon	CR
Johnson, Shannon	VA
Keenan, Mackenzie	JC
Oetken, Heather	WH
Steffen, Maria	CL
Tucker, Meggie	CR
Twit, Felicia	WH
VanTreeck, Ann	IH
Speichinger, Nathan	VA
Quandt, Hannah	VA
Pedersen, Marc	VA

Section 5
Instructor:     Paula Olson and Annie Orsini   
Location:       Fairmeadows Elementary Media Center

Wednesday, January 11  3:45 – 8:45 Wednesday, January 18 3:45 – 8:45  Wednesday, January 25  3:45 – 8:45
Farmer, Stephanie	CL
Finer, Ashley	CL
Bishop, Susan	CR
Tasler, Lisa	CR
Dodd, Michelle	CV
Harlan, Melissa	CV
Dirks, Michelle	HD
Hirsch, Sheila	HD
Kenworthy, Pam	HD
Motsenbocker, Lindsey	HD
Law, Lindsay	HD
Hoyt, Beth	IH
DeZorzi, Gail	JC
Erbes, Debbie	JC
Bruening, Jessica	WR
Limback, Kendra	WR
Robbins, Jill	WR

 

Section 6
Instructor:     Scott Brown and Erica Jaramillo 
Location:       Crossroads Park Elementary Media Center

Wednesday, January 11  3:45 – 8:45  Wednesday, January 18 3:45 – 8:45  Wednesday, January 25  3:45 – 8:45
Bahe, Christine	JC
Bratkiewicz, Mallory	JC
Gilmore, Holly	HD
Gress, Melissa	IH
Hunt, Erin	HD
Johnson, Mary	PH
Kleve, Lori	HD
McConnell, Cheryl	ST
Miller, Joan	FM
Nichols, Mackenzie	CL
Overlin, Jas	IH
Smith, Jody	FM
Weih, Chris	JC
Wilson, Josh	HD
Wright, Vicki	CR

Section 7
Instructor:     Natalie Ries and Jessica Novelli 
Location:       Indian Hills Junior High, Room 1246       

Wednesday, January 18  3:45 – 8:45  Monday, January 23 4:30 – 9:30  Wednesday, January 25  3:45 – 8:45
DeMicco, Julie	ST
George, Jessica	PH
Richardson, Celeste	ST
Hinton, Lori	VA
Hoover, Nic	CL
Kraus, Pat	ST
Martinez, Julie	JC
McLain, Karen	JC
Messer, Crys	CL
Meyer, Matt	JC

Q1. Will the name of everyone who applied be published?
A1. No.

Q2. Is this course available for staff dev credit? or Drake credit?
A2. Yes, it is available for both staff dev credit and/or Drake credit.

Q3. Will there be another round in the spring?
A3.   This round completes our available funding from the district technology budget, so the district will not have any additional rounds this school year.  However, we are working with schools and parent groups, encouraging them to assist with the effort to provide additional iPads for classrooms. 

Q4. I know someone who didn’t get accepted, and they still REALLY want to try iPads in their classroom, what do I tell them?
A4.  Encourage them to  speak to their building principal to make sure they are aware (as they may not have been aware that they even applied).  Should your building or parent groups help assist with getting additional iPads,  it would be helpful to make sure the principal is aware of their  interests.

10 tips for writing a classroom technology grant!

After sending a notice to our staff about an upcoming grant opportunity, I’ve been fielding questions from staff members seeking assistance and budgetary numbers for their  potential grant application. Here’s a few tips for writing a classroom technology grant.

#1)  Don’t tell them about the “stuff” you want… tell them about what you want students to be able to do.
Describing your project and it’s objective is ALWAYS more important that the technology.  Sell them on the project and its outcomes for students before you even hint at what technology you are requesting.

#2) Seek out a collaborator.
Imagine if you were reviewing two final grant applications – one is for a single classroom project and the other is for a classroom that is going to collaborate with another classroom in another location.  Easy decision… the classroom that is actually collaborating with other classrooms and/or outside resources gets the nod.

#3)  Don’t ask for every penny they have.
Be realistic on your grant request, the application might say that $50,000 is available… but don’t ask for all of it or even a high percentage.  For the $50,000 Century Link grant, we’d recommend something in the $2,000 to $5,000, with the higher range being reserved for more collaborative projects that involve more classrooms.

#4) Don’t list specific technology models
Unless the grant requires very specific model numbers, I wouldn’t recommend doing it.  Go ahead and describe your project and tell them you need an iPad…. just don’t tell them that you must have  the white colored 64Gb iPad2 with Verizon 3G.  It sounds like you’re a little kid, building a Christmas list.  Don’t do it.

#5) Don’t buy equipment for the purpose of general checkout.
If your goal is to buy a cart of laptops/iPads for your school for general checkout, I would encourage you to look for another funding source. I’m not aware of any classroom technology grants that target equipment for general checkout purposes.

#6) Don’t buy something for everyone
Another common mistake is to list a goal and then state that every teacher/classroom in your building needs equipment.  Most classroom grants are looking for innovation… not schools that are looking for full deployments.

#7) Unless the grant goal is for 1:1, this is also off limits
It might be your goal or interest, but most classroom grants are not designed to seed 1:1 models, where each student receives equipment.  In most cases, they aren’t looking for a classroom set either.

#8) Check out the previous winners
Ask for and review a list of previous winners.  Look for patterns in the awards, such as types of projects, grade levels awarded, do they select predominately rural or urban schools?

#9) Be sure to match the grant goals
All too often, we start dreaming of the technology we want.  Instead, start with the grant goals.  Do any of the goals relate to an existing project or unit that you currently have?  Perhaps you could expand an existing project/unit to bring in collaboration with with other classes, schools, or communities?

#10) Get it reviewed before you write
If you want to save yourself time – ask others to help review your idea BEFORE you start writing the formal application.  This enables you to flush out the entire idea and ensure that it matches with the grant goals before you spend significant time on the application details.