Tips for Fully-funded Projects in Technology,
​with a Focus on Language and Literature, Culture, and the Arts​

By Antonio Alanis
Category Information:
  • Forsyth County
  • Fully-funded Projects
  • Technology
  • Language, Literacy and the Arts
Statistics:
  • Statistic: 65% of the projects included descriptive writing. Teachers wrote concretely about how the technology would improve students’ learning while also appealing to reader’s sense of empathy for the needs of students. Teachers also appealed to 21st century skills and addressed students’ home lives and their potential for the future. 

Introduction

​            I surveyed more than fifty fully-funded DonorsChoose.org projects that teachers submitted in Forsyth County, North Carolina. Because I plan to write DonorsChoose proposals in the future, I was interested in a guide to consider when submitting my future proposals. I had a question: What can I learn from fully-funded teachers’ projects so that I can use their language in my own projects? To help answer my question, I examined all of my cases and studied teacher’s persuasive writing styles to get an idea of what phrases or constructions they used. Upon documenting my observations, I came up with themes and later transformed these themes into useful questions. This case study is a guide for beginning teachers, like me, to consider when creating their first DonorsChoose.org projects. 

​Findings

The following questions represent my findings.
 
Starting your Proposal:
  • Can you introduce an inspirational quote about learning?
  • Can you ask the donor a question that places him or her in your students’ shoes to create a sense of empathy?
  • Can you start your introduction with a narrative, taking the reader by the hand and writing vividly about a time your students’ learning needs were not met due to hardship?
 
Body of Paragraph:
  • Can you include vivid and descriptive language (i.e., active verbs) to illustrate your students’ needs?
 
21st-Century Skills:
  • Can you give a concrete example of two or three 21st century skills your students will develop using this technology?
  • Can you explain how this technology will guide 21st century learning and not just play the role of a 21st century technology?
  • Can you name a specific activity using this technology where students will solve concrete problems and collaborate with other students?
 
Pedagogical Differentiation:
  • How will this technology help you to differentiate instruction based on students’ needs?
  • How does this device give every student an equal chance to learn?
 
Future:
  • What specific projects do you have in mind that will utilize this technology?
  • What are the multiple ways you expect to use this technology? In other words, how are you extending its use over time to reach as many students as possible?
  • How will this technology expose your students to future opportunities or career choices?
  • What college or career pathways does this technology prepare students to achieve?
 
Students’ Enrichment and Intellectual Growth:
  • How will students’ lives be enriched by this digital tool?
  • How will students think differently as a result of this technology?
 
Students’ Ownership of Learning:
  • How will this technology personalize students’ work?
  • How will this project address cross-curricular instruction?
  • How will this project benefit students who have not had the chance to travel outside the cities in which they live?
  • How will this technology give students real-life experiences they have not had previously?
  • How is this technology more student-centered and innovative than the tools you are using currently?
 
Literacy and Research:
  • How will your technology improve students’ literacy skills and support their learning across the curriculum?
  • How can your technology help students write stories to promote literacy?
  • How can students expand their vocabulary as a result of this tool?
  • What kinds of applications will you use to improve students’ literacy practices?
  • How will your technology enable students’ to present information, write activities, and conduct research?
 
Teacher Initiative:
  • What have you done with the technology you currently have available to give your students a chance at learning, and why are these current resources or methods not sufficient? 
  • How have you made use of local and state funding to support your instruction, and why is this level of funding not sufficient?
 
Limitations:
  • What software/hardware limitations (other than not having any) prevent you from using this technology in your school?
 
Family Involvement:
  • How does this technology invite parents/guardians to be involved in their children’s education?
 
Expectations:
  • How does this technology promote high expectations for every student, regardless of background, native language, family heritage, gender, etc.?
 
Concluding your Proposal:
  • Can you talk specifically to your donor, confidently placing trust that he or she has the power to make funding this grant possible and, thus, impact students’ learning? 

Implications

I hope teachers will consider these questions when creating projects on DonorsChoose.org. Specifically, I would advise first-time users and beginning teachers to consider these questions as a starting point and review funded projects similar to their requests. I encourage teachers to be as concrete as possible when writing about their students’ needs, to appeal to the reader’s sense of empathy and, above all, to place students as the focus of their proposal.
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