CTL Innovation Grant Introduction & Workshop

1. CTL Innovation Grant Introduction & Workshop Part of the CTL Summer Institute Prepared originally by Anna Consalvo

2. The plan for the session • Overview of the Innovation Grant – 10 minutes • What do successful proposals and projects look like? – 10 minutes (examples) • Specifics – 10 minutes • Workshop time: Drafting, talking with Kisha and I, thinking about your proposal – 20-30 minutes

3. CTL Innovation Grant • “CTL”: Center for Teaching and Learning here at Fitchburg State University, sponsors and funders of the CTL Innovation Grant. • “Innovation” from “Innovate”: • make changes in something established, esp. by introducing new methods, ideas, or products : the company's failure to diversify and innovate competitively. • ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from Latin innovat- ‘renewed, altered,’ (NOAD*) • *New Oxford American Dictionary (2.1.3), Apple.

4. The Innovation Grant is an annual, internal grant From the grant description (emphasis mine): The Center for Teaching and Learning is pleased to announce our annual call for Innovation Grant proposals. We hope (pending budget approval) to award up to four grants in the amount of $500 each (final amounts will be announced as soon as the budget is approved) for proposals that develop and support innovation in teaching and learning. Hmm – is that innovation in teaching? Or innovation in learning? Or innovation in the teaching and learning of some particular content or process? Not sure; you decide!

5. What can I use the grant money for? • You can use the funds for travel, training,  and/or material purchases. What will not be funded ? • Stipend requests will not be funded. • Materials requests that could be covered by departments

6. Who is eligible to apply and when is it due? Where do I send it? • All Fitchburg State faculty and librarians are eligible to apply for an Innovation Grant. • Grant applications will be due by 5PM on Friday, October 10th, 2014 • Email your applications to Kisha Tracy, Co-Director of Center for Teaching and Learning ktracy3@fitchburgstate.edu

7. What should the proposals look like? • Proposals should be no more than two pages, single spaced (that’s 4-5 pages double spaced!) • And – they should outline new teaching methods and/or the use of new instructional technologies. • Remember, the definition of “innovate” – it is to renew. So it ought to be a new take or twist on some aspect of your teaching.

8. Proposal Requirements:Overview & outline, data, budget, sharing • Overview & Outline your innovation for teaching and learning • Include justification and place within the field • Budget • What will you expend the funds on? Be specific. • Data collection • Describe your data collection plan and timeline specifically. • Plan for sharingand/or disseminating to the Fitchburg State faculty and librarian community

9. Selection Criteria: CTL Advisory Board and AA • Quality of proposal • Promise of innovation • Benefits to relevant constituencies • Coherent plans for data collection • Vision articulated of dissemination of work to the campus.

10. When will I know? Timeline? • Grantees announced by the end of October • Funds to be spent by the middle of the spring semester. • Plan to discuss with the CTL Director specifics of disseminating work to campus during the academic year.

11. Examples of Topics & Reports • Previous Grants Funded: Visit either of these sites for examples of grants funded in prior years: Innovation Grant Winners 2012-13 and CTL Innovation Grants. 

12. The Proposal: Overview Main reasons for interest; Very short problem statement and literature review (& reference list) Title: Rigor and Caring in Secondary Writing and Reading Instruction: Spaces for Teacher-Student Communication • As I reflect upon my first semester of teaching two English education classes, and think about future offerings of these courses, I want to provide my FSU students with a series of short, in-class videorecorded examples of best adolescent literacy practices so that, together, we learn to conduct observations, and consider and evaluate the classroom practices we see. Moreover, I want to support students both as students and as preservice professionals by providing them an opportunity to learn and conduct professional development book clubs. The books selected as focal texts in these cooperative learning groups would reflect aspects of both the videos and elements of what they were seeing in their field placement classrooms. Since consideration of cost to students of books and materials is a definite concern, I felt I could only ask them to purchase the main textbook. The acquisition of the materials I request in this proposal would enable me to directly incorporate into my classes cutting edge, research based tools that will help teacher-candidates develop best practices for adolescent literacy instruction for their future students. • Meeting the needs of the increasing numbers and diversity of 21st century students (Passell and Cohn, Pew Report, 2008) requires teacher educators to help preservice teachers, most of whom are projected to remain white and female well into the next decades (Cochran-Smith & Zeichner, 2005), learn to reach diverse students by using relevant, motivating, caring, and rigorous approaches to literacy instruction (Ferreira & Bosworth, 2001; Alder, 2002; Carmangian, 2009; Garza, 2009).

13. Outline – The “What and Why” • In order to help the preservice English teacher-candidates I serve, here at Fitchburg State University, I propose a dual approach to enriching their instruction: studying cases of excellent teachers via DVDs of classroom practice, and, by engaging in literature circles based on acclaimed professional development books. • The systematic use of professionally made DVDs that show excellent English Language Arts instruction in middle and high school settings, will permit me to teach candidates how to • (a) conduct effective observations of classroom teachers and thereby support the whole of their prepracticum experiences , and • (b) implement the best literacy instructional approaches for adolescents including conferencing with students about their reading and writing, engaging in culturally relevant teaching, and building a classroom culture based on mutual respect and inquiry. • The use of this form of case study approach offers teacher-candidates the opportunity to learn from mentor teachers – both live and virtual – and holds promise for enriching their pedagogical awareness of excellent literacy teaching practices.

14. The “What and Why”continued • In addition, I plan to offer candidates the opportunity to engage in literature circles or book study groups based on professional development books that support and enrich what they witness and unpack vis-à-vis the DVDs, their prepracticum experiences, and the rest of our readings and coursework. I would offer students the choice of three books (listed below) and have them get into groups of five or six, depending on class size. Using this format, I would teach them effective ways to run book clubs, which they would experience and reflect upon as they conduct their own book clubs. Part of this model is for groups to regularly report back to the class as a whole so that every student gets the benefit of an overview of the texts that they are not actively reading. In this way, I would help students build their professional books list titles, authors, and ideas, which may support them in becoming literacy leaders in their future professional homes.

15. Data collection • Giving teacher-candidates a pre- and post literature circle surveys that would address their developing knowledge of and confidence in using book clubs in general as well as in the ideas that each book addresses. • Teacher candidates will do a multi-media summative presentation in groups of their book club books in which they address the applicability of the ideas presented in the book for various and diverse populations of students. • Teacher candidates will do short, guided reflections after each case video, that will mirror noticings which they will be required to record in their field placements. • Late in the semester, teacher candidates will write a journal paper using their reflections, in which they address the composite modeling available to them in the videos – and, they will be asked to connect learning to their field placements, as well as to other class work. I will collect student quotes from their work that reflect a spectrum of learning and opinion and connect those quotes with texts, film, and book club summative presentations. In this way, I will have gathered data across the semester to see how and in what ways student learning occurred.

16. Budget – be specific Three text and DVD sets:Total Funds Requested: $410.00 + $284.75 + $297.30 = $992.05 • Looking at students and their writing with a value-added rather than a with a deficit perspective. Katherine Bomer Staff Development Bundle $297.50 *10 Copies of Hidden GemsHeinemann *1 Copy of Starting with What Students Do Best DVD

17. Budget 2) Empowering reading and writing instruction: Culturally Relevant Teaching. Alfred Tatum staff development bundle $284.75 10 copies of Reading for Their Life 1 copy of Reading & Writing for Resiliency DVD 3) Comprehension and collaboration Harvey Daniels and Stephanie Harvey bundle $410 1 DVD -- Inquiry Circles in Middle and High School Classrooms $125.00 10 copies Inquiry Circles in Action$28.50 = $285

18. Plan for dissemination Discuss with Director of CTL • Most often, people schedule a CTL presentation • Perhaps a more innovative and suitable sharing method

19. Your proposal • Let’s take three or four minutes and do a little jotting to collect our thoughts and questions

20. Questions? Comments? • Whole group – 5 minutes

21. Workshop • For the next 20 minutes or so, Kisha and I are available to visit with you about your drafts and/or ideas • Please feel free to use this time to do one or both: • Collect your thoughts on paper about what you might like to do • And • Chat with us

22. Thank you for joining us today!