SMART Boards

Find Funding for Purchasing SMART Boards

Many teachers have seen the educational benefits of using SMART Boards to assist student learning. However, the funds needed to purchase SMART Boards for teachers are difficult for most schools and districts to find. Many teachers have started looking for grants or contests which would gives schools the funds needed to purchase them. To assist you in finding grants, use the following website created  by Technology and Learning magazine: http://www.techlearning.com/resources/grants.php. It will take some time to look through all the sources of funds, but it could be very worthwhile...

Good hunting!

School library literacy grant

  If your school is within 25 miles of a Dollar General store, you should apply before August 10 for the Back-to-School literacy grant.  With 83 stores in Wisconsin, there's probably a store near you.  The maximum grant amount is $5,000 (enough to buy a SMART Board, projector, and Samsung digital document camera for presenting reading or student writing large screen and annotating over the work, or having students interactively read e-books to the entire class).
  Dollar General's program is designed to assist schools in implementing new programs for their school library or literacy program.  It must be used to enhance or expand the school's library, media center or literacy program.  Submissions will be judged on creativity, statement of need and use of funds.  The grant application is short, and you need to attach (on school letterhead) a 1/2 page executive summary, 1/2 page needs statement, 2 page (max.) program description and 1 page budget. 
  (Budget - SMART Board SB680 - $1399, Epson 83c projector - $749, SBA-NA Smart USB speakers - $299, FS670 floor stand - $349, Samsung 850DX document camera - $1000, projector cart - $250 and ADD your own computer and whatever software you want to use.)
  In 2006, reading organizations in Fond du Lac, Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh and Racine received literacy grants from Dollar General, so you can too!!!

GoodSearch.com

  Publicizing GoodSearch to your faculty and students as a search engine tool is a good way for schools to earn some extra money (to buy SMART Boards or any other needed educational materials).  I recently learned about GoodSearch from Gretchen Renfert, a Stevens Point Area High School math teacher, at a SMART Board inservice I was conducting.  By getting faculty, staff, students and parents to use GoodSearch as their search engine, their school has earned over $700 in just over a semester.

  If 1,000 people with the same charity search twice a day for a year, the charity earns about $7,300.  Founders Ken and JJ Ramberg teamed up with Yahoo on this project and half of the profit they earn from GoodSearch is donated to charities and schools.  Click HERE to learn all about GoodSearch.

  Try out GoodSearch to find out more about it.  The search engine is clean and easy to use, and I didn't see distracting pop-ups.  My only disappointment was that there weren't as many hits on it for my company, as there are on Google.  But if you search for SmartChoice AV on it, that's bound to change over time.  Read more about GoodSearch in SocialTech.com News, CNN Money.com, MSNBC.com.

Apply for 6th Grade Connections Program

SMART Technologies just announced they are accepting applications for the 2007 Connections program.  Connections is a collaborative learning and exchange program for sixth-grade students and parents from across North America.  Under the program, the selected schools receive a FREE SMART Board and floor stand, SMART Ideas concept-maping software, and AirLiner wireless slate and a two-year subscription to BridgIt conferencing software.  Selected sixth-grade teachers travel to Calgary, Canada in July for professional development, with all transportation costs paid by SMART.

  Learn more about this program: eligibility, student visit, online application, professional development, products.

Grant opportunity - Science and Math

  NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Explorer Schools Program provides an $18,000 grant for technology tools to engage students in science and mathematics investigations.  This program targets underserved student populations (grade 4-9).  The grant will be awarded to 50 school teams across the US in 2007.  Application deadline: January 31, 2007.  Program details, application information, FAQs, application worksheet, online application submission form.

NCTM Grants - Due Nov. 3

We're always on the lookout for good grant opportunities...  DEADLINE NOV. 3, 2006...

For 2007–2008, grants with a maximum of $3,000 each will be awarded by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The applicant must be a current member of NCTM or teach at a school with a current NCTM membership.  Any acquisition of equipment must support the proposed plan but not be the primary focus of the grant. Materials may be in the form of books, visual displays, computer programs or displays, slide shows, videotapes, or other appropriate medium.

Using Music to Teach Mathematics Grants for Grades K–2 Teachers  The purpose of this grant is to incorporate music into the elementary school classroom to help young students learn mathematics.

Improving Students’ Understanding of Geometry Grants for Grades K–8 Teachers  The purpose of this grant is to develop activities that will enable students to better appreciate and understand some aspect of geometry.

Narrowing the Achievement Gap in Mathematics Grants for Grades 6–8 Teachers  The purpose of this grant is to incorporate middle school classroom materials or lessons that will improve the achievement of student groups that have previous records of underachievement.

Engaging Students in Learning Mathematics Grants for Grades 6–8 Teachers  The purpose of this grant is to incorporate middle school classroom materials or lessons that actively engage students in tasks and experiences to deepen and connect their content knowledge.

Implementing the Mathematics Content of the Principles and Standards Grants (grades 7-12)

The purpose of this grant is to create lessons to increase mathematics content knowledge for one or more of the Content Standards defined by the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics of NCTM.

Connecting Mathematics to Other Subject Areas Grants for Grades 9–12 Teachers

The purpose of this grant is to create senior high classroom materials or lessons connecting mathematics to other fields. The focus of these materials should be on showing the connectivity of mathematics to other fields or to the world around us.

Budget suggestions for your grant: $1007 SmartBoard 660, $350 AirLiner wireless slate, $850 Epson LCD projector = $2207.  (We will provide FREE FREIGHT and a one-hour basic inservice for any Southern Wisconsin or Fox Valley teacher who receives a NCTM grant, purchasing equipment from us.)  Mount your SmartBoard on a wall in your classroom.  Either install your projector (extra cabling and hardware required) or put it on a cart.  Use the remaining money for staff development.  SmartChoice could do two half-days of staff development for you for $800.  Staff development activities would include learning how to use Smart Notebook to create new mathematics lesson activities and/or to modify existing ones available from Smart's website.

Smart's whitepaper Interactive Whiteboards and Learning is a great background paper for you to read to help you get ideas for writing these NCTM grants.