This year, Switzerland is proud to present a unique new program called “mini-grants.” Under the leadership of Superintendent Rob Caldwell, the program provides teachers with the opportunity to be creative in enriching their curriculum by granting them “mini-grants” in the amount of $1,000. A total of up to $217,000 has been allocated for these grants.

Through this program, every classroom teacher has the opportunity to add something to his/her classroom to enhance student learning. Applications are submitted for approval based on certain criteria, the main stipulation being that the grant’s use must still comply with state standards and the curriculum to which it applies. 

Skyvue has been approved for several grants. One of these went to Ms. Angie Binegar, fourth and fifth grade math teacher at Skyvue, who has been approved for her “An Apple a Day” mini-grant. 

“An Apple a Day” uses Apple TV as a unique way for teachers to utilize iPads and engage students. The iPads will be used as the students’ notebook for problem solving, and the Apple TV’s wireless display capability will allow the students to share their work with the class from their seats. Ms. Binegar states, “Research has proven that using student work to respond to formative instructional data is an effective instructional practice used by champion teachers. Traditionally, mathematicians use paper and pencil to share their thinking, and the only way for student work to be displayed is a document camera that is not very user-friendly. This innovative idea would allow mathematicians’ work from an iPad to be quickly displayed for the class to analyze. Pencils and even dry erase markers are being replaced with more digital 21st century methods because of the ability to more easily save work and share ideas electronically with others.” 

Ms. Binegar’s original problem-solving routine includes drawing models and pictures to help make sense of the problem before solving. Students would have a dry erase board and markers at their desk to draw the model and show their thinking, making it easy for them to re-work their mistakes. She says, “My problem is that this media is difficult to share with the group. We’ve tried ‘gallery walks,’ but that was not practical for every problem. I needed a quick and easy way to display student work.” She turned to technology, first experimenting with Google Meet, which she found to prove distracting. From there, she discovered the easy and practical use of the Apple TV and iPads. 

“It’s important to me that my mathematicians develop a growth mindset and become completely comfortable sharing their thinking. It’s through productive struggle and mistakes that the best learning takes place!”

A mini-grant program like this is not common in school districts, and Mr. Caldwell feels this is a valuable investment to help teachers personalize their lessons and meet student needs. “Our teachers know their students’ personalities and learning styles, and they are by far the most qualified to identify how best to enhance the class’s academic achievement,” he said. “We felt that mini-grants were a much wiser way to spend these funds than purchasing curriculum programs to be used across all classrooms, where the personalization and individualization is lost.”

The mini-grant program is being managed by District Administrator Curtis Wisvari. Mr. Wisvari describes, “This program is a good opportunity for teachers to reach out, stretch themselves, and stretch ideas in the classroom. Use this grant creatively — expand, supplement, and enrich your classroom instruction so that students are privy to a different perspective on learning.”