RUNNING HEAD: Could the prehistoric people help us?

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Could the prehistoric people help us?

SED 464 Signature Assignment
Classroom Technology Proposal Template
based off of the
Arizona Technology in Education Association (AzTEA) and Century Link
Innovation in Classroom Technology Integration (ICTI) Grant
2011-2012 Project Proposal Template

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School Environment Narrative

The Metropolitan Arts institute was founded in 1997. It is an independent, tuition free
charter school. It specializes in visual, performing and literary arts and has a college preparatory
curriculum for its students. It serves seventh through twelfth grade students. As for the
demographics and student diversity, Metropolitan is 57% percent white students and 29%
Hispanic. It also has interracial (7%), black (5%), American Indian/Alaska native (2%) and
Hawaiian native/Pacific islander (1%) students. The school has a majority of female students
(69%). Metropolitan has many classes including math, science, humanities, English, Spanish,
drawing, painting, theatre, dance, photography, film and music production. Metropolitan has
some of the best teachers instructing these subjects.
The Metropolitan Arts Institute is a larger building, compared to the ones surrounding,
near the corner of 7th Avenue and McDowell. For a middle school and high school, it is quite
small but manages to get the job done. There are only about 250 students total that attend. It is a
two story building; the first underground story is the garage. The second floor looks out on to the
street and the neighborhood behind the school. There is no gym or cafeteria. They have a student
lounge that has a microwave and vending machines. They also have a food truck come during
lunch. There are wood benches that line the hallways. As for the surroundings and the
community, Metropolitan Arts Institute is surrounded by both businesses and neighborhoods. The
neighboring people to the school are very involved in school events like first Friday every
month.
My class is on the second floor, a ways down the hall on the right. My classroom
windows look out on to the busy street but I like that. The windows are facing east. When you

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walk in, book shelves almost cover the entire left wall, all the way to the windows at the other
side of the room. I also have a cork board on this wall where I put flyers, especially for thinking
about college, and this is also where they can sign in and out for things like using the restroom.
All the books on the shelves are organized by genre like leisure fiction to biographies. I also keep
miscellaneous things on the shelves too.
To the right of the shelves, are the students tables and my desk and the front of my
classroom. My desk is on the west side of the classroom, facing north towards the students.
There are two rows, 4 seats each behind my desk. Then there are two more equal sections to the
left, all the way to the window. These sections have three rows and four students in each seat. So
all together, my class can seat 32 students but I havent had a full classroom yet. For the students
that do sit against the window, I dont have the blinds open at all times so not to distract the
students if their minds do wonder which I know they do. I also have miscellaneous decorations
and educational posters where I could fit them in. I try to leave room for students projects.
At the front of the room there are two huge white boards that almost cover the entire wall.
There are also some random book shelves scattered against this wall, by the windows and some
behind my desk. There is a projector mounted to the ceiling positioned a few feet in front one of
the white boards where it projects. A professional projector screen would be much more
sufficient. As for other technology, I have a hover cam at my desk that is another form of
projector. In my words, it is a new age overhead projector. I have a mac desktop computer at my
desk. I use the mac to project any videos or presentations to the class. I use the hover cam to
demonstrate live things like taking notes. I also have over twenty iPads for student use that I
store under my desk. I use them for group activities and sometimes individual assignments but
they get the most use in my office hours I have for students after the school day.

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Unfortunately, my classroom is in between two other classrooms and the walls are paper
thin so it does get a bit distracting teaching because I can hear my neighboring teachers also
teaching or there class discussing but its still manageable. I would like to look in to an
improvement on noise reduction and possibly sound proofing my room somewhat. I believe
having headphones for my students would help enhance student learning and help focus student
interaction with multi-media.
Ive wanted to engage the students even more when it comes to history. I already try to
add some fun things to my power points but its not enough. Group work has been okay but I
want my students to be able to do more. Id like to connect my students learning and ideas of
history to the world they live in now. I have been creating a cross-content project based learning
unit with the science and English department surrounding what my students are currently
learning in my class, prehistoric people and their ways of life. Id like my students to try and
apply these concepts to their own way of life.
Introduction
All the students at Metropolitan are aware of the effects human civilization has done to
the earth. This is very evident in the state of Arizona and the entire South Western states even,
especially with the issue of water shortages. There are many other environmental issues such as
the amount of trash there is undisposed of, especially in the lakes and rivers and also the
difficulty to grow food. The school tries to be environmentally efficient as much as possible with
instilling rules on materials allowed on campus and also recycling but sometimes this is not
enough. That is why I think it is important, as a World history teacher, to always try to connect
the ways of people in the past, to the ways of people now.

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This project will allow the students to link their learnings of the prehistoric people of
North America and how they lived and benefited from the Earth and its natural materials to how
we use the Earth now. This project will not only be a part of a history unit but will also be a part
of a science unit. The students will survey family and friends on what they think about the
indigenous people, since they did like to move around as much as possible, and if their ways
could benefit people today. The students will also compose a science experiment to prove
whether nomadic people had a beneficial way of life and then propose a plan for people today.
The English department will be helping with the writing of the proposal.
This innovative project will impact the entire sophomore class of 50 students this year
and hopefully also influence the school and community to make some local changes. The project
should then impact every class afterwards or an estimate of 250 or more students in the next five
years. This project will require students to research, inquire, create, write and apply all their
knowledge and hopefully impact the rest of their lives.
Applicant Bio
Lily Gonzales has been teaching at Metro for 15 years and actually did her student
teaching at Metropolitan Arts Institute. Lily Gonzales received her Bachelors degree through
Arizona State University and the Mary Lou Foultons Teachers college. Lily is planning on
pursuing her masters and PhD but is undecided in their concentrations. Lily is passionate about
encouraging her students to build an interest in history and helping them link the past with the
present and even the future.
Need for project

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With the standards laid out, getting the content across to the students in an engaging and
fun way while making real life connections is the most important goal. The more lecturing and
note taking the students do it is apparent the harder it is for them to get interested and grasp the
information they are being taught. Ways to interest the students more and at the same time
integrating as much research and technology skills in to the students is the mission. Metropolitan
is also striving for more cross-content collaboration.
Students at Metropolitan Arts Institute have had the most difficulty with test scores. That
is why new approaches are being taken like cutting down on the lectures and note taking, since
they have obviously not been completely effective, and having more project based learning. It is
believed that this way students will enjoy what they are being taught more, thus allowing them to
grasp concepts and achieve the objectives set for them. Then it is hoped students will do better
on tests.
Students have access to iPads which are great for individual and group work because
many students dont have access to a computer at home but more professional applications for
these iPads could broaden a lot of horizons for them. There is professional survey software called
Novi that would be useful for students, especially in making real life connections with their
community. With the iPads and the Novi survey software, the excitement of being able to share
this technology both at school and with their community should encourage the students to learn
how to interact with others in a professional manner, how to do internet research and also how to
create projects with computer applications in different ways. With all these skills, students can
come up with an interactive survey that can enlighten themselves and others on whether the
nomadic ways of prehistoric people could benefit people today.

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Project Impact
This project should impact not only the students but also other teachers of all content
areas and the surrounding community. The students will not only survey their classmates but also
survey their family and friends. The Novi survey software can have unlimited survey managers
so it can be used by any faculty that wishes to do so. It is also a onetime buy with unlimited
access so this software could be used at Metropolitan for as long as its running. In the first year,
it could impact all 250 students attending and eventually, every new class of students following
every year. This software can be used in any content area.
This project-based learning activity would encourage lots of out of class and in class
involvement. There is also room for cross-content area collaboration in this activity. Once
students come up with conclusions from their survey, they will test them in their science classes.
If their hypotheses end up being beneficial in their science classes, they can be proposed for the
community and directly enforced. In other words, if the students find out the nomadic ways of
prehistoric people could be beneficial today, they could try to apply the experiment in their
community. Lastly, students will compose a proposal paper summarizing their findings and the
benefits of applying them to their community. This paper will be structured in their language arts
classes and be graded for different requirements by the humanities, science and language arts
departments.
Learning Goals and Outcomes
Research will be a very important element of this project but it is also going to focus on
technology skills and using them professionally. Not only will the student create a survey, they

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will perform an experiment in their science class and then write a paper to go along with the
experiment so they can demonstrate they fully grasped the entirety of the assignment.
Student objectives will be to comprehend, analyze and appreciate the indigenous people
of the world and their culture and ways of living. They will need to understand the similarities
and differences between different peoples. They will do this through what content I give them
and also their own research.
They will learn technology skills through the research and survey creating. They will
learn inquiry when collaborating with group members and also presenting their projects out of
class to family and friends, which they will be required to get reviewed on.
Standards covered include:
Strand 2: World History
A study of World History is integral for students to analyze the human experience
through time, to recognize the relationships of events and people, and to interpret significant
patterns, themes, ideas, beliefs, and turning points in American and world history. Students
should be able to apply the lessons of World History to their lives as citizens of the United States
and members of the world community.
Concept 1: Research Skills for History
Historical research is a process in which students examine topics or questions related to
historical studies and/or current issues. By using primary and secondary sources effectively
students obtain accurate and relevant information. An understanding of chronological order is
applied to the analysis of the interrelatedness of events.

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PO 1. Interpret historical data displayed in maps, graphs, tables, charts, and geologic time scales.
PO 4. Construct graphs, tables, timelines, charts, and narratives to interpret historical data.
PO 5. Evaluate primary and secondary sources.
Concept 2: Early Civilizations
The geographic, political, economic and cultural characteristics of early civilizations
significantly influenced the development of later civilizations.
PO 1. Describe the development of early prehistoric people, their agriculture, and settlements.
ISTE Student Standards:
#1 Creativity and innovation
#2 Communication and collaboration
#3 Research and information fluency
#4 Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making
#5 Digital citizenship
#6 Technology operations and concepts
Activities
Students will engage in the following activities:

Learn how to use Novi Survey Software

Participate in mock survey to help development of questioning strategies

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Do research, collect sources in class, in library and at home on nomadic prehistoric tribes

and their people

Create survey using research
Give survey to friends and family
Using hypotheses collected from survey, test them in science class
Write a proposal paper on conclusions and how they could be applied to community
Have paper reviewed by humanities, science and language arts instructors

Assessment
I will grade the survey and proposal paper separately. For the paper, I will grade them on
their content, flow, grammar and citing of sources. For the survey I will grade them on
organization, participation, creativity and that they covered their content. In the end, their unit
tests will be show if they truly grasped their information. They will also be giving feedback to
other students.
Tech Support
Metro has a technology department that is well trained in many different electronic tools
and applications.
Sustaining the Project after the Proposal Period
It is hoped to use this project every semester for all grades and for different content areas
including. Also, the survey software can be used for many different uses other than this project
only.
Innovation

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I believe this project will be appealing to other classrooms and teachers of the same and different
content areas, like Language Arts and Science. The project can also be a fun idea for other
classes because you can use this technology for any content you want.
Budget Narrative
Item and Quantity
(1) Novi Survey
Professional Software
(1) Survey Expert

Individual Item Cost

$4,990

Item Cost
$4,990

$250

$250

Total Cost

$5,240

installation

Novi Survey is a professional survey software that will be installed in to our schools servers and
any department can use it, including administration. It is a survey software used by many popular
businesses including NASA. It is a onetime buy and allows for unlimited survey managers so
this could be used at Metropolitan forever. It could be the means for any project in any subject
area. It is very easy to learn and use so it will be a great addition to my class, especially for this
specific project. It allows for mass amounts of creativity. The students can use it on their
computers, tablets or phones. It is safe and I will always be able to monitor what my students do
with it.

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Inquiry Based Lesson Plan

Teachers:Lily Gonzales

Subject:10th grade world history

Standard:

Strand 2; concept 2; PO 1. Describe the development of early prehistoric people, their agriculture
and settlements.

Objective (Explicit):

SWBAT compare and contrast the people in the Paleolithic era to their own life and community in
while in groups on a t-chart.

Evidence of Mastery (Measurable): SWBAT list at least ten differences and ten similarities on each side of the t-chart.
Sub-objectives, SWBAT (Sequenced from basic to complex):

What: Paleolithic people had a hunter-gatherer economy and had a nomadic lifestyle.
How: When we compare and contrast we describe ways in which two groups are the same and
different.
Why: This will be important for students to do because it is preparing them for a bigger project they
will be working on by giving them comprehension of the content that they will need to proceed

Key vocabulary: stone, hominids, paleoliths, bands,

homosapian, Paleo-Indians, cave art

Materials/Technology Resources to be used: t-chart

handout, pen or pencil

Explain

Explore

Engage (Make content and learning relevant to real life and connect to student interest): connecting the lifestyles of
Paleo-Indians to the lifestyles of people in this day and age.
Teacher Will: briefly remind students on key
concepts of the Paleo-Indians and ask students to
contribute any concepts they can think of to add.

Student Will: participate and add their own thoughts

of Paleo-Indians.

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation: have students refer to their cornel notes they previously took on the
Paleolithic era.
Teacher Will: pass out t-chart and explain that in
groups they must think of ten similarities and ten
differences between Paleo-Indians and people now.

Student Will: get in groups with table mates and

begin discussing and filling out their t-charts
together.

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Elaborate

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation: co-teacher will walk the room and help any groups that need help or
get off topic.
Teacher Will: have group discussion come to a close
and start a class discussion on some of the
similarities and differences they found. They will
also be given time to add anything to their t-chart.

Student Will: participate in class discussion and will

be given extra time afterwards to fill in and add any
similarities/differences they may have not listed.

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation: advanced learners have to find 15 similarities and differences instead
of just ten.

Evaluate
10-15 well thought out similarities and differences plus a summary.