Grant Writing Reflection

This past week, Tess and I completed writing our Grant for class. This was not a real application for a Grant, but just practice in writing one and having fun with it. We had an imaginary budget and an imaginary idea. We applied to receive GPS systems for our classrooms. We chose these because we thought it would be fun to apply for something unique! After working through the process, I found out that students could use the GPS systems in so many more ways than I thought. Having free range during this application process really let me think through all of the awesome things you could do with all sorts of technology.

http://www.grantexperts.com/grant-writing-services

Writing the actual grant was a lot of fun. We were able to put together our knowledge on TPACK and create an ideal for other to see as important. In other words, we were able to use our knowledge to try and persuade others to agree on how important this technology is to us and why we should have it in our classrooms.

Some other great things I learned about Grant writing:

• You need to allow yourself plenty of time to think critically, thoughtfully, and creatively. 
• Structure your narrative based on the criteria intended and purpose of your grant.
• Justify your funding--why you should receive it and its importance. 
• Proofread, proofread, proofread! You do not want your proposal to be overlooked because of gramatical errors. 
• If you need additional information, ASK! Talk to the person in charge (usually the manager) to clarify any misconceptions, confusions, or misunderstandings. 
• Grants mean you are working towards a goal. You should have prior knowledge and be able to back up your opinions and reasoning for the grant. 
• Practice writing grants. You want your actual proposals to be as professional as possible. 
• When practicing, or working, be creative. Grants should be working toward something that is very beneficial to your school and will support the learning of your students. 

Overall, when writing our grant, I learned a lot about professionalism, collaboration, and the focus of student support. In the future, if I am working on writing a grant, I will understand how much it will be evaluated, the importance of it, and how much it will potentially help my students grow in the future if my school receives it. 

Grants allow teachers to use their knowledge and be innovative to create a narrative that will, potentially, grant their students with many future opportunities.