1.

3 Policies, Procedures, Programs & Funding- research, recommend, and implement policies,

procedures, programs, and funding strategies to support, implementation of the shared vision

represented in the school, district, state, and federal technology plans and guidelines. Funding

strategies may include the development, submission, and evaluation of formal grant proposals.

The Technology Integration Grant Application was completed in order to get new

technology for Warner Robins Middle School (WRMS) that would make technology integration

possible throughout the school. According to Warner Robins Middle School’s (WRMS) Mission

and Vision Statement, “We (WRMS) will maintain high expectations by providing a rigorous

academic and technological curriculum to a diverse population of students” (2021). In an effort

to help that mission and vision statement come to fruition, WRMS will begin implementing

ISTE standards into their academic curriculum. While advocating for “equitable access to

educational technology, digital content and learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all

students” ("ISTE Standards for Educators | ISTE", 2021) is a worthy goal, WRMS needs aid in

obtaining the recourses needed to meet their goal; the goal of this grant application was to obtain

the resources WRMS needs to achieve the goal of their shared vision.  

Writing this grant proposal required me to conduct extensive research. I researched

WRMS’ mission and vision statement, the technology plan currently in place for Houston

County, the county in which WRMS falls, and the ISTE standards that would be implemented. I

also did extensive research to support the need for the technology requested in the grant

application. Once I determined what was needed to successfully carry out the school and

county’s shared vision for technology use, I searched for the technology needed to develop the

technology plan. While the assignment was an individual one, I collaborated closely with our
media center specialist to develop a clear understanding of our school’s current technology usage

and what technology WRMS has available. 

While completing the grant application, I made sure the funding would cover technology

and all the accessories needed to carry out the school’s mission and vision and was aligned with

the school’s SIP. In accordance with both aforementioned plans, WRMS will begin

implementing a school-wide technology plan to ensure all stakeholders have access to a standard

aligned technology vision, in an effort to enhance student learning. When creating the

technology grant, I also had to take into consideration the fact that, because WRMS is a title-one

school, the responsibility to provide technology to students falls predominantly on the school

itself. This meant working close with administration to make sure this grant fell in line with

states, counties, and school guidelines and did not interfere with title-one funding. 

I learned quite a bit while completing this grant application. As a classroom teacher who

is used to funding her own classroom, I had no idea how many rules and regulations went into

simply applying for a grant. There is so much red tape involved that it made the process a

nightmare. I learned about so many policies that our school must follow to receive funding. I

learned that we could only buy products from certain vendors, grants could interfere with title

one funds, and that our county has stipulations in place that prevent teachers from apply for

grants because “it looks bad on the county.” That is an actual quote I pulled form an email from

our county about requesting funds or applying for grants. Learning how much work goes into

simply getting funds for your classroom was very eye-opening.  

Something I could have done different from the start would have been to research more

about the red tape involved in getting funding for classrooms. I was extremely naive to the
policies in place when I began filling out the grant application. When I started working with

administration and our bookkeeper, who oversees funds at our school, I realized all the work that

goes into properly distributing fund throughout our school. I would have made sure to work with

creditable and required vendors and that every part of the process was done closely by the books.

This may seem obvious, but when I started the process, I didn’t think there would be a downside

of receiving a grant for my classroom. 

I’m not sure if there was in impact on my school, because that was not the purpose of the

assignment. However, I did learn an extensive amount of about the enter workings of our

school’s finically system and the policies our county has in place regarding funding. It impacted

my understanding of how the interworking’s of our school function.