“Learning Journeys around the World and Back” SAMPLE ANSWER: “Learning Journeys around the World and Back” Children in our district are often sadly missing opportunities to travel beyond East Texas and therefore have difficulty making connections to what is being taught in the classroom. Most often it is a lack of resources and understanding that keep students from having more experiences outside of the area. VR Google Expedition Goggles are a new technology that will allow our team of teachers to bring lessons to life and build realistic connections between what is being taught in the classroom and the real world. With this new technology, teachers will be able to offer students learning opportunities that they never would have had the chance to experience otherwise.

SAMPLE ANSWER: “Just Breathe: Classroom Yoga Helps Us Learn” The goal of this grant is to become trained to provide daily yoga practice for students to help them manage stress and improve classroom success both academically and behaviorally. Early evidence from several studies in the yoga classroom setting indicates that yoga may help students become more self-aware, manage their emotions, enhance relationships and make better decisions (Barnes, Bauza, and Treiber, 2003) Yoga and mindfulness are tools that will help lay the foundation of success through social emotional learning growth. When students are better able to manage their emotions and cope in stressful situations it will be easier for them to focus on success. The strategies learned will help them deal with stressful situations in and out of the classroom, helping them to become lifelong learners and succeed not only academically, but socially and emotionally throughout their life.

SAMPLE ANSWER: “First Grade Garden” Project activities include: (These activities will be accomplished under the guidance of the teacher) Planning the setup of the garden Determining which plants to plant in the garden Observing the life cycle of the plants Maintaining the garden Keeping plant diary to record progress Studying parts of a plant Goals will be met by the end of the year after students have watched their garden grow and produce organic produce. Students will enjoy the produce they were able to grow.

SAMPLE ANSWER: “Virtual Human Anatomy” The digital age has brought new resources and tools to educators, aiding the evolution from single reference textbooks to multi-modal resources. Technology has enabled new ways of teaching and learning through the use of new applications and the reinvention of existing ones to improve how students are learning and comprehending. Virtual reality is among the newest of technology applications. 3D Organon VR Anatomy is the world’s first fully-featured virtual reality atlas and is already being used in higher level institutions. With this new and innovative way of learning, students will be able to get a head start on using technology they will encounter in college; and aide in a smoother transition to the medical professions.

SAMPLE ANSWER: “Books of Diversity Book Club” Prior to participation in the program, we will collect the following data: Student reading levels Student performance on standardized test Conduct surveys on student expectations and perceptions of literature This same data will be collected and examined at the end of the year. Data will be evaluated to determine the success and benefits to student's who participated.

SAMPLE ANSWER: Climbing Traverse Walls for Cross Curriculum Learning There is a new obstacle course facility and gym in Lufkin called FIT Life. The owner Casey Adams will be a great Community partner because the traverse climbing wall closely mimics obstacle course training. The Magna Climbing wall would be a hit at our annual Health Fair & Fitness night. Families would be invited to try out the wall and see what the fuss is about! Traverse climbing offers many opportunities for teamwork and cooperative exercises for staff development! Not Only would our staff have to collaborate to succeed, but would have fun too. Even teachers need to blow off a little steam once in a while. The wall would be available for use in our ongoing Staff Wellness program where teachers use the gym for afternoon workouts. Our campus instructional coach and grade level teachers would be an invaluable resource for cross curriculum planning. By simply sharing a spelling list or math TEKS with me, I can integrate lessons into my physical education class. The climbing wall could be used during Extended Day tutorial times. After a long day of school, being active while learning might give them that extra mental boost they need!