Beyond Boat Building
I work with a small population of special ed kids labeled as having emotional disorders: depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD etc. I've got a great amount of freedom in what I teach. Right now I'm teaching Social Studies, Art and PE, but I'd rather build boats with my kids. I've got to figure out a way to sell it to the district because I'll need a lot of money to get the project off the ground. We don't have a shop area in the school so I'd pretty much be starting from scratch.
What I'm looking for is this:
How do I sell it to the higher powers? I can't just call it "Boat building." That really lacks practicality in my district of high earning professionals. What I need to do is incorporate lots of edu-speak into my proposal. Like, "applied this," "integrated that," and "practical such and such."
Here are the points I'm looking at expanding in my proposal:
cooperative learning
practical problem solving
team building
applied math
integrated studies
therapeutic creativity
interdisciplinary learning
Help me out. Please add to my list in the comments section.
What I'm looking for is this:
How do I sell it to the higher powers? I can't just call it "Boat building." That really lacks practicality in my district of high earning professionals. What I need to do is incorporate lots of edu-speak into my proposal. Like, "applied this," "integrated that," and "practical such and such."
Here are the points I'm looking at expanding in my proposal:
cooperative learning
practical problem solving
team building
applied math
integrated studies
therapeutic creativity
interdisciplinary learning
Help me out. Please add to my list in the comments section.
posted by Frank at 6:10 PM
13 Comments:
My recommendation is to somehow find a marina or boat builder in the area to buy into the concept. Then you could cite the project as an interaction with the community (plus the company may help with the start up money & tools). You also somehow integrate it into your curriculum maybe? Art could be naval architecture (I am sure you could get a guest speaker from the community & then the science teacher to talk about buoyancy and other things). Social studies - almost every era has some connection to a boat - that may be a stretch though. I'm sure you could get someone from the CG or CG Aux to come and speak about boating safety also. What you are proposing is a way to focus the students attention into a meaningful project where they can establish confidence and a real sense of worth with the accomplishment of something concrete - i.e. building a boat. I definitely have bought into the disabilities studies approach and hope to be creative, taking initiative with my special education students next fall as you are now. Good luck with the proposal and project!
Dexterity/fine motor skill development? You could detail all the math and science objective this would surely cover. Hands on learning, prediction, logic. I'm good at the BS. Linked from Girlfiend.
I don't have any concrete advice, but I can say a boatbuilding class is awesome. the 8th graders at my school (all 7 of them) do a "Stump to Ship" program where they start with a tree and go through the whole process until they have a wooden kayak. It's pretty amazing, but it helps that WoodenBoat School (and WoodenBoat magazine) is in our town.
You've got some good buzzwords going there...how about...
Differentiated teaching for kinesthetic learners
Authentic assessment (completed boats!)
Intrinsic motivation (not grades, not threats--DESIRE to learn)
I hope this works out! I got to do a "Bio-English" class with some kiddos last summer, in which we took weekly trips to the local park, fished, did cool experiments, went to the aquarium, read poetry and stories related to nature, and wrote about it all. There's nothing like having a brainchild come to fruition with the children!
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I don't really have that much to add except to say it's a wonderful idea and I wish you luck.
I'm a grant writer/administrator, so I read hundreds of these things a year.
Chaos is right on about the community thing. Call it fostering collaborative community relationships. The community and local business owners will become aware of the "community partner" they have in the school and you may be able to "leverage matching funds" or "in-kind donations of manpower, technical assistance (consultation on the boats), or a work area to complete some projects".
A big term in community development project is "capacity building". That is to increase their capacity to interact with those outside of their core circle i.e. parents, peers, teachers and it increases their capacity to acquire new skills not necessarily gained through the standard curriculum.
I don't know how possible this is, but could you hold an auction or a raffle for the completed boat? That might help with sustainability of the program. So, that the ask in subsequent years is decreased. Funders don't want to be seen as a meal ticket or that you are relying solely on them to float you for eternity. So, I would work on getting local marina's to commit to increasing support over the next few years, work in the auction component, and maybe try to apply for a grant in your area.
Also, look at the major employers in the area. They don't necessarily have to have anything to do with boats or the water. Even grocery stores...if you sell them on the self-esteem, leadership skills , and personal development that the program will provide for the kids, they might support based on that. I have found that most grocery stores will give up between $5k and $10K to a good project. You just have to ask.
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