TarynBennett&ShannonWatson

BrentEDES340
February11th2016
ProjectProposal

ProjectProposal

TarynBennett&ShannonWatson

1)Projectdescriptionwithmajorinquiryquestion/problem

InquiryQuestion:Howdoyouimprovestudentaccountabilityifthereisanozeropolicyin
place?

Forthisproject,ShannonandIwillreachouttocurrentteachingstaff,friendsandfamily
fromthecommunitytogatheravarietyofopinions.Wewanttofindouthowtoensurestudents
arebeingheldresponsiblefortheiractionsastheycontinuetomature.Aftertheyleaveschool,
studentsneedtounderstandthattherearedeadlinesandduedatesthattheywillneedtocomply
withinordertobecomesuccessful.Wewanttolearnhowincorporatinganozeropolicybenefits
studentlearningandhelpsthemwithsucceedingintheirfutureendeavors.

Asfutureteacherswehopetoutilizetheknowledgewehavelearnedfromthisprojectin
ourownclassroomtohelpfacilitatestudentlearning.Wewantourstudentstobecome
accountablefortheirworkandbecomesuccessfulmembersofsociety.

2)Rationale/curricularconnections

Thisisanimportanttopictouncoverbecauseitisvitaltoteachstudentslifeskills,as
wellascurriculumoutcomes.Teachingstudentsreallifeskillswillencouragesuccesswith
futureproblemsandchallengestheywillinevitablyface.Wethinkthathavingstudentsfail,or
bygivingzerosasconsequenceswillteachthemthat1)itisokaytofailthat'swhenthemost
learningisdoneand2)consequencesarenaturalaspecttoeverydaylife.Ifweenablestudents,
weareteachingthemthattheanswerisalwaysyes,andthattherearenoconsequencestolife
decisions.

Thisinquiryquestioncanbeaddressedtoeverycurricularconnectionbecauseitaffects
everysubject.

Asfutureteachersthisisaquestionthatwearestrugglingwithandwewanttowidenour
knowledgeaboutthistopicsowecanbecomethebestteacherspossible.

3)Objectives/outcomes

OurprojectwillbecomeapotentialProfessionalDevelopmentsession.Wewillcreatea
PDsessionmanualtoshowcaseourresearch,whatwehavelearnedfromaskingotherteachers
abouttheiropinionsandanoutline/summaryofhowwewillcreateaPDsessionsforother
teachers.Wewillincludethespeechthatwewoulduseifweweretopresentthisinformation

TarynBennett&ShannonWatson
BrentEDES340
February11th2016
ProjectProposal

withinthemanual.Ourhopewiththisprojectistogetteachersthinkingabouttheirstudents
accountabilityandifthenozeropolicyisthebestthingforourstudents.Themanualwillbe
createdinsuchawaythatsomeoneelsecouldpresentit,alloftheinformationwillbeincluded.
Wehopetosharewhatwehavelearnedandpassitontootherteachersandmembersofour
cohort.

4)Resources

Inthisproject,wearegoingtoreachouttocurrentteachingstaff,friendsandfamilyfrom
thecommunitytogatheravarietyofopinions.Wewillsendoutmanyemailstogatheropinions
andhelpusbecomemoreknowledgeableonthistopic.Asampleofwhatwewillsendinan
emaillookslike:

Hello,

MynameisShannonWatsonandIamastudentintheMiddleYearsEducationProgram
attheRedDeerCollege.Mypartner,TarynBennett,andIarecompletingaprojectforoneof
ourEducationclasses.Weareinourthirdyearanditisaskedofustocompleteaselfdirected
projectthatisinquiry,discoveryandprojectbased.Assuch,wearecomingtoyoutogather
opinionsonaspecifictopic.

Ourhopeistofindawaytohelpstudentsbecomemoreaccountableandmotivatedfor
theirownlearningandsuccess.Wefoundthatmanystudentsintoday'sclassroomsare
strugglingwithduedatesanddeadlines.

OurinquiryquestionisHowdoyouimprovestudentaccountabilityifthereisanozero
policyinplace?Assuch,wewouldliketohearyouropinionaboutthenozeropolicy(positive
ornegative)andhowtohelpstudentsbecomesuccessfulintheirfutureendeavors.

Throughourownpracticumexperiencewefeelstronglyaboutthistopicandwantto
expandourknowledgeonthenozeropolicyinschools.Wevalueyourexpertiseinthefieldof
teachingandwouldliketohearyourthoughts.

Weappreciateyourtimeinconsideringthisquestionandresponding.Wehopetohear
fromyoushortly.WearehopingtohaveresponsesbackbyaboutFebruary5thasweneedtime
toputourpapertogetherforourpresentation.Thankyouinadvance,weappreciatethefeedback.

Sincerely,

TarynBennettandShannonWatson

TarynBennett&ShannonWatson
BrentEDES340
February11th2016
ProjectProposal

WeareplanningonsendingthisemailouttoKenMeraw,KaliLeatherdale,JeffMadsen,Cheri
Watson,DeanneGood,AliciaBryar,ChrisBrander,JodiEmo,DianeFoord,BillWhitehead,
MarkJones,DanaHannett,WaynePhillips,CindyPhillips,AlanaRouthier,RobinPawlak,Sue
Mitchell,CollettePedde,KarenCastaline,KarenVanderwater,KimKirkwood,GorginaChiles,
MitchIrvine,HelenDobson,KellyRoslinsky,KathyTopping,AndreaWatkins,TimVegh,
ChristineMcGonigal,RileyAdams,MijiCampbell,LinaMancuso,GinaGoranson,MikeKelly,
IkeHanna,RobertNellisandRobertPetrieinregardstocurrentteachingstaff.

Wewillalsoresearchreasoningbehindthenozeropolicyandwhyithasbeenbroughtintothe
schoolsystems.Weareinterestedinlearningaboutthemental/psychologicalproblemsthatmay
arisewithreceivingazero.Wewanttodigdeeperintothestudent'smindastowhythereisa
fearoffailing,whythereisalackofmotivationwithinstudentsandhowtohelpthemachieve
success.

Wewillincludeasectioninourprojectbinderthathasalloftheemailsreceivedandreferences
weused.

5)MajorTimelines

Emailssentoutby
January29th2016
hopingtohaverepliesby
February5th2016.
By
March18th2016,
wehopetohavecompletedgatheringallnecessaryresearchandhaveit
summarized.
WewillcompleteaPDDaymanual/sessionaboutthenozeropolicyandwhatwehave
discoveredthroughourresearchby
March25th2016
.
April7th2016
iswhenwewillhavethecompleteandfinalcopyofourprojectdone.

6)Evaluationofproject

Forthisproject,wewillcompleteaselfassessmentandexitcardattheendtoevaluatewhatwe
contributedasindividuals.