The teacher proposes to use their donated Chromebook over the summer for professional development purposes. They plan to learn how to use the Chromebook to screencast lessons, work in a remote learning environment using online tools like Google Classroom and Google Meet, and control a Raspberry Pi computer cluster remotely. The teacher requests to borrow the Chromebook over the summer to teach themselves how to accomplish these tasks effectively.

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Summer Project Proposal 6/15/2020
To: Dr. Neil Testa, Principal Baldwin High School
From: A. Jorge García, Mathematics Teacher
Re: Summer Project Proposal
Date: 6/15/2020
Every Summer I have conducted some sort of professional development,
whether it be a structured AP Institute, Online Course or self directed study
project. This summer is no different, except for the fact that my next project
entails learning how to use the Chromebook that was recently donated to me
via donorschoose.org. As such, I have been informed that I need to detail my
summer project so as to be able to sign out the device for the summer. Here’s
what I propose to accomplish this summer with the Chromebook:
PART I: Using a Chromebook for Screencasting Lessons
After any class where I present new concepts, I typically make a screencast
summarizing the key points from the lesson. I used to record an entire lesson
live, but I have endeavored to re-record many lessons in a shorter format
these past several years. Until recently, I could only make my recordings at
school using my SmartBoard and SmartNotebook to write notes. With a
Chromebook, utilizing a touch screen and stylus, I should be able to do the
same thing at home without the need for a large cumbersome SmartBoard. I
will also learn to use Android apps to accomplish this task such as
Screencast-o-matic to record video as well as Squid to write notes much as I
do with SmartNotebook.
PART II: Using a Chromebook in a remote learning environment
These past several months have underscored the need for teachers to be
ready to teach remotely at a moment’s notice in case of any future natural
disaster such as the COVID 19 Global Pandemic. To that end, I need to train
myself to work effectively in an online teaching environment whether it be
synchronous or asynchronous. The asynchronous aspect of elearning is
addressed in PART I above. The synchronous component involves the use of
online resources and apps to help in the delivery of learning activities in a
live, real time setting. As such, I will use the Chromebook to see how I can
work with Google Classroom and Google Meet incorporating online
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2020SummerProjectProposal.doc

2. computing environments in my Mathematics and Computer Science
classroom such as:
https://trinket.io​,
https://ide.cs50.io​,
https://sagecell.sagemath.org​,
https://www.openprocessing.org
PART III: Using a Chromebook to control an RPI Cluster
My Computing Independent Study class has been studying Linux Cluster
(aka Super Computer) hardware, firmware and software applications for over
a decade now. This past year we tried our hand at building such a cluster out
of Raspberry PIs. We were well on our way to successfully completing this
project just before the pandemic closed campus. I would like to investigate
how to complete the project using a Chromebook to program the cluster
remotely. Please see our progress for this year’s cluster on my blog:
http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com/2019/12/cistheta-2019-2020-meeting-7-121
519.html
In summary, I respectfully request the use of the Lenovo 500e Chromebook
that just arrived from donorschoose.org to teach myself how to most
effectively accomplish these tasks.
Sincerely,
A. Jorge García
Baldwin SHS & Nassau CC
Applied Mathematics, Physics & CS
mailto:calcpage@gmail.com
http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009
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2020SummerProjectProposal.doc