SMART Start Grant
2022-2023 (Year 2)

SMART Start Grant

Nassau BOCES has been awarded approximately $500,000 annually for five years (2021 - 2026) through the SMART Start Grant. In partnership with NYIT, the goal of the SMART Start Grant is to improve the expertise of grade K - 8 teachers in computer science, engineering, and educational technology to prepare their students to be successful in college, career, and citizenship.

Visit the SMART Start Grant webpage for more information about the grant.
Access teacher turnkey project resources from this year's SMART Start participants
Access our Artifact Reference Sheet to view a summary of teachers' documentations, teaching resources and standards

Year 2 in Review

Cohorts and Problems of Practice

Year 2 in Review

Cohorts and Problems of Practice

Click the drop-down arrow next to Problems of Practice to view teachers' focus area and access action plans, lesson plans, and artifacts.

Scaled model of a suspension bridge

Use of Technology to Fortify Curriculum Supporting Academic Intervention

Problems of Practice

How can I use a design project (bridge building) and voice-to-text technology to engage learners in using academic, technological, and social language to improve text comprehension and further develop their computational thinking skills?

How can I use a design project (bridge building) to better understand how my students are thinking, to know what steps I need to take to advance their sequencing skills and problem solving strategies?

Do students advance their executive functioning skills as they design and build bridges using natural resources and recycled materials and as they use google slides to categorize and organize ideas to produce a multimedia infomercial?

How do I help students build more robust understandings of addition with single digits?

How can I use a design project of bridge building and the technologies of Google applications, Mentimeter, Padlet, and Flipgrid to increase English Language Learners’ speaking and writing, problem solving, logical reasoning, and productive peer collaboration skills?

Student testing makerspace gadgets

Using a Maker Space in Support of STEAM

Problem of Practice

How do we help our students acquire an understanding of the computational thinking standard concepts in the new New York State K-12 Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards?

Student wearing headphones while looking at a computer screen

Literacy/Computer Science and Digital Literacy

Problems of Practice

How can students develop coding skills through the website code.org and KidOYO.com?

How can I use technology to increase engagement and independence, while improving reading levels and writing skills?

How do I help my students improve their handwriting skills using their laptops as a writing tool?

How can I address the progress of special education students, with multiple abilities and behaviors, through the use of technology in the area of handwriting?

How can my students utilize audio and playback technology such as "schoology" to improve their reading fluency and accuracy?

How can I use technology to help improve my students' reading and writing skills?

How can students use technology as a learning tool to create independence in the classroom?

How can I integrate technology to improve Bilingual students' reading and writing skills?

How can I integrate technology to increase students' engagement, while improving their research and writing skills?

Five white paper airplanes point upward and one red paper airplane pointing to the right

Differentiation/Individualized Learning and Engineering

Problems of Practice

How can I use technology and digital literacy to improve students' basic reading and math literacy skills?

How do I use Python coding language to improve students' critical thinking and problem solving skills and boost cooperative learning?

How do I integrate technology to improve students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills and increase their knowledgeable about different cultural activities?

Scrabble board with the tiles arranged to spell the word "TEAMWORK"

Computer Science and Digital Fluency/Literacy /Math /Science

Problems of Practice

How can technology support student agency?

How does aeroponic (hydroponic?) gardening and peer collaboration affect school culture?

Movie film strip displayed on the screen of a smartphone and 3tablets

Digital Literacy/Science

Problem of Practice

What is the role of digital literacy in mastering academic vocabulary?

A word cloud image with the words cyber security displayed prominently

Computer Science and Digital Fluency

Problems of Practice

Will the gamified cybersecurity curriculum produce more understanding of core concepts in middle school students?

How can we use games to teach students about important cybersecurity concepts?

How can hands-on demos teach students concepts about cybersecurity, specifically the concepts behind cryptography?

A desktop, tablet and smartphone displaying the words "stop cyberbullying:

Students with Disabilities

Problems of Practice

How can I use digital tools, such as Nearpod and Book Creator, to empower students who witness or experience cyberbullying to facilitate "digital citizenship?"

How can I use digital tools to empower students who witness or experience cyberbullying to facilitate "digital citizenship?

How can I utilize Code Monkey lessons to empower students who witness or experience cyberbullying to facilitate "digital citizenship?"

How can I use PowerPoint to empower students who witness or experience cyberbullying to facilitate "digital citizenship?"

words strips displaying words in different languages

English as a New Language

Problems of Practice

What is the impact/influence of Flipgrid on second grade ELL learners with respect to mathematics and problem solving?

How does Flip Grid impact vocabulary development and Math problem solving skills of third grade ELL students?

How can technology resources including National Geographic and Discovery Education assist ENL students in developing caretaking for a gecko classroom pet?

What is the impact of biographies on language development for 3rd and 4th grade English Language Learners?

Desktop, tablet and smartphone (from background to foreground)

Special Education/Engineering and Differentiation

Problems of Practice

How can tech increase student participation?

How can my students independently log in and navigate education sites?

How can the use of Choice Boards increase my student’s ability to match letters and

How can tech help students become independent writers?

How can my students identify and use reliable sources for research?

How can I use technology to assess student growth in music literacy?

How can my students use the computer as a tool rather than a game?

How can students independently access Classlink? How can students develop social and emotional self-awareness through technology?

How can data be represented visually to make data easier to analyze for students?

How can I facilitate students accessing the computer and using the computer as aa tool rather than a game?

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