04/03/2025

 

Betty Starnes 

2800 North ‘A’ Street 

Midland, Texas, 79705 

 

Dear Mrs. Starnes, 

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         Here at Hillcrest School, we pride ourselves on finding different ways to teach our students and I think we have done a great job over the years doing so.  We have added Smart TVs to each room, use the Google suite for our students, and have chrome books for each student.  I think as we move forward, we need to be better prepared as technology in our classrooms continues to change. As Vorobyov (2024) states in Forbes magazine, “Education is undergoing a revolutionary transformation in an era marked by rapid technological advancements.” Knowing that this is the future in education and we, as a school, have already started moving toward innovating in our classrooms, the question is how we get all the teachers at our school on board to use this technology in their classrooms effectively.  I know there are several teachers that do not feel comfortable because they feel they cannot monitor the students effectively in the classrooms. I believe just by adding one simple program, Go-Guardian, we can make these teachers more comfortable using technology in their classrooms and take the next step of a campus of innovation.

 

I have used Go-Guardian in the past and I know this will put several of our teachers at ease and more open to using different methods in their classrooms that involve technology.   Go-Guardian has been rolled out at MISD and ECISD for several years with success. I personally saw several of my colleagues and friends who were completely closed off to any use of technology begin to open to using technology.  McMahon(2021) in EdSurge talks about how Go-Guardian allowed teachers to use technology and began to boost student engagement as well. Not only will Go-Guardian help teachers but also students because it will allow teachers to support interactive learning and optimize station-rotation blended learning activities (Brereton 2023).

 

I can add GoGuardian for the whole school for $3,500, this would include the program and me implementing it onto each chrome book for each student. I have already procured funding from Framing Square Lumber who has agreed to donate $20,000, which will be enough for the program, training, and anything else needed for three years. Along with the program, I will create a slides presentation to be able to share it with the entire school, then I will need two or three professional developments to make sure teachers and admin completely understand how to use the program. Once the PDs are completed, I will be available for walk throughs and/or if someone wants to come into my classroom to see how I use it they can.  I want to make this as simple as possible and I believe that once our teachers see it in action, they will love it and want to know what else they can do.  I want everyone to know that my door is always open for any questions or if they want to go forward creating more of a blended classroom which in my mind is the goal for the future.  Also, along with Go-Guardian we will get Pear Deck, and be able to use it for no extra charge. Pear Deck is an interactive presentation tool and educational platform designed for educators to engage students during lessons in real-time. I know several of our teachers are already using this program, so we will be saving them money because they will no longer have to pay the $149.99 a year for the premium service. 

 

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to talking to you face to face about this and answer any of your questions or concerns so we can make this a reality.  I know this is the future, teachers and students alike will benefit from adding Go-Guardian to our school.   

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Sincerely,

 

Thomas Robinson

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