Professional learning forms community and educators made connections in more ways than one at the recent Washington Green Schools’ STEM Seminar: Agriculture and Climate Change, which was held over three afternoon sessions in October and November.
Twenty-six educators from across the NewESD101 and NCESD 171 regions participated in the multi-session STEM Seminar. With input from facilitators, University of Washington climate scientist, Dr. Kat Huybers, and the personal experience of the educators in the session, teachers explored the connections between climate change and the local agriculture industry. Facilitators introduced new virtual tools such as Padlet, PearDeck, Jamboard, Google Classroom, and Zoom, to show teachers ways to effectively engage with their students remotely.
Padlet was used as a tool to deliver, process, and exchange ideas on climate science data.
Teachers practiced developing and using models through the STEM Seminar as they progressed their understanding of the relationship between agriculture and climate change.
Over the course of the asynchronous and synchronous sessions, educators collaborated to discuss and revise their models. This was a particularly powerful opportunity for teachers to share their expertise and background with one another.
Educators have already brought their learning back to their classrooms and engaged their students. Karen Perryman of Wellpinit shared how the training has already impacted her students, “Creating the models and having the students review each day what they learned and add to them, as we continued expanding their learning, worked very well. I think the students enjoyed actually seeing their learning and knowledge base grow.”
