These stories are a collection of educator professional learning experiences and opportunities provided by ESD, CBO and Tribal School partners.
IslandWood’s teacher professional development opportunities are designed to support powerful learning experiences that connect to students’ lives and communities. In this time of increasing awareness and activism, IslandWood is joining with teachers in working to address the vast racial, economic, and environmental disparities in our communities and classrooms.
On February 1, educators gathered at Poulsbo Elementary School on the Kitsap Peninsula. Over the course of the day, groups brainstormed various ways to lead students on a journey through the scientific phenomena in their schoolyards. The workshop began with some free...
On January 18, educators gathered at the Tacoma Professional Development Center to integrate an understanding of NGSS Engineering Practices into their work with students. Focusing on a puddle at the site, facilitators led the group through an Engineering Design...
On Saturday, January 11, educators gathered at the Tacoma Professional Development Center to dig into NGSS and apply the Science and Engineering Practices to their local environments. After investigating the "schoolyard" for events and processes that might pique...
Wake up and smell the… wastewater? On Saturday, November 2nd 2019, nine teachers and educators met up at the Renton's King County South Treatment Plant to discuss how we build, use, and care for our water urban systems. Along with 2 facilitators, participants had the...
Early on Saturday, November 9th, at Sartori Elementary, 5 teachers and 2 IslandWood staff explored how mapping neighborhood assets, opportunities, and problems can engage students more deeply in science and engineering. Together, we deepened our knowledge on how...
On a crisp autumn Saturday at the Brightwater Treatment Plant, 12 teachers and educators dove head-first into dialogue surrounding urban water issues and solutions. Together, we learned how climate change will effect our regional wastewater and other stormwater...
On a rainy Saturday morning at Discovery Elementary, 10 teachers and educators met up to discuss how mapping neighborhood assets, opportunities, and problems can engage students more deeply in science and engineering. They explored how system models, looking for...
On September 28th, 16 teachers and educators gathered at Cascade View Elementary School in Tukwila to participate in IslandWood's "NGSS in Action: Science in the Schoolyard" workshop. Together, they dove into discussions of "three dimensional" science learning, and...
On August 9th, seven teachers and educators ventured to the Brightwater Educational Center in Woodinville to explore local environmental phenomena to anchor within their classroom science units. Together, teams dove into their understandings and applications of Next...