Want to stay informed about upcoming teacher professional learning opportunities? Sign up for our mailing list here!
Want to stay informed about upcoming teacher professional learning opportunities? Sign up for our mailing list here!
Piloting and Asynchronous Course Opportunities for Localizing Amplify Science
For 4th, 5th, & 6th Grade Amplify Science Units | Specifics on our Localizing Science page
Community-Centered Climate Action Course
A four-session course for 3-5 Grade Teachers | Coming in January 2025
Localizing Science Working Group
OpenSciEd and Amplify Science Educators | Applications will open for the 2025-26 school year in February 2025
Starting from a student’s experiences and community makes science meaningful and increases engagement while helping students understand how global issues like climate change are present and addressable in their lives. Our professional learning includes ready-to-use activities, strategies, and peer-to-peer conversations supporting connecting students’ funds of knowledge, families, and communities. Making those connections supports equity and increases student engagement.
Our professional learning includes a mix of STEM and Equity clock hours. There may be a small administrative fee to claim the clock hours in PDEnroller.
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)* require students to use the practices, concepts, and content of science and engineering to understand phenomena and solve problems relevant to their lives. In our courses and workshops, we use 3-dimensional storylines, lessons, or activities to examine how you can use the standards to understand and address real-world environmental problems in your students’ community.
ELA, Math, and Social Studies standards are incorporated into our professional learning where appropriate, as multidisciplinary approaches can make more efficient use of class time and help students understand their communities.
90-minute workshops introduce ideas for teacher consideration, longer Saturdays provide opportunities to dig in, and multiple-session courses provide storyline-driven lessons with follow-up opportunities to reflect on the implementation and consider additional lessons and strategies. We also have a Localizing Working Group that meets in person for two days in the summer and then comes back together throughout the school year as they try out their ideas. Choose the length and commitment that works for you.
Learn more about the impact of our professional development courses from the teachers themselves in this video, read a blog about an evaluation of our program, or review the complete external evaluation.
– Professional Development Course Participant
Localizing OpenSciEd and Amplify Science
IslandWood, Northwest ESD, and Olympic ESD have put together experienced K-12 teachers, TOSAs and District Science Leads to be a part of a year-long working group that will develop materials to support local connections in national OpenSciEd and Amplify Science units.
On August 12th, 2024, we began the third year of working with 21 educators from our region to create new localizing guides for 8 different science units.
We will open applications for the 2024-25 Localizing Science Working Group in January 2025.
Learn more about the impact of our teacher professional learning work by watching these two videos!
This video tells the story of the impact students at Emerald Heights Elementary made in their community after their teachers participated in our Community-Connected Climate Action course.
Teachers from around the region share how our courses have impacted their teaching and students!
– Chantal F., Teacher, Emerald Heights Elementary School
91% of teachers reported feeling more prepared to incorporate climate science into their teaching after participating in our professional development, up from just 41% prior to participation.
96% of teachers reported increased confidence in their ability to support equitable and just science education, up from 46%.
After participating in our professional development workshops, 96% percent of teachers reported an increased ability to connect to their students’ interests and identities, up from just 56% before. Learning that connects to students’ lives fosters deeper engagement, honors multiple ways of knowing, and helps students synthesize information better.
Each year, our teacher professional development courses create an exponential ripple of positive change and care for the environment.
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IslandWood acknowledges that we live and work on the ancestral land of the Coast Salish people, who have been stewards of this region's land and waters since time immemorial, and who continue to protect these lands and waters for future generations, as promised by the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855, the Treaty of Point No Point of 1855, and the Treaty of Medicine Creek of 1854.
While the majority of our work takes place on Suquamish (suq̀ʷabš) and Duwamish (dxʷdɐwʔabʃ) land, we also conduct programs on the land of the Snohomish (sduhúbʃ), Puyallup (spuyaləpabš), Muckleshoot (buklshuhls), Skokomish (sqoqc’bes), and S’Klallam (nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əm) peoples.
IslandWood is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Our tax ID number is 31-1654076.
4450 Blakely Ave. NE, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 206.855.4300