IslandWood
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.
Teacher Professional Development
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)* call for students to use the practices, concepts, and content of science and engineering to understand and solve problems relevant to their lives. When teachers emphasize their students’ home environments, they make science more applicable and engaging while building foundations to understand global issues like climate change.
Courses
IslandWood courses are for teachers and educators who teach science to K-8 graders. Each course is focused on teachers in a different grade band. The courses span three months and include a Saturday kick-off session followed by multiple shorter after-school sessions. Each one provides an example NGSS curriculum as a model for incorporating local phenomena into storylines, embedding equity and justice in teaching, integration of Next Generation Science Standards with other subjects and inclusion of indigenous ways of knowing. Separate cohorts for each grade band will provide for both online only options and in-person Saturdays if/when appropriate.
2023-24 School Year Course Offerings:
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Fall: Seasonal Change in the Schoolyard for preK-2nd grade teachers. Use observable seasonal changes to anchor a Next Generation Science Standards-aligned curriculum that will get your students excited about doing science in their schoolyard. Incorporating your schoolyard and community into your classroom is a powerful strategy for justice-centered and equitable science learning that connects Next Generation Science Standards to personal experiences, makes learning relevant and affirms all students as scientists and caring citizens.
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Spring: Community-Centered Climate Action for 3-5th grade teachers. This course presents an air quality focused storyline that integrates Next Generation Science Standards with related social studies standards. Your students will build an understanding of how air pollution impacts other species, their community, and the climate. They will investigate their school grounds to inquire about and monitor air quality as well as learn about carbon emissions and activism in their community. Teachers and students will gain inspiration from the actions of local community members and then develop and implement an action plan to make a difference.
Localizing National Science Units
IslandWood is working with teachers, school districts, ESDs and curriculum experts to support teachers in helping students see how the science in their classroom is relevant in their communities and their region. They are continuing the work of last year’s Localizing Amplify Working Group towards developing and piloting a “Localizing Appendix” for an Amplify Science Unit at each grade level and supporting districts in using the appendices. They will also be expanding their localizing work this year to include middle school OpenSciEd units and offering more general workshops for teachers implementing other national curriculums.
I think it helped educate me in how to look at the implications of science and our environment on our most vulnerable populations. I feel the urgency more than ever that All students need to receive quality science education. That all students need to connect with the earth and understand how policies in science affect them personally, affect their neighborhoods. Thinking critically about the decisions that are being made around them and without them, will be one of the most important skills I can teach.
Upcoming Classes
Partners & Collaborators
Duwamish Valley Youth Corps
Dirt Corps
EarthGen
Islandwood
Northwest ESD
Nurturing Roots
Olympic ESD
Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center
Puget Sound ESD
Rising Star Elementary School
The Tomorrow Project
I SO appreciate everything I have learned and continue to learn in connection with Islandwood! You have inspired me to be a more energized and excited science teacher and shared ways to inspire and support my students in feeling more connected and excited at owning their identities as scientists!
I have changed the way that I include students’ experiences and knowledge into our lessons and their learning. I have also started our science lessons with the Thanksgiving address that Robin Wall Kimmerer talks about in Braiding Sweetgrass to help my students see and feel the positive things that the natural world can do for us, and to understand that the Native communities are our original scientists and keepers of our land.
Success Stories from IslandWood
IslandWood Working Group brings local connections to national science units!
On August 7th, science educators from the Puget Sound region gathered for a two-day Localizing Amplify Science Teacher Institute at IslandWood’s Bainbridge Island campus. The educators were excited to collaborate on curriculum adaptations towards incorporating student...
Rising Star elementary students restore their green space, rejuvenate their school garden, and engage in science learning with the schoolyard, community and community partners
This year, Rising Star Elementary students restored their green space, rejuvenated their school garden, and engaged in science learning with the schoolyard, community and community partners. All of this came out of a two-year ClimeTime-funded partnership that...
Schoolyard Science Storyline for 3-5 Teachers: What Makes a Weed a Weed?
This Spring, teachers used a simple clump of dandelions to anchor a Next Generation Science Standards-aligned storyline that motivated their students to go outside and engage with outdoor science observations and investigations. They questioned their own conceptions...