Professional Development
It is important that the staff at Elms both continue to learn and to teach others about environmental issues and the natural environment.
Two Staff Members Attended MAEOE Application Review/Green Leader Training 3/2014
Watershed Model Workshop for Teachers
Rebecca Wolfe of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin will present a workshop for SMCPS teachers where they will build their own Watershed Model and integrate watershed lessons into their curriculum. (04/2014)
Rebecca Wolfe of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin will present a workshop for SMCPS teachers where they will build their own Watershed Model and integrate watershed lessons into their curriculum. (04/2014)
Elms staff coordinated with Calvert Marine Museum staff and SMCPS Science Supervisor to develop environmental field studies. (2013-14)
Continuing discussions began during the Rocky Gap Environmental Literacy Summit and regional follow-up meetings, SMCPS Environmental Education and Science staff coordinated to plan additional environmental field study opportunities for SMCPS students and associated professional development for SMCPS teachers.
Continuing discussions began during the Rocky Gap Environmental Literacy Summit and regional follow-up meetings, SMCPS Environmental Education and Science staff coordinated to plan additional environmental field study opportunities for SMCPS students and associated professional development for SMCPS teachers.
The Elms Presented at St. Mary's County Public School Teachers Professional Development workshop (2013)
Elms Coordinator and a staff member did a presentation on Environmental Health (relaxation techniques...), resources available from the Elms website (plants available free from the Elms Nursery, how to plan their gardens and..... )and resourced available from the St. Mary's County Garden Club (grant money available to local schools for garden projects...).
Elms Coordinator and a staff member did a presentation on Environmental Health (relaxation techniques...), resources available from the Elms website (plants available free from the Elms Nursery, how to plan their gardens and..... )and resourced available from the St. Mary's County Garden Club (grant money available to local schools for garden projects...).
Elms staff worked with SMCPS Social Studies and Science Supervisors and DNR Point Lookout staff to pursue feasibility of a sustained high school level student service learning oyster bar restoration project. (2012-2013)
Staff from Elms attended January 2013 Maryland Growing Up Wild educator training. (3.5 hour workshop) (Margarita Rochow, Hester Burch, Cathy Kennedy)
"Growing Up WILD (GUW) is an early childhood education program that builds on children’s sense of wonder about nature and invites them to explore wildlife and the world around them. Through a wide range of activities and experiences, Growing Up WILD provides an early foundation for developing positive impressions about the natural world in addition to lifelong social and academic skills.The GUW guide is designed to teach children ages 3-7 through 27 field-tested, hands-on activities. These activities include outdoor explorations, scientific inquiry, art projects, music and movement, conservation activities, reading and math connections and "Healthy Me" uniting with the Let's Move Campaign."
Certificate of completion in documentation
"Growing Up WILD (GUW) is an early childhood education program that builds on children’s sense of wonder about nature and invites them to explore wildlife and the world around them. Through a wide range of activities and experiences, Growing Up WILD provides an early foundation for developing positive impressions about the natural world in addition to lifelong social and academic skills.The GUW guide is designed to teach children ages 3-7 through 27 field-tested, hands-on activities. These activities include outdoor explorations, scientific inquiry, art projects, music and movement, conservation activities, reading and math connections and "Healthy Me" uniting with the Let's Move Campaign."
Certificate of completion in documentation
Elms Director Margarita Rochow attended WET 2.0 Update Facilitators Training (1/2012)
and
Mrs. Rochow Presented Project Wet workshops to SMCPS teachers (04/2012) and Southern Maryland region teachers at the Alice Ferguson Foundation (01/2013)
"Since 1984, the Project WET Foundation has dedicated itself to the mission of reaching children, parents, teachers and community members of the world with water education."
http://projectwet.org/water-education-project-wet/water-education-project-wet/
and
Mrs. Rochow Presented Project Wet workshops to SMCPS teachers (04/2012) and Southern Maryland region teachers at the Alice Ferguson Foundation (01/2013)
"Since 1984, the Project WET Foundation has dedicated itself to the mission of reaching children, parents, teachers and community members of the world with water education."
http://projectwet.org/water-education-project-wet/water-education-project-wet/
Investigating and Evaluating Environmental Issues and Actions (IEEIA) professional development workshop presented to SMCPS elementary, middle, and high school teachers. (11/2012) (staff who attended: Denise Shrum, Hester Burch, Dawn Lessel, Margarita Rochow)
The IEEIA Awareness Presentation was presented by LeeAnn Hutchison, Environmental Education Specialist Maryland State Department of Education...
See Documentation
The IEEIA Awareness Presentation was presented by LeeAnn Hutchison, Environmental Education Specialist Maryland State Department of Education...
See Documentation
Through a Chesapeake Bay Trust grant, Elena Takaki presented a workshop on National Geographic FieldScope to St. Mary's County teachers. (11/2012)
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/program/fieldscope/?ar_a=1
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/program/fieldscope/?ar_a=1
Provided in-the-schoolyard workshop for Leonardtown Middle School teachers on ways to use PASCO probes and GPS units to guide students in evaluating the environmental characteristics of their schoolyard. (11/2011)
Elms Coordinator involved in Praxis exam (11/2011)
Mrs. Rochow participated on a national standard setting panel determining the ‘cut score’ for the new Praxis exam for environmental science education teacher candidates. She worked with practitioners in K-12, higher education and industry and reviewed individual questions to determine whether a ‘just (barely) qualified’ candidate should be able to correctly answer them.
See documentation
Mrs. Rochow participated on a national standard setting panel determining the ‘cut score’ for the new Praxis exam for environmental science education teacher candidates. She worked with practitioners in K-12, higher education and industry and reviewed individual questions to determine whether a ‘just (barely) qualified’ candidate should be able to correctly answer them.
See documentation
Professional Development - Internal
Elms Professional Development Staff Meetings
including: bees, terrapins, seining and fish id, seed collection, identifying local frogs, GPS use, nature photography tips, how to teach environmental ed and much more...
including: bees, terrapins, seining and fish id, seed collection, identifying local frogs, GPS use, nature photography tips, how to teach environmental ed and much more...
Professional Development of Elms Staff
It is important that the staff at Elms continue to learn about environmental issues and the natural environment.
Here are some of the professional development that our staff Participated in.
Here are some of the professional development that our staff Participated in.
Two Staff Members are Certified Master Gardeners
Hester Burch and Kurt Reitz (certified an earlier year). Master Gardener program requires 10 hours of continuing education every year. These skills directly relate to our work in the nursery, in the demonstration gardens and especially with assisting 7th graders during their service learning in the nursery.
Four members of the Elms staff are Certified by the American Canoe Association in tandem canoe instruction, and three are also certified in kayak instruction.
Elms staff member Hester Burch attended Audubon Society’s week long workshop “Educators’ Week” …on Hog Island in Maine. (July 2012) another staff member Kurt Reitz visited in 2009
“Become inspired and learn practical approaches for incorporating environmental education activities into your curriculum and teaching in this action-packed program. Our inspiring and experienced instructors share their favorite approaches, methods, and activities for engaging both children and adults with nature.
Workshops using techniques in art, music, theater, journaling, and other disciplines will be presented, as well as a host of classic Audubon Camp field trips. These inquiry-based lessons will get your students outside to participate in citizen science, invite them to conduct their own investigations about local birds, and engage them in high-tech and hands-on activities that will lead to science and math understandings.
We will also visit the nearby restored Atlantic Puffin and seabird colony, as well as explore Hog Island’s magnificent spruce forest and its rich intertidal zones. Great networking opportunities and delicious home-cooking will make this a memorable and fun experience.”
“Become inspired and learn practical approaches for incorporating environmental education activities into your curriculum and teaching in this action-packed program. Our inspiring and experienced instructors share their favorite approaches, methods, and activities for engaging both children and adults with nature.
Workshops using techniques in art, music, theater, journaling, and other disciplines will be presented, as well as a host of classic Audubon Camp field trips. These inquiry-based lessons will get your students outside to participate in citizen science, invite them to conduct their own investigations about local birds, and engage them in high-tech and hands-on activities that will lead to science and math understandings.
We will also visit the nearby restored Atlantic Puffin and seabird colony, as well as explore Hog Island’s magnificent spruce forest and its rich intertidal zones. Great networking opportunities and delicious home-cooking will make this a memorable and fun experience.”
Limnology Class SMCM (Spring 2013)
Elms staff member took and completed a 4 credit Limnology class (the study of freshwater ecology) at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
The subject matter is relevant to our 4th grade program where the students fish in a fresh water pond with nets.
Elms staff member took and completed a 4 credit Limnology class (the study of freshwater ecology) at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
The subject matter is relevant to our 4th grade program where the students fish in a fresh water pond with nets.