CLIMETIME – TEACHING FOR THE CLIMATE

Common Threads has joined with other community organizations including Wild Whatcom, Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA), and RE Sources five years in a row to lead teacher professional development opportunities through the ClimeTime proviso to teachers of Whatcom County. Together we specialize in school gardens, salmon recovery, natural resource conservation, and nature immersion to provide experiential education that gets students outside, keeps lessons place-based, and teaches hope, resilience, respect, and conservation of nature.

For the 2023-2024 school year, our ClimeTime offerings will consist of five in-person workshops offered throughout the year. Two workshops will build on our combined reputations for offering programs in schoolyard settings. And three will dig deeper into place-based phenomena building on our individual organizations’ strengths: watershed and salmon and the role of circular economies in Whatcom County.

We hope to see you at some of these opportunities! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Emily Hie (emily.hie@commonthreadsfarm.org) if you have any questions!

Current workshops are listed below:

TEACHING OUTSIDE

Using the outdoors and teaching climate change.
2 STEM clock hours, receive $50 stipend upon implementation of an outdoor lesson!

Calling all Whatcom County elementary teachers and staff serving grades K-5 looking to integrate the outdoors into everyday lessons. Our Teaching Outside workshops are designed to provide teachers and other education staff with the basic skills and tools to implement outdoor experiential and climate-related activities on school sites, in local parks, and in urban settings. Each workshop is stand-alone.

Each workshop is stand-alone and takes place in Whatcom County. 

Teaching Outside (Session 1)

  • Who: Whatcom County K-5 educators
  • When: March 21, 2024, 4:30-6:30PM
  • Where: TBD
  • Last Day to Register: March 11, 2024 by 5:00PM

Objectives:

  • Teachers will be able to evaluate the potential risks of teaching outdoors and plan appropriate measures to mitigate risks.
  • Teachers will be able to summarize at least one teaching outside activity and one teaching outside strategy that may be used while teaching students.
  • Teachers will be able to apply course learning by implementing and reflecting on a lesson delivered outside to their classroom students.

 

Teaching Outside (Session 2)

  • Who: Whatcom County K-5 educators
  • When: April 25, 2024, 4:30-6:30PM
  • Where: Irene Reither Elementary School (954 E Hemmi Rd, Everson, WA 98247)
  • Last Day to Register: April 15, 2024 by 5:00PM
 

Objectives:

  • Teachers will be able to evaluate the potential risks of teaching outdoors and plan appropriate measures to mitigate risks.
  • Teachers will be able to summarize at least one teaching outside activity and one teaching outside strategy that may be used while teaching students.
  • Teachers will be able to apply course learning by implementing and reflecting on a lesson delivered outside to their classroom students.

HOPE & RESILIENCE

Bring climate hope and resilience into the classroom!
3 STEM clock hours, 1 Equity hour

Participants who attend one Hope and Resilience workshop, attend Bring it to the Classroom and implement a lesson receive $100.

Calling all Whatcom County educators for grades 3 – 12 who want to connect real-world solutions to climate change!

All workshops are stand-alone and take place in Whatcom County with transportation (and lunch!) provided.

 

Watersheds & Salmon

This field-based workshop will focus on equitable solutions currently being implemented in Whatcom County. The Teaching for the Climate Collaborative will guide participants through classroom-ready STEM activities that illustrate how climate change is affecting different stakeholders and ecosystems. Community members will share their expertise in developing solutions.

  • Who: Whatcom County Teachers grades 3-12
  • When: Feb 10, 2024, 9:00am – 1:00pm
  • Where: TBD
  • Teachers receive: 3 STEM clock hours, 1 Equity hour, a $50 stipend, and a delicious lunch!
  • Last Day to Register: Feb. 2, 2024

This workshop is designed to answer the following questions:

    • What are the effects of climate change on salmon and our watershed?
    • What are community members, tribes, CBOS, etc. doing about it in Whatcom County?
    • What are the Indigenous Ways, currently and since time immemorial, to solve these issues?

 

Circular Economies

One solution to the climate crisis is the development of circular economies, a system based on the reuse and regeneration of materials or products. This field-based workshop will focus on equitable solutions currently being implemented in Whatcom County. The Teaching for the Climate Collaborative will guide participants through classroom-ready STEM activities that illustrate how circular economies work. Multiple community members will share their expertise in developing solutions. 

  • Who: Whatcom County Teachers grades 3-12
  • When: Feb 24, 2024, 9:00am – 1:00pm
  • Where: TBD
  • Teachers receive: 3 STEM clock hours, 1 Equity hour, a $50 stipend, and a delicious lunch!
  • Last Day to Register: Feb. 16, 2024

This workshop is designed to answer the following questions:

  • What are the effects of climate change on Whatcom County?
  • What are community members, tribes, CBOS, etc. doing about it?
  • How does the investment in circular economies reduce climate impacts, specifically in Whatcom County?
  • What are the Indigenous Ways, currently and since time immemorial, to solve these issues?

 

Bring it to the Classroom

You’ve learned the material, now, how do you implement with your students? This 2-hour workshop will provide time and resources to assist you in lesson planning, as well as collaboration time to generate ideas about how to help students take action.

  • Who: Participants in a Hope and Resilience workshop in Feb. 2024
  • When: March 7, 2024, 4:30 – 6:30pm
  • Where: TBD
  • Teachers receive: 2 STEM clock hours, $25 stipend for attending and $25 upon implementation
  • Last Day to Register: Friday, March 1, 2024 at 5pm

Objectives:

  • Teachers will plan and prepare a lesson or unit that highlights local climate solutions.
  • Teachers will collaborate to create a digital forum for sharing ideas about how to help students take action.