Hi Anne,

I love the idea of involving parents and families.  I think one way our project could do this would be to encourage the teachers we work with to have their students consider how they could involve parents and families in their action projects. 

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for your question.  Our programs have been serving students in the Baltimore City Public School system for years in a variety of ways. One way has been by reaching out to teachers directly and encouraging them to utilize the variety of programming we have (field trip opportunities, loaner equipment, PD- you can learn more at www.towson.edu/cse).  But this particular partnership came came from us and our other partner organization (Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore) reaching out with a a general idea (involving students in Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences) but then asking what specifically THEY needed.  I think that was the most important part, as it allowed them to partner with us while maintaining focus on their priorities.  

I just viewed your video, and I've left some thoughts and comments on your page.  

Thank you, Meghan.  It is amazing to be able to work with these students and see how they can connect what is happening right in their own communities with the Chesapeake Bay.  

Hi  Ann,

Thanks for your interest! Our focus during the professional development is building teacher skill sets around engaging their students in learner-centered action projects, as well as connecting the action projects to the lessons they learn throughout the unit. All of the teachers will be bringing their students to the Harbor for a field trip at some point (we'll do virtual field trips if Covid is still an issue).  We're using curriculum that was already developed by the City, so teacher won't be coming up with their own. But they will have opportunities to share ideas on how best to facilitate the existing curriculum.  Since our immediate focus is teachers, we'll be using a series of surveys to evaluate the impact of the program on teachers and their facilitation of student-centered action projects.  

This sound great! I do hope all students can make the field trip - there is nothing like actually being there on location. Thank you.

Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks so much for your thoughts!  Pivoting our programming in this last year to serve students in a distance learning model has been a wild ride! At first, we were really spinning our wheels as we had a difficult time getting our heads around how we could possible create that 'emotional connection' without students actually getting to see it for themselves.  In addition, we really didn't think we could offer a quality teacher professional development program if it all had to be online.  Fortunately, our team didn't give up and we eventually were able to break out of our somewhat narrow thinking (centered around in-person experiences) and got creative with the technology we did have access to.  We created a whole series of online lessons that could be used in a completely virtual teaching environment.  In fact, it was the creation of these virtual lessons that sparked the idea of involving the Mayor.  We were so excited when he agreed to support tour project.  And like you said, it is so inspiring to someone in a position of power being willing to reach out and ask for help, especially from students!   We also created a series of videos that helped to being the Harbor to the students, since we couldn't get the students to the Harbor!  You can check out all of the resources we developed at www.towson.edu/harborscholars.  What we've found is that we can still engage with students through virtual lessons and field trips.  Do I think that the experience is the same as being at the Harbor, in-person?  No.  But I do think there is still a connection being made.  And when students do eventually get a chance to visit the Harbor, they now will be just a little more primed for the experience.  

As for the teacher PD, we have created a completely virtual workshop which we will roll out this summer.  And we're incorporating all of the lessons we've learned over the past year about how to engage teachers in a virtual PD.  We will be sending out 'teacher activity kits' prior to the PD so that we can still engage the teachers in hands-on learning.  And I'm excited about how our mix of synchronous and asynchronous learning sessions this summer is not only making the experience more convenient for educators (they have much more flexibility in when and how they complete a lot of the work), but it is a natural way to 'flip the classroom' so that much of our synchronous time can be spent having the educators engage with each and share ideas. Without fail, teachers report that it is this type of colleague collaboration that is the most meaningful part of our professional development workshops.  

Hi Elizabeth,

This is a great question!  This particular partnership came out of several pre-existing relationships.  The Center for STEM Excellence had been serving City schools in a variety of ways for many years.  We'd also separately been partnering with Waterfront Partnership (WPB) on a related project.  But the three of us hadn't all ever gotten together on a single project.  In this case, it just took an email to our contacts at City Schools asking them what THEY needed that they thought we could provide.  Seems pretty simple and straightforward, right?  But our success in this case depended on us having had a strong record and reputation with working with students and teachers, as well as good timing and a good fit for all our organizations.  For someone just starting out, I would the biggest thing is to ASK any organization that you want to 'serve' what THEY need.  And then listen!  Some projects won't be a good fit, and that's okay.  But the more you keep in contact with folks, let them know about the work you are doing the work you want to do, the more opportunities will open up.  

Hi Alexandra,

The National Aquarium is doing amazing work in this area!  Both our organizations have NOAA funded projects that focus on engaging students in Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences.  The Aquarium's program has been running longer than ours, and serves 6th grade students.  When we were developing our program, we definitely looked to the National Aquarium for advice and made sure our program for 5th grade students complemented and supported their programming for 6th grade students.  We've shared ideas and best practices so that neither of our programs are re-inventing the wheel and are able to build on what works best for students and teachers in City Schools. 

Thanks Bess!  I thought the same thing about familiar faces when I saw your video!  I think it speaks to the dedication of the teachers in our community to life-long learning!