Professional Development

January 13, 2017

Faculty attended a professional Development on Bringing the Classroom Outdoors.  Ideas and resources were presented on how to use the newly acquired land on our school property. The land includes woodlands and wetland areas. This is the first stages in introducing the faculty on planning outdoor lessons that incorporate the environmental standards.
Faculty Attended: All

Presenter:
Morgan McGinnity
Naturalist
Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission
Watkins Nature Center
December 6, 2016
 
Fourth grade teachers attended a full day workshop “WOW! The Wonders of the Wetlands,” held at Environmental Concern’s Wetland Learning Center in St. Michaels, Maryland. WOW! Introduces participants to wetland ecology through a study of the three parameters of wetlands: vegetation, soils and hydrology. Participants also learned about wetland functions and values by utilizing K-12 cross curricular, inquiry based activities. Each teacher left with a wetland resource guide with over 50 hands-on, multidisciplinary activities, and ideas for student action projects.
Faculty Attended: Tina Lewnes
                                  Erzsebet Nemeth
July 14, 2016
 
Attended overview and training of the Coral Reef Ecology program through the National Aquarium, Baltimore.  St. John the Evangelist will be a pilot school for the program “Canvassing the Reef”. This is a STEM, inquiry based learning activity in which 7th and 4th grade students will design a conservation plan for coral reefs.
Faculty Attended: Erzabet Nemeth
                                  Mary Rogers
Mary Rogers, 7th and 8th grade science teacher, completed a graduate-level course entitled “Our Amazing Planet Earth” which was about the earth’s ecosystems with a particular focus on the uninhabited wilderness and conservation. 
 
Course Description:
The teacher will watch the award-winning BBC series Planet Earth, which took five years to film and uses groundbreaking filming techniques to immerse viewers in rarely or never seen parts of our planet. In the course, the teacher will design engaging classroom activities about five of Earth’s major ecosystems. The teacher will also develop strategies for leading thought-provoking class discussions, teach about the connection between human behavior and the state of our planet, and involve students in environmental conservation efforts.