Sapelo Island Workshop
The workshop was led by Jim Watson and assisted by Erin Woodrow along with a number of alumni from previous workshops. The activities included beach and marsh transects, an estuary trawl, a marine debris analysis, cultural and historical tours, sea turtle nesting, basket weaving, and a dock study. But the most beneficial activity was the teacher mini lesson presentations.
Each teacher developed a 20 minute environmental lesson for their specific classroom and presented it during the workshop and provided lesson plans that could be adapted to other grade levels. Teachers teaching teachers is by far the best approach for an effective professional development. The teachers even took it upon themselves to add activities during the small amounts of free time. They went to the beach in the early morning hours to observe sea turtles nesting, they explored the island on bike, and they met and discussed island lore with the residents.
Once the workshop is over, many teachers remain in touch by returning to the workshop at their own expense, attending other workshops on environmental topics like shore birds, horseshoe crabs, or sea turtles.
Sapelo Island Workshop participants