Professional Development Opportunities
at The BRIT SEED School

  

Professional development in the BRIT SEED School engages teachers in research-based best practices that support state and national standards. Our focus on experiential, interdisciplinary education consistently connects the learner to earth systems. Utilizing brain-based teaching strategies allows teachers to address the needs of all learners through sensory interactions in their natural world.  As “guides on the side” rather than “sages on the stages,” we are committed to honoring teacher’s professional experiences and wisdom within our community of learners.

The BRIT SEED School can provide your school district or school with half-day, full-day, or after-school/weekend professional development workshops emphasizing outdoor inquiry, place-based education, culturally responsive teaching, and deep science content. These workshops can occur at your school/district or at the BRIT facility.

Our programs utilize experiential, place-based, and inquiry-based techniques to facilitate learning. Every program includes teacher packets, food and beverages, resource information, and time for planning and reflection. The programs are aligned to the science Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS); however, the programs also provide learning opportunities for language arts, math, social studies, and art educators. All of the programs listed above are accredited PD with support from FWISD Science Department, and FWISD educators can request funding from their campus administrator to attend this PD.

We are a Texas Education Agency-certified provider of CPE credits, and we have over ten years of experience providing professional development to educators in Texas.

**Please note: BRIT’s refund policy is as follows: Up to 7 days prior to field trip—full refund; less than 7 days prior to field trip—no refund. We encourage you to bring your learning journal or field notebook with you. Be sure to wear comfortable clothes appropriate for outdoor activities. You might also consider bringing a water bottle; however, we will have drinks available.**

 

Current Programs

Waiver Days – The BRIT SEED school team of curriculum specialists can customize professional development to meet the needs of diverse learning environments.  All topics include an interdisciplinary and multi-grade focus appropriate for an entire school. 

Customizable waiver day topics include:

  • Good to Great Journals – The nature journal (also referred to as an interactive notebook) is a flexible teaching tool that can be used in a variety of disciplines—inspiring children and their teachers to connect with their immediate environment through writing and sketching their observations and hypotheses. During this training, educators will practice sketching and observation techniques with a local artist, identify various types of age-appropriate journals, and explore ways in which journals can be created and utilized to assess learning outcomes.
  • Seeds of Inquiry – In this professional development workshop, you will make connections with seeds in the curriculum through outdoor inquiry-based investigations, indoor learning stations, and a vocabulary garden. All activities are aligned to support ELPS, the TEKS, and STAAR standards. Participants will use hands-on activities to reinforce learning for all students, examine seed structure and its role in the plant life cycle, understand how adaptations of seeds allow for dispersal, create an age-appropriate investigation based on activities from the workshop, make interdisciplinary connections using seeds in math, art, social studies, and language arts. This program is focused on guiding students to ask and answer their own questions through grade level appropriate investigations.
  • Campus-based Research – Students learn best when they are involved in problem solving and real-world application.  Campuses who choose this opportunity can involve their students in actual scientific research at BRIT through local environmental assessment.
  • Environmental Stewardship in your Place – This field study experience focuses on our prairie heritage and combines multiple disciplines in order to connect students to their local environment through current and historical knowledge of our Fort Worth prairie. 

To book a waiver day on your campus or at our LEED platinum certified facility, please contact our education specialist, Tracy Friday, at Tfriday@brit.org or by phone at 817.546.8693.

 

 

Past Programs