Professional Development Workshops

Aug. 27, Sep. 24, and Oct. 22, 2022:
Environmental Justice for California Communities

This is an exciting Professional Learning program presented by the California Environmental Literacy Initiative, several California Subject Matter Projects, and the California Geographic Alliance. We are excited to support a cohort of teachers to become leaders in using an exciting new resource for place-based environmental learning and action.

In the 3-part series, teachers will get experience with classroom-ready resources and will learn how they and their students can use geospatial tools to develop their own inquiries. The CHELA (California’s Hub for Environmental Learning and Action) website helps educators, students, and collaborators:

  • use powerful GIS mapping tools to access current data and visualize, understand, and analyze important issues in a way that centers their own communities and concerns, wherever in the state they may live;
  • follow their interests and hone their own questions across a broad range of topics related to the environment, sustainability, and environmental justice; and
  • share their stories of environmental learning, action, and advocacy.

Teacher Workshops for All Subject Areas

Why should you have the CGA provide high impact professional development to your team?

  • We offer workshops specifically designed to support the implementation of the new History-Social Science Framework and Next Generation Science Standards.
  • Geographic inquiry engages students as active learners (even explorers), and it connects their local knowledge and experiences to a wide range of environmental and global issues.  Relevant and meaningful content, in combination with spatial thinking, can help accelerate literacy and math skills development.
  • You can bring your instruction into the digital age of big data with geospatial technologies.  Geospatial technologies engage students in developing the skills and competency required for college and career readiness of the next generation.
  • Each workshop provides teachers with valuable resources that are free to use in the classroom immediately following the workshop.

The CGA has developed a number of different workshops to meet the needs of individual schools and districts, and we would love to work with you.  We can customize a program to help you achieve your goals, and as a non-profit we can do this at an amazingly reasonable cost to you.

Some examples of workshops already developed include:

The Impact of the New History-Social Science Framework on Geography Instruction (1.5 hours; all grade levels)

Integrating Geographic Thinking and Spatial Reasoning into All Social Science Subjects (1.5-6 hours; grades 6-12)

GeoQuest JumpStart Workshop: Introduction to GIS for Educators (4 hours, full day or 3-day format; all grade levels)

Using the Geographers Tools and Maps for Inquiry-based Instruction in US and World History (4 hours or full day; grades 6-12)

Citizen Science: Field Studies and Informed Action in Your Community (4 hours or full day; grades 3-12)

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