Community Partnerships in Action

PEI and WDFW Bring Learning to (Wild) Life for Washington Teachers

Wildlife is an inherently interesting topic for students of all ages, whether they’re learning about minor fauna like bees or ‘charismatic megafauna’ like bears. It turns out that adults find these subjects pretty fascinating, too, especially when provided with tools for teaching about conservation issues in Washington State. For over a decade, PEI and the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife have collaborated to deliver those tools, along with opportunities for teachers to explore the natural world outside their classrooms with students. 

“We hope teachers feel the Wild Washington curriculum workshops make teaching science easier,” says Autumn Eckenrod, Conservation Education Curriculum Developer for WDFW, “and they come away with a belief that place-based conservation science instruction is doable, important and beneficial for students and the community.” 

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New Resource and Social Media Features

PEI Adds New Website Resource Portal and Educator Facebook Group

If you’ve tried to access any PEI resources recently, you will have noticed a new feature on PEI’s website: a registration portal. The portal serves to help us track which resources teachers are downloading the most, along with basic information about who is using them. In general, we will use the data for that purpose only. However, if you download a specific resource, such as a Career and Technical Education (CTE) framework, we may contact you at some point to learn more about how implementation is going and /or to offer support. 
 
The registration portal will pop up as soon as you attempt to download any resource. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions. 
 
Another new feature we’ve created is a Facebook group. The PEI FieldSTEM Changemakers group is for educators interested in continually building support and collaboration for sustained outdoor learning in their schools and districts through sharing ideas, lessons learned, and strategies for implementation. Our goal is to leverage the knowledge and experience of educators throughout Washington State, whether they are new to outdoor education or have years of experience, to share successes and challenges, ask questions and provide encouragement and support. 

Contact Associate Director of Communications & Development Heidi Smith at [email protected] if you’d like to be invited to join the group.

Workshop Opportunity

Join PEI’s Second Winter Asynchronous Course Cohort

PEI veterans, this is . . . not for you! But please kindly pass this information along to your colleagues who are less experienced with FieldSTEM and looking to explore it at their own pace.

PEI's second asynchronous 'Introduction to FieldSTEM' cohort begins on February 9th. Earn 6 WA State-approved STEM clock hours, and learn how to integrate outdoor, place-based learning in your classroom. Spread the word!

Tools & Tips for Teachers

Leading Outdoor Learning Experiences (Even When It’s Cold)

There’s no time like the present – deep in the heart of winter – to check out this ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside: Leading Outdoor Learning Experiences (Even When It’s Cold)’ webinar from Project Learning Tree. Rather than providing specific activities, this webinar and link share ideas for creating effective outdoor learning moments for students, regardless of the time of year. Watch the full webinar or check out this article on PLT’s website here to learn more.

Source: Project Learning Tree
 

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