Offered in:  Edmonton  •  Toronto  •  Winnipeg

Edmonton – August 23–25, 2011

Teaching in the Outdoor Classroom

A Three-Day Summer Institute for Elementary School Teachers

Imagine your students investigating rich habitats and communities right outside your classroom! School grounds can provide an engaging context for integrating science, literacy and music.

Facilitators
Carol Durnford – Consultant, AISI Inquiry/Science, Edmonton Catholic Schools
Jade Dodd – B.Sc. Environmental Educator
Antonella Bell – Green School Co-ordinator, Devonian Botanic Garden, University of Alberta
Nancy Schulz – Visual Artist and Museum Programmer

When we think of inquiry, we usually think of students posing questions and exploring answers; however, inquiry-based learning is much more. It is an approach to learning and teaching that capitalizes on student curiosity, encourages collaborative learning, involves active student participation in learning, and extends learning outside of the classroom and school walls. What better place to support inquiry-based learning than the natural outdoor spaces around your school? This program encourages participants to actively investigate, explore, and collect data for many curriculum outcomes and inquiry-based projects.

All summer institute participants receive a wealth of lesson plans, posters and other educational resources, as well as an outdoor classroom backpack filled with supplies and tools to facilitate outdoor investigations and greening projects.

Locations
August 23 – St. Mary Catholic Elementary School, 490 Rhatigan Rd. E., Edmonton (Corner of Riverbend Road and Rhatigan Rd. E.)
August 24, 25 – Belgravia Elementary School, 11605-74 Ave.

To Register
Contact Claudia Bolli, School Ground Greening Consultant – Evergreen: 780-819-5382 or claudia@wildgreen.ca.

Download flyer (PDF, 565 kB)

Toronto – August 22–25, 2011

Mapping Pathways for Effective Environmental Education

A Four-Day Summer Institute for Teachers Grades 4–8

Take a unique professional journey to enhance your practice of environmental education (EE) through an experiential approach to eco-literacy. Experience how to make environmental learning meaningful and memorable by using outdoor learning trails to uncover how nature works, starting in your own school ground!.

During this four-day Institute, you will participate in and learn how to weave learning in, about and for the environment into your curriculum, your classroom and your community. Through a creative exploration of mapping, you’ll develop a new and dynamic approach to science, art, literacy and geography for students in grades four to eight. You'll connect in grade groups with colleagues ensuring you leave with:

• a deeper understanding of cross-curricular approaches to eco-literacy;
• inspiration from EE success stories in the TDSB;
• strategies for improving your school’s EcoSchool status;
• environmental education resources;
• a network of colleagues to support your EE work;
• a plan for your own unique outdoor learning trail.

Join facilitators Hilary Inwood (OISE Educator) and Pamela Miller (Outdoor Educator), as well as a team of expert teachers to learn through collaborative inquiry in Runnymede’s Outdoor Classroom, Nature Study Area and neighbouring Humber River watershed.

Location
Runnymede Public School – 357 Runnymede Rd, Toronto
Directions: Runnymede PS is located 1 block north of Bloor St subway station at Colbeck St.

To Register
Go to Key to Learn → Teacher–Elementary → Professional Growth → Strategic Building and Renewal – EcoSchools.
Registration fee is $50. For more information contact Erin Wood, Project Manager: 416-697-1949 or erin.wood@tdsb.on.ca

Download flyer (PDF, 1.1 MB)

Winnipeg – August 24–26, 2011

Teaching in the Outdoor Classroom

A Three-Day Summer Institute for Grades Five to Seven Teachers

Imagine your students investigating the rich habitats and communities right outside your classroom, then replacing their magnifying glasses with paintbrushes as they explore the art studio of nature. School grounds can provide an engaging context for integrating Literacy, Art and Science.

Leave the institute with the confidence to assess students’ understanding of ecosystems through creative and easy-to-implement nature-based Art and Literacy projects. Also discover how eco-inquiry stimulates imaginative forms of writing that can help students find and express a deeper connection to the natural environment.

Join facilitators Dawn Knight, Art Educator, and Justin Lawson, Science Educator, at Fort Richmond Collegiate in Winnipeg. Its outdoor classroom will reveal many exciting possibilities for engaging your students in the participatory process of school ground greening.

All participants receive a wealth of lesson plans, posters and other educational resources. You will also receive an outdoor classroom backpack filled with supplies and tools to facilitate outdoor investigations and greening projects.

Location
Fort Richmond Collegiate The Library – 99 Killarney Avenue, Winnipeg
Just off Pembina Hwy, between the U of M and the Perimeter.

To Register
Registration fee is $50. To register, please contact Dorothy Christie, dchristie@pembinatrails.ca.
For more information you can also contact Wendy Simonson, Project Manager: 204-488-1767 x1134 or evergreen@pembinatrails.ca

Download flyer (PDF, 803 kB)