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A series of Content Area Institutes promoting 3-Dimensional Teaching

Extending beyond four-hour workshops while maintaining Jeffers education practices

Motivated teachers will take part in investigations, journal writing, and more in a way that can be translated into their curriculum.

They’ll learn through:
  • writing
  • working in groups in the field
  • journaling
  • collecting and analyzing data
  • and communicating about their learning through verbal and written work

The central focus of the new science standards is 3-dimensional teaching

  • practices
  • crosscutting concepts
  • core ideas
Our outdoor classroom methods used along with investigations focused on pattern, structure/function, and more while working with ecological systems, birds, insects, etc. will help teachers provide meaningful science lessons for students that will address standards as well as connect science to other disciplines with the use of journaling.

Content Institutes Offered:

Click here to go to our Workshop page
This was such a valuable learning experience and there are so many connections between what I learned a the institute and other curricular areas I teach. It was a great balance between being indoors and learning and then applying what we learned in activities outdoors. Every activity we did from the outdoor activities and nature walks to mapping and the coloring book work were enjoyable and valuable.

I went to school on Monday and could put ideas into action right away and without a lot of preparation ahead of time. I shared my learning and ideas for classroom activities with my team and those ideas fit in so nicely with our curriculum so it felt seamless. The coloring book is user friendly for my first and second graders because the color by number gives them a pretty accurate look at what the birds actually look like and it would make it quite doable as a research tool.

McColl Pond was a great venue for the institute as well. Having three different biomes and the bird feeders gave us ample opportunities to study a variety of birds, habitat, and feeding. What a treat it was to also be able to build a nesting box and a suet feeder!

After the second day of the institute, I walked away with the ability to provide authentic experiences for my students, the ability to get started right away feeding and housing birds, and the curiosity to keep learning more.

Jan Gytri Birding Institute Participant
I feel my participation in the Birding Institute was time well spent. I feel the variety of activities kept me engaged as a learning and as a teacher. The activities are easily implemented into any curriculum and provide a rick learning experience for students. I found direct connection to build on the topics and concepts I already teach especially in the areas of mapping and observation.

I enjoyed being “put in the shoes” of my students and participating from their lens. This allowed me to think things through more carefully and consider ways to incorporated the concepts in my classroom. The Birding Institute provided an opportunity to further explore two things I am passionate about – teaching and nature.

Jessica Fitzgerald Birding Institute Participant
The Birding Institute was a fantastic professional growth opportunity. The daily schedules had a good blend of inside an doutdies, sitting and standing. I appreciated the opportunity to be a student and not feel pressured to come with much background knowledge. Getting to experience an actitivy as a student helped me think about how it would work in my classroom, I also like how David had us reflect after each activity, to think about adaptations or extensions, depending on our grade level.

Thank you for making the two-day workshop so amazing!

K. Wobbema Birding Institute Participant