Preservice Teacher Training
Texas Project Learning Tree strives to help teachers in all stages of their career. Preservice teachers can be trained and certified in the Project Learning Tree curriculum materials. Check out the calendar or a local Walk in the Forest for Teachers program.
If you are a university professor looking to integrate Project Learning Tree into your preservice teacher training, please contact the Texas PLT coordinators for more information and assistance with incorporating into your education program. Below are three examples of how universities have incorporated PLT into their training:
Stephen F. Austin State University
Training occurs in the spring semester through the Teaching Science course for elementary education majors. Students attend two class periods to participate in the PreK-8 Curriculum Guide training. Then, later in the semester, the students facilitate an event called Bugs, Bees, Butterflies, and Blossoms. Preservice students set up education stations around the SFA Mast arboretum where they conduct one of four selected PLT lessons to classes from schools of kindergarten through third grade. The elementary students are bussed in from surrounding school districts. The entire event lasts a full week and about 3500 students participate. This is a capstone event for these preservice teachers in which they get real world experience teaching in an outdoor setting and also practice their new found PLT skills. This training is a collaborative effort that has developed over about 15 years between Texas A&M Forest Service, SFA elementary education department, and SFA agriculture department.
Watch an episode of SFA Now with Dr. Sowards about BBBB.
Sam Houston State University
Walk
in the Forest for Teachers training occurs twice a year, once each
during the fall and spring semester. Preservice teachers attend the
one day event at a natural setting, currently at Huntsville State Park,
and move through stations taught by natural resource professionals and
PLT facilitators. Since 2002, nearly every single education major that
has graduated from SHSU has been through this PLT workshop. This
training collaborative effort is made possible through partnerships
between Texas A&M Forest Service, Sam Houston State University,
Georgia Pacific Corp., Resource Management Services, Hancock Forest
Management, Texas Society of American Foresters, and Texas Forestry
Association.
University of Houston-Clear Lake
Training occurs during the spring, summer, and fall semesters through the School of Education. Training is embedded in units of instruction throughout the semester. The course, INST 3133: Applications of Technology, a core undergraduate-level course, was developed to introduce teacher candidates to the tools and skills necessary to understand and operate computers, navigate the Internet and World Wide Web, and create a variety of multimedia products. The course includes educational applications of instructional and information technologies that promote the integration of technology into the curriculum.
Articles:
Willis, J.,
& Weiser, B. & Kirkwood, D. (2014). Bridging the gap: Meeting the needs
of early childhood students by integrating technology and environmental
education. International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education.
Willis, J.M. &
Weiser, B. (2006). Technology integration across the curriculum with
environmental education. Inventio: creative thinking about learning and
teaching. Retrieved from http://www.doiiit.gmu.edu/inventio/index.htm
Willis, J.M.
& Weiser, B. (2005). Technology and environmental education: An integrated
curriculum. Applied Environmental Education and Communication 4(4),
297-303.