Professional's Conference at Portland's World Forestry Center

I recently attended the professional’s conference at Portland’s World Forestry Center on Project Learning Tree (PLT) and project WILD. A reminder of what these projects are: Project Learning Tree and WILD are both award winning, multi-disciplinary environmental education programs for educators and students in Pre-K through grade 12. PLT and WILD, which are programs of the American Forest Foundation, are two of the most widely used environmental education programs in the United States. They use the forest and water’s trees, plants and animals as "windows" into natural and built environments, helping students gain an awareness and knowledge of the world around them and their place within it. We began the conference by checking-in and visiting with the other attendees from Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, all while eating breakfast and pilfering through the materials provided for us. There were only twenty people in attendance so it was a great chance to get to know the other professionals on a personal level. Another benefit to the small conference was being able to ask a lot of questions and explore the projects and their application in ways we were most interested in. The rest of the afternoon was spent learning about PLT and WILD, practicing activities in the books and discussing variations to them for other grades, and learning ways to use other subjects to support the projects and use the lessons across the curriculum. I particularly like the mantra of PLT and WILD, which is to help students learn how to think, not what to think, about the environment. I am also fond of how the curriculum materials provide the tools educators need to bring the environment into the classroom and their students into the environment. A major benefit of PLT and WILD is that the lessons are adaptable to many contexts: classroom, playground, nature center, and even in their own home. This conference has made me a strong believer that PLT and WILD can improve student learning in all facets of education. Through these programs, students learn environmental content that correlates to national and state standards in science, social studies, language arts, math, and even ESOL. Students will be able to strengthen their critical thinking, team building, and problem solving skills as well through the PLT and WILD activities. I left the conference with a wealth of applicable knowledge that I can use immediately in my student teaching placements. I have gained insight to how Project Learning Tree and WILD can work to make my teaching practices not only more rewarding but also less time consuming! I read through the PLT book as soon as I got home that same night and its format makes it easy to find an activity that will engage my students, will get them excited about natural resources, and will meet my teaching requirements. Children have a natural curiosity about their environment, and programs such as Project Learning Tree nurture that curiosity. I am so excited to use PLT and WILD in my upcoming work samples!