Teachers as Learners

Over the course of 2 days, a few teachers from Bluff Elementary School experienced first hand how place-based, student-centered learning techniques can inspire life-long learners. Place-based education(PBE) engages the senses, encourages curiosity and creates an exciting, thought provoking, wonder-filled learning environment that helps students to make sense of the world around them. Teachers become co-learners with their students and create opportunities for them to reflect on how they learn, not just what they have learned. Your students like to learn and learn best the same way you do! Each session of the PBE 2-Day Workshop held at Saint Gaudens and on Sullivan County Lands, was created with the way people learn in mind. Accessing prior knowledge in an engaging way, exploring a topic for one's self, asking questions and searching for answers, discussing ideas and observations, applying new ideas or skills, and reflecting on the experience are all integral parts of the learning process that eventually bring us to new understandings of the way things work. As co-learners, the facilitators of the workshop learned just as much as the participants. If you are an educator in the Upper Valley, we hope you will join us for future Place-based education workshops! Parks for Every Classroom (PEC) has provided funding for at least one more and you don't want to miss it. You will come out of it with new ideas and understandings, energized and ready to apply what you have learned back in your classroom. But don't just take my word for it. Take a look at what your fellow teachers had to say. Awesome - not a dull moment! Motivating educational, great thinking, hands-on, energizing you to want to begin PBE in Claremont! - Zina Jones, 4th grade teacher, Bluff Elementary I am used to boring - sit in the classroom and "sit and get" learning. Loved being outdoors and hands on projects. Cannot wait to get kids excited @ being outside. - Alicia Simino, 4th grade teacher, Bluff Elementary Refreshing lesson that led me to an unexpected result. I thought I was going to learn about Abraham Lincoln and instead learned about artist/writers interpretation of history. Nice to be surprised & wonder. - Leanne Mortell, Kindergarden teacher, Bluff Elementary