PROFESSIONAL

CONFERENCE

Through the summer and the fall, I was able to attend 3 separate Professional
Conferences/trainings through the Montana OPI. The one Im choosing to write about is the
Project Learning Tree Educators Workshop that I attended on September 26th in the F.H. Stoltze
Land and Lumber building in Columbia Falls. The class was worth 6 OPI/PIR credits but the
value of the class could not be calculated really.
For the workshop we had a set schedule to follow and goals presented to us:

1. Equip teachers and non-traditional educators with Project Learning Trees (PLT) K-8
Environment Education Activity Guide, & online resources.
2. Give educators the tools they need to bring conservation education into the classroom, or take
their classroom outdoors.
3. Familiarize educators with tree anatomy & vocabulary.
4. Introduce teachers to local education resources, such as grants and education trunks.

In my personal opinion, the workshop met and exceeded each and every one of these
goals. The entire time was learning but in a fun and unique way. The workshop and the

presenters were engaging and teachers (and teacher candidates) were involved the whole time in
their own learning. We all started off with an ice-breaker activity that you could find in one of
PLTs rentable trunks. This activity helped everyone get to know each other better. After this we
explored the Pre K-8 Environmental Education Guide that had been given to us and referred to
this book throughout the workshop. This guide consists of useful activities pertaining to science
and the conservation arts and how to implement them into each subject in school: math, social
studies, history, etc. It is broken down by subject and by grade level from Pre-Kindergarten to 8th
grade. This book is and will be a lifesaver in my future classroom because of the multitude of
extended ideas to present to students in a way that is informative but fun. They will learn without
even knowing theyre learning!
For the remainder of the morning, we viewed different environmental resources online
like the Montana Pollinator Education Project, the water cycle and issues dealing with the
Global Climate, and the Flathead Conservation District. Our presenters also talked to us about
renting educational trunks from them to have as a resource in our classroom. A teacher can sign
up at any time to have these trunks brought to the school and their classrooms. In these trunks
you will find different exploration activities. Many have flash cards, actual samples of tree barks,
branches, root systems, maps, and other interactives that will be engaging for students. (There
was even a trunk that had a life-sized globe beach ball!) They also explained to us that the trunks
arent only used for environmental awareness but there are also many other affiliated companies
that have educational trunks about Native Americans in Montana (with actual artifacts) and
artwork from around Montana. This was helpful in providing us with extra resources not just
about science.

For the afternoon portion of the class, we talked about trees and their importance in our
environment. Each participant received a tree cookie which was two cutouts of tree rings glued
back to back. These explained the importance of having the right amount of all of the needed
elements that plants require: sunlight, water, and good soil/nutrients as well as when a tree
doesnt have all of those necessary elements. After having lunch, our group ventured out into the
Trumble Creek Educational Forest. This was another great resource showed to us that is used by
schools and teachers every year. Teachers can take their classes for a fieldtrip into the woods, go
on a short hike and visit a creek area as well as both sparse and dense portions of the forest area
and discuss why it looks that way. One activity we did as a group was to stand on our own tree
spot (paper plates with drawn tree rings) as our leaders had us fight for our essential
nutrients (these were different colored plastic balls). This activity was my favorite because I
could realistically envision using this activity in any grade and any classroom that I would have
in the future. We ended our trek through the woods at the river where we talked about different
invasive species and what kind of detrimental impacts they could have on our local environment
in Montana but also their effects on a nation-wide scale. As we wrapped up our workshop back at
the Stoltze building, we were presented with lots of free educational pamphlets, posters, and
booklets with even more resources to look into.
Overall, the entire workshop was very informational and exciting. It helped to show me
what working together with other teachers from other schools/areas can be like. One will find a
whole different perspective when talking to someone new. I was able to gather ideas from others
and collaborate with them to complete our fun activities throughout the day. This shows a
glimpse of how essential grade teams and various school personnel can be to your classroom
planning and your own feelings and determination. There was a multitude of applicable

information and activities that I can totally see myself (or anyone) using in the future. I took
away many learning opportunities from this workshop as well as new ideas to help me build and
set up my first classroom.