NEW BERLIN – Science teachers from all over the area were offered a crash course for introducing nature and research in the classroom at a summer teaching training workshop held on Wednesday.
The workshop, designed for teachers in the K-12 and advanced placement curriculum, was offered by Morrisville State College in conjunction with DCMO BOCES and the Catskill Regional Teachers Center. Teachers picked up on some of the tricks and trades of environmental learning in order to help them better engage students both inside and outside the classroom.
The workshop was divided into two sessions. Section one – held at the former Riverbend Golf Course in New Berlin – was a chance for teachers to get hands-on training in the field. The second section, hosted at the Morrisville State College Norwich campus, focused on general precautions and things to watch for when it comes to student field work, including permitting issues and other logistical concerns.
“The purpose of this was to introduce some of these very passive, very doable techniques that you find common in wildlife science, and then look at how these passive techniques can be modified for teachers and various age groups,” said Eric Diefenbacher, professor at Morrisville State College Norwich campus and facilitator of Wednesday’s workshop.
For Hartwick College professor Johanna Mitchell, the workshop provided valuable resources which she said will be useful in training future science teachers that are enrolled in her teaching methods course.
“The information will be very useful,” added Otselic Valley middle school science and earth science teacher Carolina O’Connor. O’Connor noted the resources available at the OV School District and how those resources can help her capture and keep students’ interest. “Middle schoolers especially will love it. This will be very helpful,” she said. “Kids need to get outside. They need to make (information) relevant, and that’s the whole point of this workshop.”