Teachers reverse roles and learn

NATIONAL BISON RANGE - The students took notes, colored pictures and listened intently as their instructor detailed the activities for the day. After a brief outside activity, the students returned to their chairs and watched a video as they ate lunch. The day is just like any other day of education for young children, except this day, the teachers are the students.

About 17 educators from around the Mission Valley were at the National Bison Range in Moiese Friday, participating in a workshop called "Growing up WILD." Ranging from preschool up to seventh grade, these area educators were interested in learning new teaching techniques that can hopefully have a big impact on young minds.

"I definitely think it'll help kids learn about all the local wildlife around here," said Michael Roberts of Yellow Rose Child Care in Ronan. "It's another great tool to keep kids interested in outside activities in the age of computers."

The day began with a Salish language lesson from Melanie Sandoval, a teacher at the Nkwusm school in Arlee. The educators learned how to say the names of different animals and what they eat. The words and phrases taught were simple and easy for teachers to integrate into a curriculum focused on the outdoors.

Next, the teachers colored and cut out different foods that bears eat. They took their drawings outside, and pretended to be bears foraging for food. Kurt Cunningham of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department, said this simulation is good for teaching students a relevant lesson while allowing them to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.

"We want to encourage teachers and children to get out and experience what Montana is all about," Cunningham said. "This also ties in with childhood obesity and not being out and active."

The program itself is a spin-off of Project WILD, a curriculum used throughout the country to teach older children about nature and conservation. Growing up WILD is similar, National Bison Range outdoor recreation planner Pat Jamieson said, but is geared for younger children and their educators.

"The program has only been around for a year, so we're really excited to be able to do it," she said, noting that approximately 3,000 teachers and students visit the range each year. The teachers that attended the workshop received six hours of credit from the Office of Public Instruction. Each year, Jamieson said, teachers need a certain number of credited hours.

The Bison Range is the perfect setting for a workshop or a field trip, she said. After lunch, the educators visited the pond near the visitor center to scoop bugs out of the water and look at them under a microscope.

"I think teachers always enjoy doing things they can take back to the classroom and implement immediately," Cunningham said. "They don't need a lot of high-tech things, it's all fairly simple. It's all about hands-on learning. It's not a lecture, they're actually doing things."

The program is mostly science and math-based, which Cunningham said the state's Office of Public Instruction is trying to promote, but another aspect is reading. Part of the program's reach has included distributing program boxes to libraries around the state. The boxes will contain books, skulls, skins and animal tracks of different animals and groups. Teachers can check out the boxes at their local library to use as part of their curriculum, which can be a great tool for educators, Cunningham said. The boxes are beginning to be dispersed, but he said he is unsure when Lake County will get the materials.

The most important part of such workshops, Cunningham said, is getting children, and teachers, outside and active, in tune with the wonders of the Montana wilderness.

"We've seen a ‘nature deficit' where kids get kind of into technology and don't go outside anymore," he said. "A knowledgeable citizenry makes it an easier job for all of us."

Liane Keane, a teacher at Trout Creek Elementary, felt that the curriculum will only help the next generation coming through schools.

"I think it's important for them to be in touch with their surroundings, the world around them, appreciate nature and life," she said. "It gives them a bigger appreciation of human life."