PV Staff are Raven About Songbirds Workshop at MSE
Teachers across Perkiomen Valley had an opportunity to learn from local experts about Pennsylvania Songbirds at Middle School East. The experience, organized by Dr. Clune and rangers from local state parks, guided teachers through both classroom and outdoor learning opportunities that could be translated into student learning experiences. As a participant in the program, I was able to walk away with a guide that includes dozens of activities that can be implemented using the PV Woods trail system. While the guide offers many classroom lessons, incorporating outdoor lessons within the trail system takes the level of student learning and engagement soaring to new levels. While out on the trails, we used a set of district binoculars to observe and discuss the birds that we saw along the way. Using the Merlin Bird ID App, we could attempt to identify the birds by their calls.
The exciting part to this professional development opportunity is that it can be adjusted and implemented from kindergarten up through middle school. One component of the program was to develop a lesson to be used with the guidebook and to build on the learning from the day’s events. Our group planned a way for upper elementary students to take kindergarten students on a tour through the trails, identifying birds, learning how to use binoculars, tracking observations, and discussing their findings. As we seek ways to utilize the trails for years to come, having a handbook of suggested lessons, curated by local experts, will be a key element to the future growth of educating our PV students within PV Woods. This type of hands-on, outdoor educational experience is a valuable type of professional development that hopefully continues in Perkiomen Valley. You could say it is the beak-inning of a new era as teachers blend STEELS, outdoor education, and engaging learning opportunities. You might think there were too many bird puns as part of this reflection, but trust me, I could do this owl day.
