Outdoor and Environmental Education → Professional Development → Credit Courses

    Outdoor Environmental Education Courses for Credit 

     

    OEEP offers many different professional development opportunities to help teachers prepare for teaching classes when they attend programs and field trips, as well as to help them teach environmental science at their own school.

     

    Our environmental education courses for credit are offered on a rotating basis except EE-06 (Confidence Course Instructor Certification) that is usually offered twice a year (fall and spring). The Chesapeake Bay field experience classes are offered every summer. Check PDO,  OEEP Trainings and Workshops, or calendar for dates and more information.

     

     EE-02     Teaching Techniques for Outdoor Education

    In this course participants will learn about all aspects of the Grade 6 Residential Outdoor Environmental Education Program with emphasis on content, instructional techniques, and management strategies that will help teachers engage students in vigorous learning while teaching in a unique setting. Since the outdoor environment provides an integrated context for learning at Outdoor Ed, participants will learn how to use outdoor explorations as authentic experiences in which to teach MCPS curriculum through well-designed, rigorous lesson plans. Course participants will also be introduced to resources and technology that are available to support teachers to prepare and teach effectively at the residential outdoor education program. 

     

    EE-06     Confidence Course Instructor Certification

    This one-credit course provides participants with the skills, philosophy, and background for conducting confidence course activities at the MCPS outdoor education centers.  Instruction in the safe and proper conduct of all activities allows local certification of MCPS staff for insurance purposes.  Participants work in small groups to review proper procedures, processing skills, and progression of activities.  Problem solving and communication skills are emphasized and techniques for ensuring that every student is successful are demonstrated and discussed.  Grade 6 MCPS teachers are the target audience.  If space allows, K-12 teachers may enroll.

     

    EE-07     Basic Subject Matter for Outdoor Education

    This three-credit course prepares sixth grade teachers wanting to increase their background knowledge and strategies for providing students with meaningful outdoor and environmental education experiences. It will also increase their capacity to develop, expand, and provide environmental lessons that support effective teaching and learning through the implementation of authentic outdoor learning experiences  

     

    EE-08     Wild School Grounds

    This one-credit course is designed to help teachers understand the importance of differing habitats to the health of the Chesapeake Bay and the impact from a variety of habitats upon it.  The focus of the course will be to enable teachers to design, plan, and implement the variety of components necessary for developing a habitat on their school grounds. 

     

    Professional Development Opportunities on the Chesapeake Bay:

    Environmental Literacy - from the Bay to the School Yard

     

    This professional development course is designed to increase teachers’ knowledge of content, instructional strategies, and specialized equipment involved in the scientific study of the Montgomery County watershed.   The ecology of the Bay, the decline of the Bay’s water quality, and the impact of this decline on the people and economy of the watershed will be explored.  Teachers will investigate various watersheds and examine the connection between land use and water quality.  Each section presents standards-based lessons and assessments, and a variety of possible action research projects that will engage students in meaningful interactions with their local environment.