TEACHERS LEARN ABOUT OUTDOORS

Area teachers headed outside this week to become "outdoor-wise" and develop a new teaching strategy involving conservation and classroom activities.

About 30 teachers are tromping through Cape Girardeau County creeks as part of a five-day watershed ecology class conducted by the Department of Conservation in conjunction with Southeast Missouri State University. A.J. Henderschott, an education consultant with the department, said the class teaches teachers to incorporate the outdoor classroom into their daily teaching strategies.

"After they get done rotating through all of these stations, they'll be able to take that in the classroom and modify their activities," Henderschott said. "We're giving teachers the opportunity to learn a little about conservation and answer questions their students might ask."

Teachers gain experience testing and identifying water purity, plants and animal life in and around area creeks and streams. Special projects include identifying plants and animals, checking streams for pollution and oxygen levels, and practicing nonharmful shock tests on fish.

"It's very interesting and informative," said Rick Brown, an elementary-level math and science teacher for the Deer Creek Christian Academy opening in Cape Girardeau next month. "I definitely want to get out of the classroom more, and there's a creek on the property where the school is located. I just want to have the kids have a better appreciation of what's going on in the world."

Henderschott said the watershed ecology class is a technical hands-on class that gives teachers an appreciation for conservation and new ideas for classroom teaching. Teachers like Brown obviously benefit from the math and science emphasis of the course, but teachers from many disciplines can use what they learn in the course to develop new ideas, he said.

Participant Sharon Crisel developed new activities after attending a similar class. Crisel, an elementary school physical education teacher in Puxico, said she had previously taken a swamp ecology class under Henderschott. She incorporated what she learned in that class into a scavenger hunt, relay-style exercise game for her students that involves plants and bugs.

"I probably run across more bugs in a day than a classroom teacher does in a year," said Crisel as she tried to identify an invertebrate while standing in ankle-deep water. "The kids always find them and ask what they are, and this helps me help them."

Henderschott said teachers in other disciplines have also incorporated their experiences into their teaching strategy. He recalled a music teacher from last year's swamp ecology class who used animal noises to get her male students interested in singing.

"She had the boys imitate frogs and other creatures since their voices were changing," he said. "That's the kind of innovation we're trying to get teachers to use. We want them to take conservation and put it into what they're doing and make it fun."