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C&NN Natural Teachers Network

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Welcome to the virtual gathering place of the Natural Teachers Network. A Natural Teacher is any educator who uses the natural world as a powerful learning environment—whether the subject is biology, writing, art, or any other.

Website: http://www.naturalteachers.org
Members: 266
Latest Activity: yesterday

Every teacher can be a Natural Teacher.

Think of this forum as a break room full of your peers ready for a conversation, a place where you can share ideas and ask for suggestions, where you can be engaged, creative, and encouraged. The subject: How to use the natural world as a classroom to improve your students’ health and well-being, including cognitive ability and attitudes toward learning. The objective: Inspire action, individually or in groups.

Like any meeting place where diverse opinions and concerns are shared, the discourse here must be civil. For further guidance on the “rules of engagement,” please see a set of Frequently Asked Questions located at http://childrenandnature.ning.com/page/frequently-asked-questions.
The goal of the Natural Teachers Network and this website is to encourage more teachers to connect their students with nature and to provide a forum where Natural Teachers can share their knowledge and views. Collectively, Natural Teachers can have a profound impact on improving the lives of children, and, in some schools and communities, that is already happening.

Please participate actively, and encourage others to join. Get together face-to-face as well.

You'll find tools and resources on the Natural Teachers Network home pages and throughout the larger Children & Nature Network website.

The Children & Nature Network Leadership Team will monitor this NTN Group web site from time to time, to respond to ideas and encourage action. Thank you for your commitment to children.

Discussion Forum

Nature in the Classroom—Bringing the Outdoors In 10 Replies

An indoor classroom that reflects the complexity and wonder of nature generates enthusiasm for outdoor learning. Outdoor learning activities should not be isolated experiences that appear…Continue

Started by Herb Broda. Last reply by Herb Broda on Thursday.

One Fish, Two Fish….Raising Lots of Fish (In the Classroom) 1 Reply

Something fishy is going on in schools across the country, and this time it has nothing to do with mandates or testing requirements! Students from kindergarten to high school are raising fish in…Continue

Started by Tamra Willis. Last reply by Stephanie Rach-Wilson on Thursday.

Free Teacher Resource (K-5) TurfMutt Plant Science Curriculum

Greetings, All!Suz suggested I post this curriculum called TurfMutt Discovery/OPEI Education program (full disclaimer: I work with them!). It's a free plant science curriculum for grades K-5 that…Continue

Tags: program, STEM, education, TurfMutt, science

Started by Christine Louise Hohlbaum May 7.

Creating a community garden. 3 Replies

Do any of you have experience with starting a community garden? Best practices? Discoveries? Blog posts? How-to's? Lessons learned? All that good stuff. I would be so grateful.…Continue

Tags: NTNS, practives, garden, community, best

Started by Alina Stefanescu Coryell. Last reply by Christine Louise Hohlbaum May 7.

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Comment Wall

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You need to be a member of C&NN Natural Teachers Network to add comments!

Comment by John Thielbahr yesterday: I am so pleased that Barbara Mascareno from Henderson, NV has signed up to participate in the Natural Teachers Network Group site. Barbara is a bi-lingual nature educator, according to the profile she posted on this site. C&NN is very interested in reaching every Spanish-speaking child about the importance of being in the natural world for health, well-being and enhanced learning. Many of our tool kits have been translated into Spanish, and we are working on finding funding to produce a Natural Teacher's Tool Kit in English and Spanish. Perhaps Barbara would like to help us with that project, and encourage other bi-lingual members of The Natural Teachers Network with understanding cultural nuances that we need to be aware of. Also, I am sure Juan Martinez would be very excited to have Natural Leader referrals from Barbara and others. My thanks to Barbara and all bi-lingual educators for your great work in connecting kids to nature. jt

Comment by Suz Lipman on May 16, 2012 at 7:34am: TEST QUESTION: Will the next wave of school reform be better than the last one? Or worse? Read the latest blog from Richard Louv:

http://www.childrenandnature.org/blog/2012/05/15/test-question-will...

Comment by Suz Lipman on May 1, 2012 at 8:50am: Hello Natural Teachers and friends,

I know you will enjoy this very inspiring article about Leo Politi Elementary School in downtown L.A. which displayed markedly improved standardized test scores (by as much as 6 times in science) after a habitat garden went in:

http://www.childrenandnature.org/news/detail/at_an_urban_l.a._schoo...

Comment by Suz Lipman on April 27, 2012 at 11:31am: CONGRATULATIONS Chip Donahue, Natural Teacher and Nature Club for Families leader.*

Chip was just awarded Teacher of The Year for Roanoke County (VA) Schools. Way to go, Chip!

Here are two stories about Chip and the award:

http://www.rcs.k12.va.us/news/current/goldenapple2012.shtml

http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/307956

*In addition to this accomplishment, Chip and Ashley Donahue run Kids in the Valley Adventuring, KIVA. Learn more about them through the Natural Families Network and Chip's blogs on this forum.

Comment by Suz Lipman on April 18, 2012 at 7:41am: Hi All. This should be of interest to those in the Natural Teachers Network:

NEW blog from Richard Louv: Thoughts Following the First-Ever White House Summit on Environmental Education. http://bit.ly/HS4S4o

Comment by John Thielbahr on April 16, 2012 at 2:09pm: Jan, this is a terrific blog and wonderful list of nature books. I have sent it to our steering committee for the three pilot sites we are hoping to establish this summer with ACA and their Explore 30 summer camp reading program. Any chance Emily could sign up on this site and start sharing her blogs directly? If not, please continue to connect us with her. Many thanks for sharing this link. jt

Comment by Jan Hummer on April 16, 2012 at 1:04pm: New discussion starting with Emily Krall the director of BookTrails on the Connecting Children to Nature through American Literature Blog about Gwinna by Barabara Helen Berger. Come and share your encounter with this book or others discussed earlier.

Go to http://childnatureamericanlit.blogspot.com/ to become a follower or add a comment.

Enjoy - Jan

Comment by Larry Volpe on April 6, 2012 at 10:16am: I might go if the C&NN wants to sponsor me.

Comment by Larry Volpe on April 6, 2012 at 9:57am: Seems costs prohibitive for the community where I teach....I am doubtful scholarships will cover enough of the expenses.

Comment by Suz Lipman on April 6, 2012 at 8:28am: Here's a great opportunity for some of your students or the young people in your life:

Students entering grades 9-12 are invited to apply to attend the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service/Green Schools Alliance Sc3, the Student Climate Conservation Congress, this summer.

The mission of the Sc3 is to empower outstanding student environmental leaders to address conservation challenges and better serve their schools and communities.

Applications are rolling and open now. Scholarships are available. Spread the word!

http://www.childrenandnature.org/news/detail/entering_9-12_grade_st...