Classes for Educators

Who offers seminars for educators? (Their primary audience is teachers with no childcare issues so seminars might start at 9 a.m. on a weekday, be patient with them!) At least:

• Morris County Parks (Register for 2008-09 workshops),
• Montclair Art Museum Educator Resources
  
• Morris Museum (Morristown),
• Mayo Community Theatre (Morristown),
• Liberty Science Center,
• New Jersey Astronomy Center at Raritan Community College,
• Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum (Brunswick, listing, For more info. call 732.932.7237, ext. 615. Brunswick)

all offer seminars for educators. Also check out Project WET Education for Teacher NJ Training Schedule. It includes a Project WET training date at the Morris Museum (Morristown, March 2008).

* Montclair Art Museum Educator Resources, including Teacher Programs & Workshops FREE For High School & College Educators, Call (973) 746-5555 ext. 213 to RSVP; or email tours@montclairartmuseum.org Earn 2 hours of Professional Development credit for each session. Join us for a special evening for teachers of grades Pre-K through college. Come view the exhibitions, enjoy light refreshments and learn how the Museum can be a valuable resource for your class.

* Morris Museum offers courses from $30 to $85 (for a 2-day training) as well as $10 "open house tours" They also have School Loan and Outreach Education, including items and collections that can be borrowed by educators.

* Mayo Community Theatre has $30 professional development seminars on topics, including theatre in the classroom, bringing history alive, and on Shakespeare - or get one free if you book "class trips" to their "on school time shows" (not those by Arts Power).

* Liberty Science Center offers periodic Teacher Impact Workshops (usually $8 each for 10 am - 2 pm) and monthly Teacher Connections (Saturdays, 9 am - noon; $139.00 for yearlong membership; $60.00 per session). Teacher Impact Workshops for 2007 included topics like: Nervous Systems and Behavior, Weather or Not, and The Science of Sound. Teacher Connections topics have included:

• Our Hudson Home, June 7, 2008: Learn about estuary wildlife, the relationships between nature and humanity, and how human choices and actions affect the ecological health of the Hudson River. ...

* New Jersey Astronomy Center at Raritan Community College Courses for teachers – NJACE offers workshops to help teachers increase their students’ understanding of difficult astronomical concepts. "At our workshops teachers DO the activities while presenters MODEL true inquiry based learning. We don’t lecture to teachers. Teachers will walk away with lots of resources, an increased understanding of astronomy, increased confidence to teach it, and a binder full of hands-on inquiry-based activities they can do tomorrow in their classroom. All workshops are limited to the first 20 registered participants!

For more information and registration forms for NJAC courses, click on the workshop name or contact Theresa Moody at 908-526-1200 x 8942 or email tmoody@raritanval.edu or visit their site to see all their workshop dates! They also offer summer institutes.

Environmental Education

"Close enough" to me in Northern NJ:

1. Schiff Nature Preserve's (Mendham, NJ)
   
2. Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center, Chatham, NJ (Morris County Parks)
3. Pyramid Mountain, Boonton, NJ (Morris County Parks)
   
4. Raptor Trust, Millington, NJ
5. Closter Nature Center, Closter, NJ
   
6. Science Barge, NYC
7. selected Liberty Science Center events
8. Aquarium, Camden, NJ
   
9. Frelinghuysen Arboretum, Whippany/Morristown, NJ
10. (not as environmental) Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ

Morris Museum (Morristown) is offered Project WET class for educators on March 29th, 2008, 9:30 - 3:30, $30. Register with them.

Schiff Nature Preserve's (Mendham, NJ) programs include:
Homeschool environmental education starting in early December, Spring, and September. Classes Mondays or Fridays from 12:45-2:15. Rain or shine, each 1 1/2 hour class will focus on a specific theme and include a combination of hikes, games, crafts, and outdoor and indoor activities. They have a 3 or 4 year cycle of classes. $25 per child per semester for Schiff members and $50 per child for nonmembers. Winter Topic: Food Webs, Animal Signs & Tracking, and Animal Territories.
Individual sessions for all are also scheduled year-round.

Pyramid Mountain Programs are on the parks calendar and sent as a pdf file via email. Homeschool classes and hikes and sessions for all ages. You may want to join their mailing list.

• Homeschool Science: Nature's Classroom: three times a year, Fall session 5 weeks, Tuesday or Thursday), Winter session (4 weeks, Thursdays). “Fun-filled science classes for ages 8-12.”
  >http://gryphonacademy.blogspot.com/2007/08/pyramid-mt-natures-classroom-fall.html
  http://gryphonacademy.blogspot.com/2008/01/pyramid-mt-natures-classroom-spring_13.html
  
  
• PSA - Other programs.

Great Swamp Programs are on the parks calendar and sent as a pdf file via email. You may want to join their mailing list to learn details of their Mommy & Me hikes, Homeschool Science for 4 - 6 year olds, Scavenger Hunts, family events, Maple Sugar Festival, Hikes and Education programs.

Science Barge in NYC, is a sustainable urban farm designed by New York Sun Works, an environmental nonprofit organization, powered by solar, wind, and biofuels, and irrigated by rainwater and purified river water. You can visit and they have an "active public education program, with school groups from all 5 boroughs of New York City visiting during the week, and the general public on weekends." (For groups, they are booking about a year away!)