Professional Development


NatureConnect Central Oregon offers professional development for PreK-12 teachers and out-of-school program providers in Central Oregon.  Our workshops provide curriculum and skills to help educators make outdoor learning a regular part of their classrooms and programs, benefiting youth across Central Oregon.


Upcoming Workshops

Nature Journaling in Winter: Cross-Curricular Connections with Self, Place, and Community

Join us for a day of outdoor learning in the winter forest at the historic Skyliner Lodge. We will explore nature journaling; a flexible, engaging, and adaptable teaching tool that helps students develop scientific, contextual literacy, and social-emotional competencies. We will practice  close observation, inquiry, and connection-building through nature journaling prompts, collaborate on using journals to foster a growth mindset, model outdoor facilitation strategies, and explore ways to integrate nature journaling into any learning context. Additionally, we will incorporate activities from Project Learning Tree to enrich our experience.

Nature Journaling connects to  scientific competencies that  follow the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the social-emotional competencies that follow the new Oregon Transformative Social and Emotional Learning (TSEL) framework.

Teachers will receive a copy of Project Learning Tree Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide. Participants will need winter footwear (warm and waterproof) and winter outerwear. Snowshoes provided if needed. 

Brought to you by Oregon Natural Resources Education Program (ONREP) and NatureConnect of Central Oregon

Details

Tuesday, February 3, 2026
9:00am-4:00pm
Skyliner Lodge
Audience: K-12th grade educators

Free!  Substitute costs covered.  Register here.

More Opportunities Coming Soon!

Other Training Resources

Central Oregon STEM Hub

High Desert Museum

Oregon Natural Resources Education Program