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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! PDUs available. Substitute costs covered. Register here.
Under the Canopy: Growing Readers and Building Literacy Skills
Join us for a special workshop for early childhood educators at the historic Skyliner Lodge. Spend a day with us immersed in the diverse forest ecosystem of the Tumalo Valley. During this Central Oregon spring day, we’ll explore both outdoors and indoors, connecting local tree species and forest ecology with Bend-La Pine Schools’ Language Arts and Early Learner modules “Trees Are Alive” and “Appreciating Trees”, as well as Project Learning Tree’s Treemendous E-Unit curriculum.
Each participant will receive access to the PLT Treemendous E-Unit and multiple activity guides to use with students.
Brought to you by NatureConnect Central Oregon, Trout Unlimited, and the Oregon Natural Resources Education Program (ONREP).
Details
Monday, March 2, 2026
9:00am-3:00pm
Skyliner Lodge
Audience: Pre-K and Kindergarten educators
Free! PDUs available. Substitute costs covered. Register here.