So you want to work for T.R.E.E. at our Earthkeepers program….
To have some idea of where this career pathway will take you, read on!
Since 1995, T.R.E.E., Teaching Responsible Earth Education, has been teaching 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th graders about the Earth in a place where they can touch it, at an age where they get it, and in a way that they remember it.
T.R.E.E.’s EarthkeepersTM program for 4th graders is three consecutive days. A group of students may vary in size from 25 to 60 and are accompanied by their classroom teachers and parent chaperones to our Outdoor Classroom site.
Your role as Earth Educator:
This is not summer camp! Your job as a staff educator is to teach solid life science concepts to students from diverse backgrounds and school settings. Our curriculum is rigorous and engaging and supports the new LA state curriculum standards in science.
Primarily, you are a teacher. The curriculum has already been written (hooray no lesson planning!). You are responsible for learning the ‘script’ – for that’s the product into which these lessons have been tweaked and perfected. You must know your part and then teach it, so that the students get it! Additionally, you’re responsible for managing behavior and guiding the adults accompanying the students so that they are most effective. Our script and management techniques result in effective teaching.
You will be very well trained and incredibly well supported as part of a 5-member Earth Education team. The nature of this demanding work requires that all of the staff work very closely and cohesively together. We depend on each other and support one another. And it works. To work at T.R.E.E. you must be a team player giving your best, expecting the best of others, and be willing to do what it takes to make both of those realities happen.
When you arrive at the Outdoor Classroom in the morning you will be busy setting up stations (which includes physical work on and off pathways), prepping for the students, and coordinating the day’s schedule.
And then the students finally come! You will be ‘on’ as a teacher from the moment you greet the bus at the Outdoor Classroom in the morning, until you wave goodbye to them as they leave each day. At all times of the day, in all activities, we maintain consistent expectations for learning and behavior from the students - for which ample training is provided.
A TYPICAL DAY WITH STUDENTS MAY INVOLVE:
Helping students feel comfortable in participating in fun yet structured lessons in the woods
Teaching a 60-75 minute activity through creative acting while following a well-structured script
Constant monitoring of students for behavior and discipline all the time – yes, we know that’s redundant!
Exploring the woods off the trail
Teaching a song
Setting up stations and taking them down, sometimes independently, in an expeditious manner – may involve lifting, hammering, wheel barrowing and other physical tasks. Helping students enjoy sitting in the woods daily in an individual, quiet place when this may be their first time in nature.
Giving directions to other adults
Guiding students as they make discoveries and helping them answer their own questions; facilitating, so that students creatively solve problems for themselves
Leading by example for all we teach
And, of course, smiling (genuinely) while completing all of these activities in rain, heat, cold, mosquitoes and unexpected turns of events!
If it sounds like a lot, it is. And the rewards of working so long and hard are incredible! For many of the students, this is their first time spending time in the woods, their first time away from home in an outdoor setting and, their first exposure to new teaching and learning methods. Introducing kids to new places, new ideas, new science, and new experiences is thrilling. Kids who have a hard time in a traditional classroom often thrive in this setting and thereby discover the joy of learning. And the students, though they are demanding, give you energy with their boundless depths of creativity, ingenuity, cleverness, silliness and love of life. The demands and the rewards are both high.