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PLT Facilitators Workshops
Project Learning Tree (PLT) in Nevada is sponsored by the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF). The Nevada Natural Resource Education Council (NNREC) is the most common though not exclusive provider of workshops. If you are interested in creating a workshop or facilitating a workshop, please contact:
Rich Harvey, Southern Nevada Co-Coordinator
Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF)
rharvey@forestry.nv.gov, 775-684-2507, 775-687-4244 fax
John Jones, Northern Nevada Co-Coordinator
Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF)
jjones@forestry.nv.gov, 702-486-5123 x233, 702-486-5185 fax
Dan Allison, Lead Facilitator
Nevada Natural Resource Education Council (NNREC)
allisondan@sbcglobal.net, 775-882-2375
Applying
While it is possible to facilitate a workshop by yourself, it is no where near as effective or as fun as if you have at least two facilitators. If you are looking for other facilitators to partner with, please contact one of the people above.
If you are organizing a workshop, you will first need to answer the following questions:
- target audience: Will the workshop be open to teachers, open to nonformal educators, open to both, or for a specific group of people such as staff at a school or a docent program.
- length: The minimum is six hours, but workshops are commonly 7.5 hours for 1/2 unit of inservice credit, or 15 hours for 1 unit of inservice credit. [PLT can also be combined with WET and WILD, with each addition requiring at least 4 more hours, however, combined workshops really need 15 hours or more.]
- credit: Inservice credit can be arranged with the Nevada Department of Education for either 1/2 unit for 7.5 hours of instruction, or 1 unit for 15 hours of instruction. If the workshop is only for teachers from a specific school or district, then you may arrange for credit through that district. College credit for teachers may be arranged through Sierra Nevada College or for any educator through Great Basin College, with the minimum being 15 hours for 1 credit, and homework or followup projects usually required. Generally all credit options require a lead facilitator or 'teacher of record' with a Masters degree in a related subject.
- grade range: Workshops are PreK-8 (using the PreK-8 guide), secondary (generally 7-12, using the Forest Ecology and Focus on Forests), or both.
- enrollment: Though you obviously won't have a firm number until just before the workshop, an initial estimate helps with planning for the materials you will need.
- registration: Will people register by calling, by sending in a form, or by registering online? NNREC can handle online registration for you.
- advertising: How are you going to advertise the workshop? With both teachers and nonformal educators being very busy these days, an effective marketing plan is essential. NNREC can assist you with marketing.
- options: PLT also makes other curricula and programs available, including Burning Issues, Energy and Society, Municipal Solid Waste, and Focus on Risk. These may be included in regular PLT workshops, or offered independently, as interest indicates. Some materials and worksheets are available in Spanish.
Once you've answered these questions for yourself, please contact one of the people above to fill out a workshop application form. You should do so no later than 30 days before the workshop, and before you start advertising. PreK-8 guides are generally on hand, but other materials may require a month to order.
Once you've applied, you'll need to do some additional things:
- find other facilitators, and divide up the jobs of marketing, registration, set-up, clean-up, photocopying, facilitating, and reporting; people who are not yet trained facilitators can certainly have a role
- create a budget for the workshop, including, if appropriate: food, beverages and/or snacks; photocopying of materials; art and writing materials; incentives (some may be provided by NDF); room rental; equipment rental; stipends for facilitators; travel expenses for facilitators, substitute reimbursements for teachers; marketing materials including color copying and mailing; and others.
- based on expenses and any funding that may be available, set a registration fee; we strongly recommend against 'free' workshops because people will cancel without notifying anyone; if you have funding which allows you to offer the workshop for 'free', then refund the registration fee to those who actually attend
- determine if you want resource specialists to present during the workshop, and if so, on what topics and for how much time; make sure you know what they need (charts, projectors, paper, outdoors, etc.)
- find a workshop location that is available the days and hours you have planned
- if you are including time in the field, consider transportation needs, and as a professional courtesy, let the land management agency know
- apply for NDE, district, or college credit; for NDE, this is a minimum of two weeks; for district or college, usually a minimum of six months
PLT guides are free to all workshop participants, made possible by NDF funding. Guides may be obtained only by taking a six hour or more workshop.
These documents are available to PLT Facilitators in Nevada:
In addition, you may want to distribute some of the documents on the Handouts page, or borrow materials from the NNREC lending library (you must be a member of NNREC).
