Joining us today is Kelly Preheim, a kindergarten teacher in Armour, South Dakota. Kelly is a wonderfully creative teacher who found a unique way to present the Kindergarten curriculum to her students: birds!

So, why birds? Well, Kelly is extremely passionate around birds, so she decided to leverage this passion to create passionate students. That means she found a way to teach everything in kindergarten through the lens of birds, from creating bird houses to field guides to helping out in the community. There’s no reason this kind of applied learning has to revolve around birds, it’s just what Kelly loves — and you’ll hear in the way that she talks about the subject and her students that leveraging her passion in this way is really transforming the classroom experience!

We unbox:

• Teaching through what you’re passionate about
• The importance of learning about and respecting nature
• Kids impacting local policy
• Increasing math and vocabulary standards at a young age, and the ripple effect that causes for the whole school
• Keeping up momentum with children as they leave your class
• Putting the work you’re doing in the classroom into non-traditional education

Resources:

• BirdTeach: birdteach.blogspot.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/BirdTeach-367011353690070
• Spotlight: Problem-Based Learning with Birds!