The EdEN Intern Program is entirely in-person, in your school garden/outdoor classroom. Note that because the EdEN Interns are UT students who live in Austin, this program is only open to schools within ~30 miles of UT-Austin.
SproUTing Teachers will be a combination of in-person (at your school) and virtual sessions to best utilize our time together.
Each individual teacher on your team should submit an application, and each individual teacher will be considered separately for whichever program you apply to (either SproUTing Teachers or the EdEN Intern Program). There is no guarantee that all teachers on a team will be accepted. If you are applying to the Garden Leadership Team track for SproUTing Teachers, you should complete the application noting that you’re applying to that specific track and list all of the teachers on the team.
No. EdEN Interns are required to complete 5 hours of garden maintenance per semester, but this is NOT meant to be the only form of maintenance for your garden.
The SproUTing Teachers program does not include any garden maintenance. In addition, it is required that your school has an independent system of school-wide maintenance/work days to care for your garden.
SproUTing Teachers has 3 coaching tracks.
For classroom teachers, coaching sessions help identify opportunities to integrate school gardens into existing curriculum. Coaches assist teachers in modifying existing lessons to use in the garden, find new opportunities for outdoor learning, and use the school garden to its fullest potential as an outdoor classroom.
Garden leadership teams benefit from SproUTing Teachers sessions by establishing goals, identifying barriers and establishing a plan for long-term garden sustainability. Our sessions help the team create a plan for effective use of the garden as a cross-curricular learning environment for all students.
Instructional coaches taking part in SproUTing Teachers identify methods for supporting their teachers and garden leadership teams to improve effectiveness of the school garden as a teaching and learning environment . High garden use by classes is directly related to sustainability of a school garden, so when your teacher garden use goes up, your school wins as well!
Our main goal right now in SproUTing Teachers is to help existing school gardens be better utilized and sustainable. We have had interest from schools who want to have coaching on planning for a school garden and we will be piloting that model this year. We do not provide any direct funding to schools for garden builds.
Signed agreement upon acceptance into the program
Attend a synchronous, virtual, two-hour Preceptor orientation in mid-late August (multiple dates/times will be offered)
Fill out short feedback forms to evaluate your Interns’ teaching performance after each lesson
Commitment to allow Interns to teach nine, 45-minute lessons with your students throughout the school year
Prompt communication with Interns regarding lesson planning, class scheduling, cancellations, etc.
Through their year-long UT course, Interns will be trained on classroom management techniques, professionalism, ethics, and horticultural best practices. They will teach mock lessons prior to teaching your class. They will also observe your classes at least once to become familiar with your students, routines, and behavior management style.