Instructor Information
Welcome to TAEO! My name is Karla Lockman and I am the developer and instructor for the course. TAEO was developed as the part of my Master’s Thesis in Environmental Education and Interpretation here at UW-Stevens Point. I currently teach at the Stevens Point Area Senior High where I enjoy helping 10th graders learn about and appreciate Biology. Most recently, I was awarded the Frank Zuerner Scholarship for New Science Teacher of the Year by WSST. Bill Konieczki and Tim Corcoran nominated me - Thank you very much guys!
My undergraduate work was at UW-Madison where I graduated with B.S. degrees in Zoology and Biological Aspects of Conservation. My emphases included Wildlife Ecology and Curriculum Instruction. I graduated with my Master's in Natural Resources-Environmental Education from UW-Stevens Point in 2006. I live in Manawa, WI with my husband Bryan, yellow lab Dakota, and kitties Jack & Bucky.
The inspiration for my love of the outdoors and my career choice of environmental education came from my parents and my grandfather always telling me, “Go outside and play.” My sisters and I spent much of our summers in the garden or at the lake fishing, swimming, or catching frogs and salamanders. These are still things I enjoy doing.
My personal teaching philosophy combines outdoor and environmental education as a way to learn through experience. Spending time outdoors and having a positive and enthusiastic role model will increase learners’ empathy towards the environment or environmental sensitivity. The outdoors has no walls and the learning possibilities are endless. Providing learners with a positive experience in the outdoors has many more benefits to your students than only the content learned or the objectives satisfied.The birds sing to the auditory learner, fly about and flash their colors to the visual learner, while the kinesthetic learner captures it through the lenses of the binoculars. What a great place to learn about science!
