This section of my portfolio is dedicated to demonstrating my ability to plan and implement applicable outdoor education curriculum. While there is a heavy focus on my fly fishing work, I will also share projects I have done as a result of my time in the Outdoor Teacher Education Program.
It is not enough to know about nature, you have to be able to help others learn about nature as well. My guide work speaks for itself based simply on the number of repeat clients who return because of the great experience they have with Trout Zone Anglers. As a fly fishing guide and instructor, my favorite part of the job is teaching others the knowledge, skills, and techniques that will help them be successful anglers on their own.
As an instructor for Little River Outfitters, I help teach the Beginner Fly Fishing Day Two (Onstream) Class. For this class, we have some rather specific information that we cover. We begin the day by meeting everyone at the shop and getting them geared up. Next we head for the stream where we spend time talking about reading water. In other words, where do trout live in the stream and why? After helping students learn the basics of reading water, we move towards a crash course on entymology. We turn over some rocks and look at bugs and talk about when to fish nymphs and when to fish dry flies. Next we talk about wading safety. This moves us into our casting demonstration and teaching session. I demonstrate the roll cast and also how to mend. After the demonstration, I turn the students loose and we practice the roll cast and mending. I move from student to student offering advice and answering questions. All of this takes us up to lunch time. After a break for lunch, we return to the stream to learn high sticking methods which are essential for success in the Smokies. Normally we switch to a different stream as well to show the students some different water. We talk about how to rig nymphs as well as how to rig and fish a dry fly with a nymph dropper underneath. This afternoon session is over by around 4:00 pm.
For the nymphing strategies class, we have an outline that we always follow as well. This class is taught in both the classroom and on the water. The classroom portion takes us up to lunch and then we spend a few hours on the water in the afternoon. The following two documents are the gear list and outline for the nymphing strategies course that I help teach. The third document is for a class that I developed and taught on the Caney Fork River. The last document is a PowerPoint presentation I presented in the spring of 2017 at a fly fishing club meeting.
- Nymphing Strategies Class Gear List
- Nymphing Class Outline
- Fly Fishing Tailwaters Class
- Fly Fishing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park 2017
In addition to my regular work as a fly fishing guide, I have also spent a considerable amount of time working with students teaching outdoor classes at Inez Wrenn Seventh-Day Adventist Church School. Below is a curriculum outline that I followed in teaching the students in grades 5-8. Also I am attaching the outlines for several Nature Nuggets I developed as well as the audio file for one that I shared with my students. Next is an itinerary and trip plan for a Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness backcountry multi-day group trip that I developed as a result of my Wilderness Trekking course. Finally, I have attached a project I did for the Adventure Based Counseling (ABC) Class. In this project, I was required to develop and implement a progression of ABC activities with a group.
- Curriculum Plan Practical Application
- Nature Nuggets
- BWCA Expedition Plan
- Adventure Based Counseling Project