Teacher Institute

Our Mission

The Exploratorium Teacher Institute (TI) has been the professional development home for middle school and high school science teachers since 1984.

TI offers a rich mix of hands-on activities based on Exploratorium exhibits, content-based discussions, classroom materials, Web-based teaching resources, and machine shop experiences.

We offer summer institutes and district-wide in-service programs for both new and experienced teachers. Our growing family of alumni may also attend a variety of Saturday workshops. All program participants are provided with stipends for attending our institutes and workshops.

For more information, see our Teacher Institute brochure [PDF].

Summer Institutes

If you are a middle school or high school science or mathematics teacher, we have something for you: Immerse yourself in the Exploratorium’s philosophy of inquiry-based, hands-on teaching by attending one of our Summer Institutes.

The dates for the 2013 Summer Institute are Monday, June 24, to Friday, July 12 (9:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.). There will be NO CLASS on July 4. The 2013 Summer Institute is currently full.

If you have previously attended a summer institute, you are a Teacher Institute alumnus. We offer Summer Alumni Institutes on the Alumni page.

Alumni Workshops

Alumni Summer Institutes and Saturday workshops are available to alumni of the Teacher Institute. As we settle into Pier 15 in the spring of 2013, we will hold a LIMITED number of Alumni workshops online and offsite. Please refer to the Teacher Institute Alumni Resources for more information.

Teacher Induction Program

The Teacher Induction Program consists of a two-year Beginning Teacher Program for novice science teachers, and a two-year Leadership Program that trains experienced teachers to be mentors and coaches of the new teachers.

Beginning Teacher Program

Enhance your knowledge of science while learning how to bring the Exploratorium’s inquiry-based, hands-on philosophy of teaching into your classroom by participating in our Beginning Teacher Program.

Leadership Program

Are you interested in mentoring or coaching new teachers? Find out about our Leadership Program. The Teacher Induction Program Overview describes our experience with the Beginning Teacher Program and the Leadership Program in detail, with an emphasis on the Leadership Program, in the hope that it will be useful to other programs that train and support mentors.

Podcasts

The Teacher Institute currently has three podcast series for science teachers that will inform and entertain you.

Teacher Institute Teaching Tips

A series of almost 70 five-minute episodes that include activities, science history, pedagogy tips, and “first year” teaching stories.

TI’s Summer Institutes

Hear about the Summer Institute experience from the directors of TI and from participating teachers.

SmallTalk

SmallTalk is a series of five episodes about nanotechnology featuring leading scientists, writers, and visionaries. Each episode is about 20–30 minutes long.