Are You a New Science Teacher?

Are you a middle school or high school science teacher in San Mateo, Contra Costa, Marin, Alameda, or San Francisco counties in your first or second year of teaching?

Would you like science-specific assistance from the Exploratorium?

The Exploratorium Teacher Institute invites you to join teachers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area who are part of an innovative, exciting, inquiry-based, content-rich professional development program. Since 1984, the Teacher Institute has offered summer institutes, Saturday and after-school workshops, and other opportunities for secondary science and math teachers. The Beginning Teacher Program was established in 1998.

The Exploratorium is a world-famous museum of science, art, and human perception filled with hundreds of interactive exhibits. The Teacher Institute uses these exhibits as the foundation for its programs for teachers.

Key benefits of the two-year Beginning Teacher Program

• Saturday workshops and summer institutes led by Exploratorium staff scientists and educators
• Use of the museum’s teacher resources
• Regular meetings with a small support group consisting of other beginning teachers and an experienced science teacher
• Having experienced teachers assist you in your classroom
• Lots of handouts, museum publications, and other classroom materials
• A stipend for participating teachers at the end of each semester

Program requirements:

• Saturday Orientation Meeting
• Four Saturday workshops in each semester
• One of the 4-week summer institutes held at the Exploratorium following the first academic year
• Two mentor support-group meetings per semester
• Willing to have in-class assistance from experienced Exploratorium coaches

Program options:

• A one- or two-week alumni summer institute at the end of the two-year program