This Summer Institute grows out of the explosion of interest in how teachers can best build a culture of thinking in their classrooms, nurture students as powerful thinkers and learners, and make thinking visible. When used powerfully, thinking routines not only provide teachers with a set of practices to engage students, but help advance a broader goal to create classrooms where students’ thinking is visible, valued, and actively promoted.

This three-day in-person institute will explore assessment practices rooted in equity and care that spark motivation and keep learning as the goal. As educators seek to guide students toward the critical consciousness necessary for participation, advocacy, and activism, we must design assessments that are integral to student growth.

The Teaching Foundations program is designed to support the growth and success of all teachers—particularly those in their early years at independent schools—by focusing on foundational areas of classroom teaching.

Come to be a part of a community of science teachers and learners that will reflect on where we have been, what we have learned and where we are going. Participants will explore the teacher’s role in engaging students in investigation and design. We will investigate strategies that put students at the center of their learning to fully engage, think deeply, ask questions, and apply their skills and knowledge to our society and natural world.