Exploratorium Teacher Institute Week 1

It’s so awesome to have been admitted into the Exploratorium Teacher Institute this summer. We just wrapped up the first week and it was so full of experiences and stimuli, going to try and share some of what it is about. If you’ve never heard of the Exploratorium, you need to. Basically it is a science museum beyond your wildest dreams. I can trace my inspiration for teaching science directly to observing other people and experiencing my own wonder at the Exploratorium  years ago. I often think “is there a PD that takes place there?” but by the time I do, the application window is closed. Who plans their summer PD in January?  While I was in India on my Fulbright grant this year, I made the deadline and now a dream is coming true.

This badge apparently is also a lifetime pass into the Exploratorium…

Now it’s not a chill and totally relaxing vacation but quite intense and highly structured. In the morning we have classes that combine a focused activity on a few exhibits before the museum opens (wow!) followed by some time in the afternoon to work on building “Snacks“, (videos here)  studying in their library of fantastic curricular resources and/or then taking an elective course in the afternoon.

The class ends at 3:30 so we finally have some time to see exhibits on our own, although you could do that as well during the elective time. Add to that evening events and optional field trips and you’ve got way too much to do and choices to make.

I tried to get the max out of my first week. In addition to the legendary teachers at the Exploratorium itself, the quality of teachers selected for this institute are outstandingly passionate and inspired and there is so much to learn from everyone you meet. I’m honored to be part of this group and now alumni network.  The main teachers at the Exploratorium have awesome webpages of their own, such as Paul Doherty, Eric Muller, Don Rathjen,   The Middle School Institute teachers that I’m working with directly are Lori Lambertson and Julie Yu, both amazing facilitators of learning.

There’s a lifetime’s worth of resources to explore there, and yet there’s much more! You can check out these superstars competing in an ‘Iron Science Teacher” episode, which is another thing going on. You can see more episodes here.  I’m considering trying out for it but I’m shy around cameras. Next week they’ll reveal what the “secret ingredient” is and I’ll see if anything creative comes to me. The performance bar is pretty high, however.  I also saw a really fascinating talk on fireworks by Ron Hipschman. I’ve built two snacks already, the Soap Film Painting and Vocal Visualizer. Hanging out too at the ‘Learning Commons” (their non-lending library of curriculum and inspiring books), there’s just too much to try and absorb. Fortunately there are two more weeks to try and take in as many of the 500+ exhibits as I possibly can.

The Exploratorium is basically science teacher heaven! And it’s in San Francisco too!