Advanced Teacher Courses
Are you ready to transform your science teaching practice?
About Advanced Teacher Courses
Beyond workshops, Griffin Museum of Science and Industry has been offering advanced teacher courses through our Institute for Quality Science Teaching since 2007. Its mission is to strengthen teacher self-efficacy toward equitable and effective three-dimensional science instruction through transformative professional development. These courses involve a long-term partnership with teachers over the course of the school year, with cohorts meeting initially during the summer and continuing to meet every 4-6 weeks through the spring.
Course goals
The intended outcomes of these courses are to:
- Build upon current understanding of scientific knowledge, processes, and applications.
- Refine current strategies for teaching science based on best practices in science pedagogy.
- Amplify attention to teaching behaviors and attitudes that promote equity in learning science.
- Increase focus on planning for instruction that engages students in science and engineering practices and the application of crosscutting concepts to deepen their understanding of disciplinary core ideas.
- Normalize engagement in continuous self-reflection about teacher practice to strengthen participants’ science teaching capacity.
Each course is guided by a framework for instructional practices that support three-dimensional, phenomenon-driven, student-centered learning. We plan to offer one course per school year, with the content and instructional focus shifting with each new course. Learn more about our current course offering below.
AIR: The Atmosphere Inside and Outside Your Classroom
Advanced Course for the 2026-2027 School Year
This course focuses explicitly on the instructional practices that support the teaching of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Engage with pedagogical practices that support NGSS instruction to facilitate your students’ ownership of their learning. Experience learning situated in lessons exploring weather, atmosphere, and climate. This course will consist of six full days in-person at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, and up to five subsequent hour-long virtual evening meetings scheduled on convenient dates and times during the 2026-27 school year between July and March.
- Develop their understanding around pedagogical practices that support the type of instruction that is required in an NGSS classroom.
- Participate in a supported learning community alongside their peers to build content and pedagogical knowledge and skills.
- Experience phenomena-driven lessons which model three-dimensional teaching and learning that supports students in grades K-12.
- Implement new practices within their classroom and discuss their experiences with a virtual professional learning community between course days.
- Engage with practices that establish and maintain learning environments to support students as they develop ownership of their learning.
- Gain a deeper understanding of air, weather, atmosphere, and climate.
- Become familiar with either a Grade 3 or Grade 6 OpenSciEd unit exploring weather phenomena.
Course details
Location: Griffin Museum of Science and Industry Dates: Please note that participants are required to attend all six full-day sessions. Each is on a Wednesday from approximately 8 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. (though times may vary). Each full-day session is on site at Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.
- July 27, 2026
- September 23, 2026
- October 28, 2026
- November 18, 2026
- January 20, 2026
- March 10, 2027
Cost: $1,500 [Free for schools that receive Title I funding or whose student population identifies as at least 70% Black or Hispanic.]* *Scholarships available if your school doesn’t qualify and you’d still like assistance – please indicate a request for scholarship in your application. Pre-requisite: We ask that participants have either taken our workshop “Foundations of NGSS” or plan to in July 2026. If you have not, we encourage you to still apply and outline your knowledge of the NGSS in your application. Participants will earn up to 38 continuing education credit hours. The 2026-27 application window has closed. Please contact us for more information on future workshops.
Contact Us
For more information on professional learning at Griffin MSI, contact our Professional Learning team or sign up to join our mailing list.