Integrated Learning Summer Institute Saved My Life from a Broken Heart!

Have you ever….
• Been to a professional development where you were valued as an intricately designed complex person?
• Been to an institute that made you tear up periodically throughout the day?
• Been touched so deeply by content knowledge that you are inspired and hopeful as you begin a new teaching year?
• Been to a 3 day long intensive institute where everyone smiled at you, learning was captivating, and the world of integrated learning was supported and connected in deep and powerful ways?
Last week at the Integrated Learning Summer Institute held at Chabot Space and Science Center, nearly 300 participants had the opportunity to address the challenging needs of the 21st century educator. For three dynamic days we soaked up information from Social-Emotional Learning, Common Core and Assessment to Studio Habits of Mind and Teaching for Understanding. We engaged in how to make learning visible through documentation strategies, practiced dance as a way to develop diverse intellectual paths and learned about the Human Rights Education Program.
Each morning began with a 90 minute plenary of powerful and moving talks by some of the finest thinkers and innovators in the Bay Area who addressed topics such as racialization, equity in our schools, art as transformational not transactional, the process of being an artist, and the ways that communities can combat global warming.
I walked away from the Integrated Learning Summer Institute feeling so grateful to be a part of the Bay Area community, feeling as though the world is changing the ways I have always envisioned it. The ILSI is at the forefront of progressive, insightful, and heartful ways to build the builders. We the teachers and artists, the principals, the parents, the communities, the stakeholders are building the next wave of builders.
Thank you to all for making the ILSI such a huge success. I invite you to add your thoughts from our Integrated Learning Summer Institute. What moved you the most? What insights or knowledge are you taking back to your classrooms, schools or work environments? What moments still linger in your mind from your time at the ILSI?

All the Best!

Mariah

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