The Teachers Institute for Tulsa (TIFT) is celebrating good news in education. On Monday, April 30 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Lorton Performance Center, the TIFT Yale National Initiative Celebration will commemorate the conclusion of the Teachers Institute for Tulsa’s inaugural round of seminars and the launch of the 2018 seminar topics. The evening will highlight the projects and curriculum local educators have created in cooperation with TU faculty.
Representatives from the Tulsa Mayor’s office, The University of Tulsa and Tulsa Public Schools will help observe this grand achievement and help thank everyone including the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation for their cooperation towards the success of this high-impact project designed to strengthen teaching and learning in Tulsa schools.
Last November, Tulsa joined an elite network of Institutes at Yale University, The University of Pennsylvania and The University of Delaware to deliver content-driven professional development to K-12 teachers. By connecting university faculty with public school teachers through seminars, workshops and group meetings, TIFT seeks to improve teacher content-knowledge, heighten teacher enthusiasm and increase teacher retention.
Twenty-seven TPS teachers representing nineteen Tulsa campuses participated and will publish curriculum units for use in their classrooms and to share with others. From studying dog DNA with third graders to examining the role of popular music in politics and culture with high school students, the curriculum covers wide-ranging topics. Teachers use their knowledge of state standards and their students’ needs to create authentic classroom activities.