Summer Institute for Authentic Learning and Leadership

Teaching with Joy, Leading with Heart invites educators to reconnect with the purpose and passion that brought them to this work. In the midst of increasing demands, this session focuses on practical, meaningful ways to cultivate joy across school communities. Participants will explore how small shifts in mindset, relationships and daily practices can create a more positive, energized environment for both students and staff. By centering joy as a powerful driver of engagement and connection, educators will leave inspired and equipped to lead with heart and make school a place where everyone thrives. 

Schools are rich with data. Every day, student work, formative assessments, and parent interactions give us invaluable feedback. Yet too often, our systems move more slowly than our classrooms. By the time we can truly act on insights, the moment has passed. As educators, we are constantly making thoughtful, brilliant adjustments, we are just doing it inside structures that weren't built for speed.

This session is about a powerful, simple shift: rethinking how feedback flows so our schools can learn, breathe, and adjust in real time.

We will look at a pattern used by high-performing organizations across industries: act, measure, learn, adjust. But we aren't here to add more to your plate. Instead, we will explore how to connect this agile rhythm directly to the work you are already doing in classrooms, team meetings, and leadership decisions. We’ll take existing practices, like data reviews and formative assessments, and make them more immediate, visible, and deeply actionable.

What We Will Do Together:

• Map Your Current Flow: Analyze how feedback and data currently move through your unique school context.
• Redesign the Loop: Work through a real-time challenge you are currently facing to build a faster, more responsive insight loop.
• Keep it Sustainable: Ensure these adjustments integrate seamlessly into your current workload without creating burnout.

The Ultimate Goal: You will leave this session with a practical, customized blueprint. A plan you can implement on Monday to boost learner engagement, support educators, and make confident, data-informed decisions without waiting months to see if they worked.

Step into an out‑of‑this‑world learning experience where educators become explorers, immersing themselves in what high‑quality STEM instruction feels like when it truly takes off. Rather than observing strategies from afar, participants will engage in hands‑on, collaborative missions that model the inquiry, creativity, problem‑solving, and learner agency at the center of meaningful STEM education. As the journey continues, educators will investigate how authentic, integrated learning experiences unfold, reflect on the essential elements that make them successful, and consider ways to elevate the everyday instruction already happening in their classrooms. This interactive session is designed to launch new ideas, boost instructional confidence, and build a shared understanding of what strong STEM culture and practice can look like across grade levels - whether you’re already orbiting in this work or just beginning your ascent. Participants will also discover how the Ohio Quality Model for STEM and STEAM Education serves as a powerful navigational tool, grounding deeper learning in real‑world relevance. By the end, educators will return to their schools energized, inspired, and equipped with practical strategies to bring out‑of‑this‑world learning opportunities to students of all ages.