Teacher Institute Programs

Colonial Williamsburg has long used hands-on activities with objects and buildings to bring history to life. In this webinar, explore how to continue using objects in the classroom to learn about history while also maintaining safety.

Objectives
As a result of this webinar, participants will:

• Use new strategies to teach with objects and artifacts in the classroom with special attention to their safe and responsible use.
• Describe ways to connect objects and artifacts to people of the past.
• Express increased comfort finding and using objects and artifacts in the classroom.
• Identify new sources for finding and using objects and artifacts.

Dates:

• October 3, 2020
  

Time: 3:00-5:00 p.m. EDT

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Colonial Williamsburg uses a wide variety of primary sources to bring history to life. In this webinar, learn how Colonial Williamsburg uses primary sources, gain some new ideas for how to infuse primary sources into classroom instruction, and learn how to find appropriate primary sources for students.

Objectives
As a result of this webinar, participants will:

• Use new strategies to teach with primary sources in the classroom.
• Describe ways to connect primary documents to real people of the past.
• Express increased comfort finding and using primary sources in the classroom.
• Identify new sources for locating and using primary sources.

Dates:

• October 10, 2020

Time: 3:00-5:00 p.m. EDT

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Getting students involved in the work of history exposes them to the idea that history is not “finished,” but rather a field with great opportunity for new exploration and discovery. In this webinar, learn how Colonial Williamsburg historians approach historical questions, how to transfer that approach to the classroom, and where to find Colonial Williamsburg resources for inquiry-based projects.

Objectives
As a result of this webinar, participants will:

• Use new strategies to teach with inquiry in the classroom.
• Develop new ideas for inquiry questions in American history.
• Express increased comfort finding and using primary sources and other resources to support student inquiry.
• Identify new sources for finding and using primary sources and other resources to support student inquiry.

Dates:

• October 17, 2020
  

Time: 3:00-5:00 p.m. EDT

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Storytelling and the narrative form are great tools for memory-making and developing empathy with people of the past. Explore ways to connect narrative to real people of the past.

Objectives
As a result of this webinar, participants will:

• Use new strategies to teach with storytelling and narrative in the classroom.
• Describe ways to use narratives and stories to connect to real people of the past.
• Express increased comfort finding and using narratives and stories to support student inquiry.
• Identify new sources for finding and using narratives and stories to support student inquiry.

Dates:

• October 24, 2020
  

Time: 3:00-5:00 p.m. EDT

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Curating a history museum exhibit means thinking critically about what objects and information convey about a story. In this webinar, explore ways to use existing museum exhibits to teach history and how to get students involved in curating their own exhibits.

Objectives
As a result of this webinar, participants will:

• Use new strategies to teach with museum exhibits in the classroom.
• Describe ways to use museum exhibits to connect to real people of the past.
• Express increased comfort finding and using museum exhibits to support student inquiry.
• Identify new sources for finding and using museum exhibits to support student inquiry.

Dates:

• October 31, 2020
  

Time: 3:00-5:00 p.m. EDT

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As a result of this online course, participants will:

• Integrate primary sources, secondary sources, and technological resources focused on teaching slavery and race during the colonial and American Revolutionary periods.
• Express greater confidence in teaching sensitive and controversial subjects, with a primary, but not exclusive, focus on teaching about slavery and race.
• Analyze the appropriateness of a variety of strategies and resources to teach about slavery and race during the colonial and American Revolutionary periods.
• Use new strategies to teach about slavery and race during the colonial and American Revolutionary periods.
• Create opportunities for continued professional development in social studies education with fellow teachers and Colonial Williamsburg educators.
  
  
  
  

October 2-November 6, 2020

In acknowledgment of everyone’s varied schedules, we will not meet synchronously during this course. Each week, participants should expect at least 2-3 hours of asynchronous reading, activities, and discussion board participation.

Weekly course content opens on Fridays. Questions for presenters submitted via a discussion board are due by 12:00 Noon EDT each Wednesday. Answers to these questions will be recorded and posted for viewing each Thursday. The total time commitment for the course, including asynchronous coursework and asynchronous presenter class meetings, is approximately 20-25 hours.

The course opens on Friday, October 2, 2020 and concludes on Friday, November 6, 2020.

Week 1: Course Orientation, Background, and Introductions

Week 2: 40 Years of African American History at Colonial Williamsburg

Week 3: Finding and Using Primary Sources to Teach About Freedom and Slavery

Week 4: Agency and Resistance

Week 5: Teaching Sensitive and Controversial Issues

• October 2-November 6, 2020 — Register Now
  

Onsite sessions of the Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute of Colonial Williamsburg are cancelled for summer 2020 as part of the foundation’s continued effort to limit health risks associated with COVID-19.

Teachers who received scholarships or paid tuition for 2020 can defer to 2021. The Teacher Institute Staff will contact scholarship recipients and tuition payers in the fall to reconfirm your 2021 dates. In addition, special summer 2020 free online programs are under development for the scholarship recipients and other interested teachers. Please check back in mid-May to learn more about these programs.

Teachers who wish to pay their own tuition, or whose school districts wish to pay for them, may register for the 2020 program at any time after registration opens on January 6, 2020.

Week-Long Institute Sessions: $2,200

Includes: A double-occupancy room [Teachers who would like their own room pay an additional fee.], most meals, admission to all Historic Area sites and program activities, and special access to materials in the Teacher Institute portion of our Education Resource Library. (Does not include airfare.)

Matching Grants
Matching grants are available each year for American history teachers who work at the elementary or secondary school level in any public school in the United States. If the school/district will fund one teacher, Colonial Williamsburg will provide the tuition and transportation for another teacher from the same school or district. Both teachers must: 1) apply separately and list each other on their applications, and 2) work through the process with and confirm matching funding from the school/district.

Contact Jodi Norman at jnorman@cwf.org for more information.

Individual Scholarships
Individual scholarships are available each year for American history teachers who work at the elementary or secondary school level in any public school in the United States. These scholarships are the result of the generosity of many Colonial Williamsburg Foundation friends, their deep commitment to and respect for teachers, and their understanding of the teacher’s role in educating the citizens and leaders of tomorrow.

Elementary school sessions focus on the daily life of colonial Virginians and the transition from subject to citizen that occurred during the Revolutionary War period. Teachers will be immersed in hands-on activities at Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown that highlight the stories of the people living during this time. During the session, teachers will:

• Identify and analyze significant seventeenth- and eighteenth-century economic, political, and social events that led to American independence from Great Britain.
• Chart the evolution of citizenship, from being British subjects to becoming American citizens.
• Explain how Native American, European, and African interactions shaped and defined the American character.
• Examine colonial social levels, gender roles, and specific populations such as gentry, middling sort, lesser sort, free and enslaved African Americans, and Native Americans.
• Integrate primary, secondary, and technology resources in classroom instruction focused on early American history and citizenship.
• Create opportunities for continued professional development in social studies education with fellow teachers and Colonial Williamsburg educators.

Click Here to download a Sample Schedule for this program.

Onsite sessions of the Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute of Colonial Williamsburg are cancelled for summer 2020 as part of the foundation’s continued effort to limit health risks associated with COVID-19.

Teachers who received scholarships or paid tuition for 2020 can defer to 2021. The Teacher Institute Staff will contact scholarship recipients and tuition payers in the fall to reconfirm your 2021 dates. In addition, special summer 2020 free online programs are under development for the scholarship recipients and other interested teachers. Please check back in mid-May to learn more about these programs.

Teachers who wish to pay their own tuition, or whose school districts wish to pay for them, may register for the 2020 program at any time after registration opens on January 6, 2020.

Week-Long Institute Sessions: $2,200

Includes: A double-occupancy room [Teachers who would like their own room pay an additional fee.], most meals, admission to all Historic Area sites and program activities, and special access to materials in the Teacher Institute portion of our Education Resource Library. (Does not include airfare.)

Matching Grants
Matching grants are available each year for American history teachers who work at the elementary or secondary school level in any public school in the United States. If the school/district will fund one teacher, Colonial Williamsburg will provide the tuition and transportation for another teacher from the same school or district. Both teachers must: 1) apply separately and list each other on their applications, and 2) work through the process with and confirm matching funding from the school/district.

Contact Jodi Norman at jnorman@cwf.org for more information.

Individual Scholarships
Individual scholarships are available each year for American history teachers who work at the elementary or secondary school level in any public school in the United States. These scholarships are the result of the generosity of many Colonial Williamsburg Foundation friends, their deep commitment to and respect for teachers, and their understanding of the teacher’s role in educating the citizens and leaders of tomorrow.

How do we define our identity as Americans? How do many diverse cultures come together to form the basis of this American identity? What will it become in the future? During this course, participants will examine how the concept of an American identity began in the colonial period and continues to evolve and transform with each generation of Americans. Through inquiry-based analysis of primary sources while exploring throughout the Colonial Williamsburg Historic Area, teachers examine how that identity influenced American citizens to shape and change the Republic through the 1860s. During the session, teachers will:

• Chart the evolution of citizenship and American identity from the settlement of Jamestown through the U.S. Civil War and make connections to the present-day United States.
• Evaluate the way historical events from 1606 to 1865 have impacted American identity.
• Apply instructional strategies that encourage civil discourse from multiple perspectives using primary and secondary sources.
• Create opportunities for continued professional development in social studies education with fellow teachers and Colonial Williamsburg educators.
• Identify and analyze four pairs of seemingly contradictory American values that, while in tension, influence the course of American history.

Click Here to download a Sample Schedule for this program.

Onsite sessions of the Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute of Colonial Williamsburg are cancelled for summer 2020 as part of the foundation’s continued effort to limit health risks associated with COVID-19.

Teachers who received scholarships or paid tuition for 2020 can defer to 2021. The Teacher Institute Staff will contact scholarship recipients and tuition payers in the fall to reconfirm your 2021 dates. In addition, special summer 2020 free online programs are under development for the scholarship recipients and other interested teachers. Please check back in mid-May to learn more about these programs.

Teachers who wish to pay their own tuition, or whose school districts wish to pay for them, may register for the 2020 program at any time after registration opens on January 6, 2020.

Week-Long Institute Sessions: $2,200

Includes: A double-occupancy room [Teachers who would like their own room pay an additional fee.], most meals, admission to all Historic Area sites and program activities, and special access to materials in the Teacher Institute portion of our Education Resource Library. (Does not include airfare.)

Matching Grants
Matching grants are available each year for American history teachers who work at the elementary or secondary school level in any public school in the United States. If the school/district will fund one teacher, Colonial Williamsburg will provide the tuition and transportation for another teacher from the same school or district. Both teachers must: 1) apply separately and list each other on their applications, and 2) work through the process with and confirm matching funding from the school/district.

Contact Jodi Norman at jnorman@cwf.org for more information.

Individual Scholarships
Individual scholarships are available each year for American history teachers who work at the elementary or secondary school level in any public school in the United States. These scholarships are the result of the generosity of many Colonial Williamsburg Foundation friends, their deep commitment to and respect for teachers, and their understanding of the teacher’s role in educating the citizens and leaders of tomorrow.

Elementary Sample Schedule

Secondary Sample Schedule

Onsite sessions of the Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute of Colonial Williamsburg are cancelled for summer 2020 as part of the foundation’s continued effort to limit health risks associated with COVID-19.

Teachers who received scholarships or paid tuition for 2020 can defer to 2021. The Teacher Institute Staff will contact scholarship recipients and tuition payers in the fall to reconfirm your 2021 dates. In addition, special summer 2020 free online programs are under development for the scholarship recipients and other interested teachers. Please check back in mid-May to learn more about these programs.

Teachers who wish to pay their own tuition, or whose school districts wish to pay for them, may register for the 2020 program at any time after registration opens on January 6, 2020.

Three-Day Seminars: $1,250

Includes: A double-occupancy room [Teachers who would like their own room pay an additional fee.], most meals, admission to all Historic Area sites and program activities, and special access to materials in the Teacher Institute portion of our Education Resource Library. (Does not include airfare.)

• A $750 tuition option is available for the three-day themed seminars that does not include a hotel room, breakfasts, or airfare. This option is for local teachers who wish to commute from home or select their own hotel accommodations.

Matching Grants
Matching grants are available each year for American history teachers who work at the elementary or secondary school level in any public school in the United States. If the school/district will fund one teacher, Colonial Williamsburg will provide the tuition and transportation for another teacher from the same school or district. Both teachers must: 1) apply separately and list each other on their applications, and 2) work through the process with and confirm matching funding from the school/district.

Contact Jodi Norman at jnorman@cwf.org for more information.

Individual Scholarships
Individual scholarships are available each year for American history teachers who work at the elementary or secondary school level in any public school in the United States. These scholarships are the result of the generosity of many Colonial Williamsburg Foundation friends, their deep commitment to and respect for teachers, and their understanding of the teacher’s role in educating the citizens and leaders of tomorrow.

This seminar explores the lives, roles, and perspectives of enslaved and free black Virginians in the eighteenth century. Participants will pursue a deeper understanding of the diversity of the experiences of enslaved and free black people during the colonial period and the American Revolution. During the seminar, teachers will:

• Integrate primary, secondary, and technology resources focused on the lives of enslaved and free black people during the eighteenth century.
• Contextualize slavery in the European North American colonies temporally, geographically, and economically.
• Compare and contrast the experiences of enslaved and free black people in rural and urban settings and engaged in different types of life and work.
• Create opportunities for continued professional development in social studies education with fellow teachers and Colonial Williamsburg educators.

Download a Sample Schedule Here

Onsite sessions of the Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute of Colonial Williamsburg are cancelled for summer 2020 as part of the foundation’s continued effort to limit health risks associated with COVID-19.

Teachers who received scholarships or paid tuition for 2020 can defer to 2021. The Teacher Institute Staff will contact scholarship recipients and tuition payers in the fall to reconfirm your 2021 dates. In addition, special summer 2020 free online programs are under development for the scholarship recipients and other interested teachers. Please check back in mid-May to learn more about these programs.

Teachers who wish to pay their own tuition, or whose school districts wish to pay for them, may register for the 2020 program at any time after registration opens on January 6, 2020.

Three-Day Seminars: $1,250

Includes: A double-occupancy room [Teachers who would like their own room pay an additional fee.], most meals, admission to all Historic Area sites and program activities, and special access to materials in the Teacher Institute portion of our Education Resource Library. (Does not include airfare.)

• A $750 tuition option is available for the three-day themed seminars that does not include a hotel room, breakfasts, or airfare. This option is for local teachers who wish to commute from home or select their own hotel accommodations.

Matching Grants
Matching grants are available each year for American history teachers who work at the elementary or secondary school level in any public school in the United States. If the school/district will fund one teacher, Colonial Williamsburg will provide the tuition and transportation for another teacher from the same school or district. Both teachers must: 1) apply separately and list each other on their applications, and 2) work through the process with and confirm matching funding from the school/district.

Contact Jodi Norman at jnorman@cwf.org for more information.

Individual Scholarships
Individual scholarships are available each year for American history teachers who work at the elementary or secondary school level in any public school in the United States. These scholarships are the result of the generosity of many Colonial Williamsburg Foundation friends, their deep commitment to and respect for teachers, and their understanding of the teacher’s role in educating the citizens and leaders of tomorrow.

This seminar explores the lives, roles, and perspectives of eighteenth-century women. Participants will pursue a deeper understanding of women’s contributions and constraints during the time leading up to the American Revolution. During the seminar, teachers will:

• Analyze and integrate primary, secondary, and technology resources focused on women’s lives during the eighteenth century.
• Define traditional opportunities, responsibilities, and roles for women in public and private spheres.
• Compare and contrast women’s roles in various levels of eighteenth-century society.
• Create opportunities for continued professional development in social studies education with fellow teachers and Colonial Williamsburg educators.

Download a Sample Schedule Here

Onsite sessions of the Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute of Colonial Williamsburg are cancelled for summer 2020 as part of the foundation’s continued effort to limit health risks associated with COVID-19.

Teachers who received scholarships or paid tuition for 2020 can defer to 2021. The Teacher Institute Staff will contact scholarship recipients and tuition payers in the fall to reconfirm your 2021 dates. In addition, special summer 2020 free online programs are under development for the scholarship recipients and other interested teachers. Please check back in mid-May to learn more about these programs.

Teachers who wish to pay their own tuition, or whose school districts wish to pay for them, may register for the 2020 program at any time after registration opens on January 6, 2020.

Three-Day Seminars: $1,250

Includes: A double-occupancy room [Teachers who would like their own room pay an additional fee.], most meals, admission to all Historic Area sites and program activities, and special access to materials in the Teacher Institute portion of our Education Resource Library. (Does not include airfare.)

• A $750 tuition option is available for the three-day themed seminars that does not include a hotel room, breakfasts, or airfare. This option is for local teachers who wish to commute from home or select their own hotel accommodations.

Matching Grants
Matching grants are available each year for American history teachers who work at the elementary or secondary school level in any public school in the United States. If the school/district will fund one teacher, Colonial Williamsburg will provide the tuition and transportation for another teacher from the same school or district. Both teachers must: 1) apply separately and list each other on their applications, and 2) work through the process with and confirm matching funding from the school/district.

Contact Jodi Norman at jnorman@cwf.org for more information.

Individual Scholarships
Individual scholarships are available each year for American history teachers who work at the elementary or secondary school level in any public school in the United States. These scholarships are the result of the generosity of many Colonial Williamsburg Foundation friends, their deep commitment to and respect for teachers, and their understanding of the teacher’s role in educating the citizens and leaders of tomorrow.

This seminar explores the interdisciplinary links between colonial history and STEM in trades, specifically applied sciences and engineering. Through a hands-on, Project Based Learning (PBL) approach, participants engage with trade experts, investigate applied science principles such as the use of simple machines, chemical reactions, engineering, and combine these experiences into dynamic classroom lesson plans that incorporate primary sources and PBL. During the seminar, teachers will:

• Identify scientific processes and theories that were necessary for tradespeople to create tools and equipment for daily life.
• Investigate the importance of the scientific method in the workplace for tradespeople.
• Create interdisciplinary lesson plans that use trades as a lens to demonstrate STEM principles and consult tradespeople to gather primary source information to share with their students.

Download a Sample Schedule Here

This onsite seminar has been cancelled as part of the Foundation’s continued effort to limit health risks associated with COVID-19.

• $1,450 for a single occupancy room
• $1,250 for a double occupancy room
• $550 for a spouse not participating in the seminar.
  (Price includes three nights' lodging in the Colonial Houses, opening night reception and dinner at the Williamsburg Lodge, three Lodge breakfasts, two tavern dinners, and a length-of-stay Colonial Williamsburg admission ticket.)
• An $800 per person option that does not include a hotel room or breakfasts is available for commuters.

• Opening reception with a Nation Builder
• Colonial Williamsburg admission ticket
• Private tours with historical interpreters of selected sites where our founding values were debated and shaped, including the Governor's Palace, Courthouse, George Wythe, and Peyton Randolph houses
• Special tour of the Capitol building with a Nation Builder
• Closing private dinner at a tavern with music and entertainment