Designed to be a multi-year collaboration with a school or district, an AIW Coach works with educators and administrators to develop collaborative teacher teams and support the implementation of AIW. During multiple visits to the school, the AIW coach helps establish team norms, model the AIW scoring process, and engage teachers in critical conversations about improving instructional practices, which will improve student learning. Before and after each visit, the AIW coach engages with leadership to clarify goals and to ensure that the team meetings run effectively.

Learn more about AIW's unique PD Process here. 

Whether you are a current or prospective AIW practitioner, we invite you to participate in AIW Institute mini-courses, designed to deepen your understanding about key elements of the AIW framework and PD process. Please contact the AIW Institute if you're interested in offering one of these mini-courses in your school or district, or across districts. 

Each mini-course includes two 120-minute synchronous Zoom sessions, with an opportunity to apply new learnings and receive feedback from AIW coaches between those sessions. Cost: $150/course. 

Possible Course Topics

Value Beyond School & Disciplinary Processes

How do students connect classroom work with the outside world? How can teachers construct lessons to maximize those connections? Participants in this mini-course will increase their understanding of Value Beyond School (VBS) and how curriculum choices and teacher intent help connect school work to the world beyond their classroom.

Substantive Conversations in both Face-to-Face and Virtual Spaces

How can teachers increase student learning through Substantive Conversations, whether in a physical classroom or online? Participants will explore a process for planning a lesson around a substantive conversation. They will also learn how to use that process to work with peers as they plan classroom conversations.

Instructional Planning with AIW in Mind     

Are your virtual, hybrid or face-to-face lessons and units addressing important concepts or problems with Higher Order Thinking (HOT) and Value Beyond School (VBS)? Participants in this mini-course will utilize a planning template and enhance their capacity to ensure that AIW lessons are addressing the most important content.

Learn more details here. 

Higher Order Thinking (HOT) & Questioning Strategies

How do we maximize higher order thinking for our students and improve our questioning skills? Participants in this mini-course will analyze questioning patterns, gather questioning data, formulate goals, and identify strategies to improve questioning skills and impact student learning. Instructors can use the templates to collect their own questioning practices and reflect on impact, while instructional coaches can adapt the templates to analyze individual, curriculum teams or building practices and determine professional development needs around questioning and higher order thinking.

AIW Facilitation and Coaching

How can instructional coaches and team facilitators best support individual and collective learning during AIW team meetings? Participants in this mini-course explore and apply facilitation strategies and tools that help move AIW teams toward deeper learning and collaboration.

AIW (Virtual) Community Conversations were piloted in the spring of 2020, and they brought AIW practitioners together to share their experiences, strategies, and questions. AIW Community Conversations can be offered with your interested colleagues and broader community members. All new and veteran AIW teachers and administrators are welcome to join us! Contact the AIW Institute directly. 

Does your AIW team, school or district need a refresher on the AIW scoring process? Do you want to deepen your understanding of one of the AIW criteria? Explore tools used to gather data around AIW implementation? The AIW Institute will develop a webinar or workshop designed to inspire the learning that your organization needs to take your AIW implementation to the next level.

This 6-session workshop introduces practicing teachers and administrators to the Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) framework. This is ideal for schools or districts that would like to learn more about AIW before committing to multi-year implementation. Teachers and administrators from different schools/districts in nearby geographical regions can participate together.

Does your AIW team, school or district need a refresher on the AIW scoring process? Do you want deepen your understanding of one of the AIW criteria? Explore tools used to gather data around AIW implementation? The AIW Institute will develop a one-hour webinar designed to inspire the learning that you need to take your AIW implementation to the next level.