TCU’s 2008 AP Summer Institute at Taos

Philosophy
New measures of student performance necessitate new methods of teaching. TCU is striving to create a community of teacher-learners where teachers will feel safe bringing forth their content knowledge and teaching practices for critique. At the end of the week, we want to hear that the teacher’s talk has changed, their reasoning skills have been expanded, and their content knowledge has increased.

General Information

Our TCU AP Summer Institutes in Taos, NM offer a unique educational experience that our Fort Worth classes are unable to provide. Our Taos classes are generally for more experienced teachers as we do not focus on the mechanics of teaching AP as much as we look into imaginative ways to deepen content knowledge. During our week in Taos, the learning community that we are able to build is in part due to informal, shared instruction time including conversations over breakfast and continued discussions during dinners. There is also an emphasis on applied learning as we actually take the lessons to the field to practice.

In 2006, we developed an interdisciplinary course for our TCU AP Summer Institute in Taos, NM. We paired AP Environmental Science and AP Music Theory. Sitting in a field watching as music teachers scored bird calls and then discussing the importance of sound in both disciplines was an amazing discussion. Who would have thought music and environmental science would have had so much in common! One teacher commented about her Taos AP summer institute experience, “This should become the template for teaching Environmental Science.”

Dates
June 28th – July 3rd

On site registration will be open from 3:00 – 4:30 on June 28th in the lobby of the Kachina Lodge.

An opening reception/information session will follow from 5:00  - 6:00 p.m. also at the hotel. Some classes may then choose to meet or dismiss to dinner.

All classes will end by noon on July 3rd. Please make travel arrangements based on this schedule.

2008 Course Listing for TCU in Taos
AP Statistics
AP Comparative Government
AP Environmental Science
AP Music Theory

Class schedules and locations will vary during the week by subject. Please check individual syllabi for course details.

Cost of Registration

$550

Lodging

Housing accommodations will be at the Kachina Lodge in Taos, NM. As your arrival and departure dates may differ, please make your own hotel reservations directly with the Kachina Lodge. TCU has reserved a block of rooms for this institute until May 15th. Please ask for Cheryl if you need additional help while making a reservation.

Website: www.kachinalodge.com

Phone: 505.758.2275

Meals

Teachers staying at The Kachina Lodge will have breakfast included in their room rate. One lunch will be provided for participants during the week.

For directions to the Kachina Lodge, please go to:

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Taos Travel Information

Teachers who are flying to New Mexico may choose to arrive into Albuquerque and drive up to Taos. There maybe a chance for carpooling opportunities or a shuttle service runs from Albuquerque to Taos with prior reservations.

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Check out pictures from our Taos 2006

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