The Teachers Institute for Tulsa (TIFT) has officially opened its applications for the 2024-25 academic year. Applications opened on August 27th and will close on September 30th.
The Program
TIFT is an organization that develops teacher content knowledge and strengthens their ability to develop lesson plans and larger curriculum units. The program is modeled after the Yale National Initiative and follows their Teachers Institute model. As a partnership between the University of Tulsa and Tulsa Public Schools, TIFT is available only to TPS teachers.
TIFT is offering four seminars this year. There are two humanities-focused seminars: “Monsters in America” and “Rooted Words: Poetry and Culture.” And there are two STEM-focused seminars: “Biological Anthropology” and “The Energy Landscape: From Fossil Fuels to Solar Rays.” Each seminar is led by a TU professor who specializes in that field.
Each seminar is geared towards a specific academic discipline, but they can also be interdisciplinary. In all TIFT seminars, teachers from a variety of disciplines and grade levels learn together as they write their curriculum units. Each unit translates the content covered in seminar into engaging lesson plans. “Part of the joy of TIFT,” says director of TIFT Daniel Thater, “is seeing the creativity emerge from participating teachers. From elementary to secondary, each teacher who participates in our program is able to make fundamentally interesting, relevant, and engaging units for their students.”
How to Apply
To apply to the Teachers Institute for Tulsa, follow this link. Participating teachers must meet the eligibility requirements listed on the website. Most TPS teachers who are full-time and student-facing 80% of the school day qualify. TIFT is designed to support teachers in core curricular areas (math, science, English and history), but we welcome applications from teachers in other subjects including, but not limited to, ESL and fine arts.
The application has 3 parts. The first part asks for demographic data and is intended to provide TIFT’s admissions committee a full picture of your teaching situation. The second part (figure 1) of the application asks teachers to choose a primary seminar option and write an application essay detailing how participation in TIFT would impact their teaching; the second part also asks applicants to choose a secondary seminar option and write another application essay. Finally, the third part is a brief confirmation and signature page.
Applications are primarily judged on the application essays. Successful applications include thorough and thoughtful application essays. The admissions committee wants to see applicants 1. Demonstrate a clear connection between their teaching situation and the seminar and 2. Articulate a coherent idea for a curriculum unit the teacher could create in the program. Thater wants to emphasize that the application essays are speculative and not binding. “The ideas presented in the application,” Thater says, “will most certainly change and evolve as the seminar progresses. The admissions committee uses these essays, however, to see how each applicant thinks about the seminar topic and curriculum units in general.”
If you have questions or concerns about the application process, reach out to Daniel Thater at daniel-thater@utulsa.edu