Educator professional learning is one of the most important things we can do to transform education and help our students thrive. Educators can help students make connections from what they’re doing in the classroom to the outside world and their future careers.
TGR Foundation’s mission is to empower students to pursue their passions through education. Over the last 19 years we’ve seen and experienced the power of educator professional learning, integrated partnerships and engaged students to transform lives in under-resourced communities.
Transforming learning environments through student engagement
Oftentimes when you go to a classroom, you might see students that are bored and may be forced to do worksheets or take notes. It’s challenging for them to develop passions about anything if they’re not engaged in their learning.
Teachers can be the connection point for students to develop their passions and prepare for their future while also excelling academically and enhancing their community.
The U.S. Department of Education found that targeted professional learning increased confidence in using technology by 53%.
TGR Foundation supports educators while providing them with tools, practices and resources that can help engage students and make them active learners.
Equipping educators to empower their students
We provide a variety of free educator programs and opportunities from monthly workshops and annual summits to a digital resource library with self-paced modules and materials. One of our signature programs is called STEM Studio. It’s a multi-day experience for teachers that’s hands on, collaborative and focuses on inquiry-based instruction.
STEM Studio is an interactive and engaging experience, and we built it so that educators aren’t just listening to us speak to them for 12 hours. We have teachers put on the student hat and go through activities to understand what we mean by inquiry-based teaching and learning.
Through these collaborative group activities, they’re able to experience what authentic inquiry can look and feel like. The experience ends with participating educators putting what they learned into practice. They don’t leave us with a binder that sits on the shelf and collects dust and then go back to doing what they were doing for the whole year. They leave with an actionable plan that’s been shared with others, received feedback and is ready to make some changes in their teaching practices right away.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) teachers who receive sustained professional development are  50% less likely to leave their schools.
We help educators develop that inquiry mindset but also instill it in the students they work with. When students are learning about a topic, they should not just be regurgitating information, but grappling with important questions, trying to solve problems and developing solutions.
Our philosophy is to empower teachers to reignite and refine that passion of why they chose to be a teacher, trust them and their experience, and help them feel connected to a community and support system.
After surveying participants, 91% felt more confident in their ability to build students’ essential skills and all had planned to implement something they learned.
Developing transferrable skills
Students need the transferable skills so that they can adapt, grow and evolve to meet the needs of the future. Providing opportunities for collaboration, creativity and critical thinking in effort to solve complex problems is important because the jobs of the future will require those skills.
At TGR Foundation, we try to stay on top of what’s happening not only in the country and around the world, but locally in our communities. By being a connector in the community between K-12 schools, industry partners and the government, we’re able to see what the trends are and help ensure what’s happening with students is directly applicable to the real world.
Driving change through collaboration
Oftentimes in education, schools and organizations are working in silos. Breaking them down and forming meaningful partnerships ensures that students, no matter where they are, are all working and rowing in the same direction. Long-lasting, sustainable impact isn’t possible without partners like DoD STEM, the Anaheim Union High School District and the OC Regional Consortium who have committed to the work, are invested in building a strong STEM workforce and can filter available jobs to students from our local communities.
At our TGR Learning Labs, we work directly with students from 5th grade through 12th grade, so we take a lot of what we do with students and share it through our professional learning opportunities. By working with teachers across the country, we’re also able to use best practices we’ve seen transform education and expand them into classrooms, schools and communities.
One of the best ways to reach more students is through their teachers. If we can impact and empower a teacher, they can then transform the lives of hundreds of students.
Visit TGR Foundation to join our growing community of educators, learn more about our professional learning programs, hear from participants or reserve a seat in our upcoming opportunities.
About the Author
Eric Moore is the Vice President of Programs at TGR Foundation. A Los Angeles County, CA native, Eric began his journey as an educator after graduating from the University of California, Irvine. A career educator Eric’s journey began in the classroom and transitioned to educator professional learning leading the TGR Foundation’s programs and initiatives including the DoD STEM Ambassador Program. Click here to connect with Eric on LinkedIn
