Education Rickshaw 
I am thrilled to share a recap of the first-ever Explicit Teaching Institute, which kicked off the last week of July at the Inwood Academy for Leadership in NYC! This intensive professional development event brought together an incredible group of educators who are truly passionate about bridging the gap between cognitive science and daily classroom practice. Seeing everyone dive into the research and collaborate so deeply was incredibly inspiring, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we accomplished together.
Here is a look at what participants did during this institute:
- Dove into the core principles of the Science of Learning and the core principles of evidence-aligned instruction
- Practiced high-leverage techniques
- Choral Response & Turn-and-Talk: Building routines that engage 100% of the room simultaneously.
- Checking for Understanding: Shifting away from “Does that make sense?” toward systemic, immediate checks.
- Precision Scripting: Learning to map out core explanations beforehand to reduce filler words and confusion.
- Analyzed real-world, expert models using the Steplab video library
What Participants Had to Say:
The Explicit Teaching Institute in Inwood, NY was one of the most practical and impactful professional learning experiences I’ve attended. Zach Groshell and the team created an experience that went far beyond theory. Every strategy was modeled, explained, practiced, rehearsed, and discussed, so I left not only understanding explicit instruction, but feeling confident implementing it in my own classroom. One of the highlights was collaborating with so many passionate, like-minded educators who are committed to improving instruction and student learning. The conversations, shared experiences, and opportunities to learn from one another were just as valuable as the sessions themselves. I came away with concrete, actionable strategies that I can implement immediately—from classroom routines and signaling to reducing cognitive load and designing instruction that truly supports how students learn. If you’re looking for professional development that is engaging, practical, and immediately applicable, I highly recommend the Explicit Teaching Institute. I left inspired, energized, and excited to put these ideas into practice this school year. – Kimberly Konzack
Amazing conference!
I think it was a great week! I learned a lot of information and gained many resources to refer to as well. Everyone was approachable and willing to give advice and support. I also loved that you supported the local community for lunch. Thank you for such a valuable PD. – Chantelle Persaud
I liked how you started with Project Follow Through and always gave the why behind the strategies. Day 3 with the retrieval and opportunities to respond was really good.
It was incredible. Thank you! – Lynn Gaffney
Can’t wait until the next one! – Rhianon Leaver
I found all sessions valuable because together, they told the story of explicit instruction. – Katherine Casey Spengler
Much of the information was affirmation for me based on previous experience with Anita Archer and TLAC. I loved the crisp , clear, replicable routines and the practice opportunities. I also loved the use of models / incorrect examples to create a set of success criteria that can be used as a checklist during independent work/ grading. – Justin Browning
I liked the organization of the event. It was helpful that it followed Zach’s book to have a reference for follow-up. I thought it was beneficial for the participants to have time to practice and script what they would say.
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