Columbia University in the City of New York

BrainSTEM In Action

Teacher professional development (Credit: Lou Rocco for Columbia's Zuckerman Institute)

Chancellor’s Day Professional Development

 

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

Our 2025 workshop will focus on the topic "Neuroscience of Anxiety: STEM learning to promote social-emotional growth," and we welcome you to join us at the Zuckerman Institute on Thursday, June 5, 2025.

Click here for the link to register by April 1, 2025.

 

Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute offers CTLE eligible professional development opportunities for NYC middle and high school teachers on Chancellor’s Day. Although topics vary each year, BrainSTEM In Action brings a BrainSTEM Resource lesson plan to life.

 

BrainSTEM In Action allows teachers to see research spaces firsthand, participate in hands-on demos, discuss cutting-edge neuroscience research, and tailor lesson plans to their own classroom.

 

 

2025 Program

 

For Chancellor’s Day, June 5, 2025, the Zuckerman Institute will host a day of professional development for New York City middle and high school educators. This includes teachers and teaching assistants/paraprofessionals, as well as any education professional who works directly with middle or high school students. This year's topic will focus on the neuroscience of anxiety in STEM learning, especially math and test-taking, and teachers will have the option to engage in observational and experiential activities. This workshop is FREE to attend.

 

Participants have two options for joining:

 

Option 1 - Morning only
Educators will tour the Zuckerman Institute’s fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) research facility, examine brain scan data, and discuss neuroscience studies exploring math anxiety and fear. 
Duration: 9:00-11:30 am
Workshop size: up to 36

 

Option 2 - Full day
Educators will complete the morning workshop, and in the afternoon, they will apply insights from the morning to customize a lesson based on teaching students tools to reduce math anxiety, work with other teachers to devise new educational material, and practice delivering their lesson.
Duration: 9:00-4:00pm
Workshop size: up to 36

Earn up to 6 CTLE credit hours!

 

 

Additional details

 

This professional development opportunity is open to all classroom educational staff in the New York City area including all teachers and teaching assistants/paraprofessionals. This workshop is FREE to attend.

 

The day begins at 9:00am with light refreshments. Lunch for all educators will be provided from 12:00-1:00pm.

 

The workshop will take place in the Education Lab on the first floor of Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute (Jerome L. Greene Science Center, 605 W. 129th St, New York, NY 10027).

 

Due to Zuckerman’s Institute commitment to achieving the goal of helping to reduce socioeconomic disparities in the STEM, preference will be given to individuals who meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Upper Manhattan/South Bronx schools

- Title 1 Eligible School

- Educators who see themselves directly using this material in their classroom
- Educators in STEM subjects and/or STEM-focused High Schools

 

Selection for the program will be determined first by these preference criteria and then by lottery. Because of limited workshop capacity, our team will let you know by May 1, 2025 if you have secured a spot in the 2025 program.

 

Testimonials from past participants

"I am going to integrate the anxiety reducing interventions into my classroom - immediately. [...] The information was helpful, useful, and applicable, and the tour was cool and interesting."

 

"The whole workshop was amazing and I think it was great talking with everyone. I am going to give these materials to my teachers for them to use ASAP!"

 

"I enjoyed that we got to discuss and brainstorm with our colleagues and the practical strategies for integrating SEL into any living environment class."

 

"I learned so much about MRIs and got to connect with lovely educators. [I'll be] using the [anxiety] interventions with students before the Regents."