FAQs
How long are your workshops?
Our virtual workshops are 2 hours long. They require the full 2 hours and, unfortunately, we aren’t able to divide them into smaller chunks. Each in-person workshop ranges from 2.5-3 hours, depending on the content. If you are interested in exploring in-person options, please complete an interest form and a member of our team will be in touch.
Who facilitates the workshops?
All Relay Teacher Professional Education workshops are facilitated by our team of Lead Facilitators, knowledgeable educators with previous classroom experience who are highly skilled at delivering exceptional adult learning.
How are workshops delivered?
Most of our partners select workshops that are delivered synchronously via Zoom and Nearpod. If you’d prefer in person workshops, please complete an interest form and our team will be in touch.
To effectively engage synchronously online, participants should make sure to
- Plan to join on a computer with a webcam and strong internet connection
- Join in separate spaces from colleagues with headphones to ensure the best audio quality. If completely separate spaces are not feasible in your building, we recommend that no more than 3 participants share the same room and that they spread out as much as possible.
- Try to arrive 5-7 minutes early to get set up. We will start promptly at the scheduled time.
- Be prepared to participate with your video on. The sessions are highly interactive and we believe that you will get the most out of your time if you are able to discuss, chat, and engage with your video on.
How many teachers attend each workshop? What’s the facilitator to participant ratio?
Each virtual workshop can accommodate up to 50 teachers, with the option of raising the cap to 70 for additional cost. We intentionally try to limit the maximum number to allow for our facilitators to join breakout groups and hear from as many voices as possible.
For in person options, please be sure to contact our partnerships team for more information about capacity.
I missed the session. Can you provide a recording?
We don’t provide recordings of our workshops because we believe the live experience - including the small group discussions and live nearpod -- is essential to fully engaging with the content. We do provide participants with the slide deck as well as any resources.
Will participants receive access to the materials?
Yes! We send out relevant materials before the workshop, if participants want to print in advance. We also provide a link after the session to all materials and the slide deck.
Are workshops applicable to all my teachers?
For most of our workshops, we provide a variety of content pathways during the application portion in order to serve teachers across grade levels and subject areas. Some of our workshops, like Analyzing the Complexity and Cultural Relevance of a Text, are designed for specific content areas. To learn more about if workshops are applicable for your teachers, reach out to us and we can recommend the best combination for learning.
Who can purchase a workshop?
Our workshops are designed to be purchased as professional development by individual schools, districts, charter management organizations, and other groups who work to support educators.
When do you offer workshops?
We work with you - the school or organization leader - to find a time that fits with your PD schedule. For virtual workshops, as long as we have ~8-10 weeks notice, we can make almost any time work! For in person offerings, complete an interest form and a team member will be in touch.
I’m a teacher - can I register for a workshop on my own?
Right now, we offer most of our workshops directly to schools/organizations but we do occasionally offer open-enrollment options for teachers to register on their own. If you’d like to be added to our mailing list to learn about our offerings, please fill out the form here.
How much do workshops cost?
Please see our current pricing structure here.
How can I purchase a workshop or workshop series for my school/district/cmo/organization?
Complete an interest form and a team member will reach out to learn hear more about your school/district/system needs and make a recommendation based on the needs of teachers. If you already know what you’d like to book, that team member can support with next steps!
How do I reschedule a workshop that I’ve signed up for?
Please email professionaleducation@relay.edu at least 2 weeks before the session date to reschedule. If it is within 2 weeks, we reserve the right to charge a rescheduling fee.
How should leaders prepare their staff for a workshop?
- Speak to the benefit and purpose of the workshop and how it relates to school goals or initiatives
- Emphasize the transferability of the skills, even if the case studies don't align perfectly with teacher grade or content.
- Try to join and participate to demonstrate your commitment and be prepared to support teachers
- Skim provided materials in advance; print out anything if you want hard copies and advise your staff to do the same
- Be sure to review the effective synchronous engagement tips that are in your calendar invite and communication so that your staff can join from independent, quiet spaces and access strong wifi.
How should leaders extend the learning, after the workshop is over?
The best way to support implementation is for leaders to join the session and follow up with teachers after the learning. We’ve found that the leaders who take the following action steps see the most direct transfer of the habits and skills from each workshop:
- Allocate dedicated time for your staff to apply next steps (grade team meetings to discuss student support; content team time to analyze student work, etc)
- Use the provided resources aligned to each workshop as a guide around observation feedback, lesson planning or student work analysis protocols
Schools who are partnered with Relay Leadership also have additional options for coaching aligned to workshops. Please email professionaleducation@relay.edu to learn more about this.
Do you provide continuing education credit hours?
We offer continuing education credits only for the Hollyhock Humanities Fellowship at this time. While our Teacher Professional Education workshops are not eligible, we suggest participants visit their respective state or district specific website to learn more about how to obtain credit for attendance.
I don’t see the content my school/organization needs. Can you tailor content to our needs?
We release new content each year and our website will always reflect our latest offerings. If there’s content you’d like to see or you want to discuss a personalized scope, fill out the form here and we’ll be in touch.
I’d like to speak to a team member to learn more about the content - how do I do that?
Complete an interest form here and a member of our team will be in touch.
How do I contact Relay about the Hollyhock Humanities Fellowship?
To request more information, please email us at jverrilli@relay.edu and put “Hollyhock Humanities Fellowship” in the subject line.
When are the Hollyhock Humanities Fellowship applications available?
Applications open for the 2023-24 cohort on November 1, 2022.
Should I apply if I am not sure I can make a commitment to participate in all activities in summer and across the year?
We prefer that teachers only apply if they can fully commit to attending the entire two-week summer seminar, the Year-long coaching and Saturday workshops.
What is the difference between the Stanford Hollyhock Fellowship and the Relay Hollyhock Humanities Fellowship?
The Hollyhock Humanities Fellowship is a special program hosted by the Relay Graduate School of Education for experienced humanities teachers in the New York Metro area. It is designed to focus on developing just high school history/social studies teachers. The Hollyhock Fellowship is a one-year program. The Stanford Hollyhock program is a national two-year program hosted by Stanford University’s Center to Support Excellence in Teaching for school-based teams of teachers in English, History, Math and Science. Both programs are possible because of the generous support of the Hollyhock Foundation.
Why is the eligibility only for teachers who have at least 3 years of teaching experience?
Experienced teachers need support and opportunities for growth to help them thrive in the classroom. We want to work with teachers who are still seeking to grow and improve for their students and to help them become much-needed teacher leaders in their schools.
For the 2023-24 school year, we only offer fellowships to high school teachers who teach in history/social studies.
What is a typical day like at the Hollyhock Summer Seminar?
The Institute typically runs from 9:00 am until 4:30 pm Monday through Friday with additional opportunities for socializing and community-building activities on the weekday evenings. Fellows will attend classes at the Relay Graduate School of Education Campus on 25 Broadway in lower Manhattan. We will have professional development sessions where we deep-dive into content, participate in daily intellectual discourse on relevant topics and work on practice-based pedagogy. Daily coffee, beverages, snacks and lunch will be provided each day. There will also be afternoon trips to NY’s renowned cultural institutions on certain days of the week.
Our hope is that all these experiences will build a community of teaching professionals that lasts long after the two-week summer institute ends.
What are the dates for the Summer Seminar and the Saturday Intersessions?
In 2023, the Hollyhock Summer Seminar will be held on July 17th - July 21st, 2023 and July 24th - July 28th, 2023. Classes will run from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. There are no classes on the weekends. The Saturday Intersessions will take place on Oct. 14, 2023, Dec. 9, 2023, Feb. 10, 2024, and May 18, 2024. They will run from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Our current plan is for all classes to be in-person at Relay Graduate School of Education’s campus, 25 Broadway, NY, NY 10011.
What kinds of things do I need to do to prepare for the summer institute if I am accepted?
Fellows are invited to write a short biography about themselves and their school for our website. Additionally, we ask that fellows bring teaching materials that they will work with next year as we will be doing lesson planning and curriculum design work. We will also ask all fellows to submit a video of themselves classroom teaching from the current school year. There will also be shared books and readings to complete and links to tasks prior to arrival in July for the Summer Seminar. Each year the preparation varies.
How do the continuing education units (CTE’s) I earn at Relay Hollyhock get documented?
Relay will email each Hollyhock Fellow a transcript with a record of the CTE’s earned after each summer and each school year. Fellows can use this transcript as verification of their professional learning hours from Hollyhock. Please note that these are not graduate credits as fellows are not enrolled at Relay as graduate students. Hollyhock fellows will also need to keep track of their own CTE documentation throughout the fellowship.
Connect With Us
If you’re new to Relay, simply have a question about our offerings, or want to book a workshop, let us know and we can work to start creating your customized support.