A four-week working circle for thirty educators who will redesign one real assignment in their real classroom — and document what happens. Cohort One applications are now open.
What this is
The Founding Lab exists to test, refine, and strengthen The Human Intelligence Method in real classrooms — with real assignments, real students, and real constraints. We will build the method by using it.
For the first cohort, I am looking for thirty educators who can carry one redesigned assignment through to a documented case. Together, we will collect what works, what fails, and what must be changed across different subjects, age groups, and school cultures.
The shape of the work
01
WEEK ONE
Choose one assignment from your current teaching. Audit it against the five principles. Where in this task is the student's thinking actually visible?
02
WEEK TWO
Rebuild the assignment using the five-stage shape — Before AI, With AI, After AI, Final Work, Oral Defense. Adapt it to your subject and age group.
03
WEEK THREE
Run the redesigned assignment with your real students. Watch what happens. Take notes on what the room does that it has not done before.
04
WEEK FOUR
Write a short, honest case. What worked. What failed. What you would change. Share it with the circle. The method is shaped, in part, by what you bring.
What you leave with
One redesigned assignment, in your own subject
Not a generic template. A specific task you can keep using next term, the year after, and the year after that.
One documented case from a real classroom
A short written record of what happened when you ran it — what changed in the room, what students did, what failed, what surprised you.
A small private circle of educators doing the same work
Thirty educators reading each other's cases over four weeks. The conversations and connections often outlast the Lab itself.
A draft of the method shaped, in part, by what you bring
The Human Intelligence Method is a developing framework. Founding Lab cases will inform the next iteration of the principles, the protocols, and the published material.
Founding Practitioner status
A permanent designation as part of the first cohort. Founding Practitioners are first to be invited to future certification, training, and partner programs.
Who this is for
This is for you if
This is probably not for you yet if
Format & commitment
Questions, before applying
No. The Lab is for educators who teach — not for AI specialists. You will use AI in the redesigned assignment, but the work is about the design of learning, not about the technology. If you have ever asked a chatbot a question, you know enough to start.
The method is built around ages 10–18. The shape of the work — observing, asking, attempting, verifying — applies across that range. If you teach younger or older, you are welcome to apply, but adapt the cases accordingly.
Yes. School leaders, curriculum designers, museum educators, librarians, learning designers — all welcome, as long as you can run the redesigned assignment with real students during the four weeks. The method works in classrooms, but also in museums, after-school programs, and anywhere a young mind meets a real question.
A short, honest written record of what happened when you ran the redesigned assignment — what you changed, what students did, what worked, what failed, what surprised you. Length is not the point; honesty is. Most cases will run two to four pages. Founding-circle cases will be published as public reference material, with your name and your students' privacy protected.
No student names, no identifying details, no original student writing without explicit consent. Cases focus on what you, the educator, designed and observed. Anything involving student work is anonymized and aggregated. We treat student privacy as a hard rule, not a guideline.
Yes. Cohort One is intentionally international. The Lab is online and asynchronous; the one optional live conversation per week will be scheduled to accommodate multiple time zones, and recordings are always available. Educators from anywhere in the world are welcome.
English. All written materials, live conversations, and case write-ups are in English. You do not need to be a native speaker — many participants are not — but you should be comfortable reading and writing about your teaching in English.
One private channel — most likely a small Slack or Discord workspace — for shared reading and asynchronous conversation. One optional 60-minute live call per week. No other tools, no platform sprawl. The point is to read each other's work and respond to it, not to manage another piece of software.
Then this cohort is not the right time. The work depends on real classrooms with real students inside the four-week window. Cohort Two will open later in the year — apply then, when your teaching schedule allows it.
Because the cases that come out of Cohort One will shape the method and the public material that follows. Founding-circle educators trade money for visibility — their case becomes part of how others learn this work. The paid track exists for educators who prefer to keep their case private.
Applications · Cohort One
The application takes about ten minutes to complete. I read every application personally. You will hear from me within fourteen days.
I read every application personally. You will hear from me within fourteen days.
If something occurs to you between now and then — a question, a clarification, a thought — feel free to reply to the confirmation email.
— Sofiko