Want to teach for Spark? Here's the fine print.

What exactly do I need to do?

• Come up with ideas for your class(es) and register by February 8th.
• Make sure that you fulfill the MIT Minors Policy.
• Familiarize yourself with our funding and reimbursement policy for class supplies.
• Attend a teacher orientation if necessary (more information below).
• Look out for our emails for further details!

When does Spark 2024 take place, and when must I register?

Spark will run on Saturday and Sunday, March 16th and 17th. Classes will run 10am–5pm on Saturday and 9am–5pm on Sunday. The deadline to register your classes is February 8th!

Where does Spark 2024 take place?

This year, Spark will be on MIT campus! In particular, most of our classrooms are just off the Infinite Corridor in buildings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 26. The main logistics for the event happens in the Spark HQ and teacher lounge, room 10-105. This is where you will check in, meet other teachers, and get free meals. We’ll have more information for you after you register a class.

What topics can we teach?

Short answer: Anything! STEM. Humanities. Arts and music. Games and puzzles. Hobbies and crafts. If you can't think of what to teach, check out our guide! You can also see what people taught last year by looking at the Spark 2022 catalog. Also, check out our random class generator to see what's been taught in the past.

We are also happy to help you figure out what you should teach! You're always welcome to send us an email at spark@mit.edu to discuss or ask for feedback on class ideas.

What types of classes can we teach?

Want to teach a giant lecture like your professors (or better than them)? Want to lead a discussion seminar with a small group of students? Want to mentor a few students with hands-on projects? All of these are types of classes that take place every year at Spark. We can even provide class supplies to both teachers and students if needed!

What are walk-in activities?

Have an idea for a hands-on class? Consider teaching a walk-in activity!. Rather than a standalone or sequence class, walk-in activities are fun, high-energy, and constantly changing; students can visit them throughout their day at Spark. Activities are designed to be more interactive than traditional classes, and depending on what you’re teaching, your role might be more like the leader/director of the activity than the lecturer/teacher of a class.

Class Supplies

ESP offers generous funding for class supplies. You are automatically granted a budget of $30 to spend on each class section (or for each hour of a walk-in activity). If that's not sufficient for your class, you can also request additional funds via email. We'll gladly accommodate reasonable requests of any amount, but you must ask us first!

If you plan to purchase supplies, you should make a list of supplies at the level of detail you have planned so far in your class registration form under "Planned Purchases". When you make your purchases, be sure to get itemized receipts for everything you buy. Note that ESP cannot reimburse you for any tax, so use MIT's tax exempt form when buying your class supplies. See Reimbursements for more information.

Teacher Orientation

All teachers must attend an orientation. There will be several virtual teacher orientation sessions available to attend. In orientation, we will go over important information about teaching for virtual Spark, as well as some tips for teaching. Dates will be emailed out to registered teachers shortly after the registration deadline.

Contacting your students

MIT policy prohibits you from providing your personal contact information (email, phone, social media) to students or collecting your students' personal contact information. In particular, note that it is a violation of MIT policy to give your email to your students. This is a frequent mistake that we see teachers make.

After you register your classes, ESP will automatically create moderated email lists for you and your students to communicate through, avoiding the need to exchange personal contact information. More information will be available after you register.

What if something goes wrong?

Spark has a security hotline available the during the program. You can call this number for any issues within Spark, like if you have technology issues, you are running late, you are sick and can’t teach, you have a disruptive student, you need a band-aid, or a student can’t find their parents (no need to call about registered students who are missing from your class). If there is a serious emergency, you should first call MIT police at (617) 253-1212 to get urgent assistance and then call the security hotline to let the administrators know what is going on. In the event of a medical emergency, MIT EMS will be able to get to you faster (they know the campus) than if you call 911.

Who should be in your class?

The only people who should be at your class are students who have it on their schedule and teachers who are registered on this website to teach/observe it. Don't distribute the location of your class before Spark, to your students or anyone else: anyone actually enrolled in the class will have the class link on their schedule.

Great! What do we do next?

Return to the main page to register your class! Afterwards, look out for our emails with more information.