Yes, it is January. Yes, you are only half way through the school year.
But teachers already have summer plans and the (often unpaid) work they want to do.
Content Upgrades & Refresh
An ongoing thing teachers do is evaluate how a lesson plan worked and make notes to revise. Summer is a popular time to revise plans. Even if plans worked out, summer can be a time to investigate if trade books or other supplements exist which would enhance the lesson. It is a great time to comb the resources of the Internet and leisurely collaborate with colleagues.
Books on professional practice are often included in this category as they can sharpen the focus of the classroom, teacher’s delivery style, or delivery method (think blended delivery).
Process Streamlining
Think platforms, access, and logins.
Teachers are always looking for the quicker way to make these processes closer to automatic, accurate, and basically not take up instructional time. Instead of changing things mid-school year, the summer is the ideal time to try new approaches or procedures to decrease time spent on these non-instructional tasks.
Classroom organization as well.
Rearranging the room for improved movement and flexibility are often tackled outside of the school year.
Assessment Checks
Standards change often in education. And that means formative, summative, benchmark test must align to current standards. Teachers comb through their assessments to look for any unaligned material, check with the school/district/state for any changes in standards. Finally, make any adjustments to assessments based on standard changes.
Learning!
Summer is a good time to continue as a learner for teachers; certifications such as cK12 certified educator, nearpod certified educator, ThingLink certified educator, flipgrid certified educator, newsELA certified educator, BrainPop certified educator, DuoLingo teacher certification/ambassador, Quizlet Ambassador, Seesaw Ambassador, Minecraft Certified Educator, National Geographic certified educator, VoiceThread Workshops (free), VoiceThread Certification (cost), EdPuzzle Coach Certification – are all options available to teachers. These certifications can set teachers apart from their peers and signal an intended change in career goals to administrators.
Conferences such as NCTM, NSTA, NCTE, ISTE are all learning opportunities {make sure you know how to schedule a conference} along with local conferences and edcamps.
Teachers also like online courses. There are plenty of free options on Canvas Network, Coursera, and edX.
Sharing Expertise
Some want teachers contributions:
Nearpod: https://nearpod.com/authors
cK12 blog: https://www.ck12info.org/blog/
EdTechReview blog: https://edtechreview.in/contribute/write-for-us-edtechreview
Maybe sharing in person at a formal conference or an informal gathering like an edcamp.
Maybe you should start planning for your summer too. Or have you already?
2018-01-02 at 11:36 am
Great list! I have so many friends who are elementary educators and this sounds so familiar! Summer vacation is getting close, at least we can dream, right? It’s SO COLD!
2018-01-02 at 11:51 am
This is a great resource for online course lists. Never quit learning!
2018-01-02 at 12:44 pm
My Dad is a teacher and he always spent his summers doing continuing education and working a second job so he could afford to keep teaching. My teacher friends are always creating new content and trying to come up with better ways to reach students effectively.
2018-01-02 at 2:19 pm
The teachers at my school love Nearpod. Everyone thinks summers for teachers are all about relaxing, but we do so much growing and learning during that time too. Thanks for sharing!
2018-01-03 at 9:33 am
This is so interesting. A lot of my friends are teachers and I can totally see them doing all of this!
2018-01-03 at 2:36 pm
This is a great guide for teachers during the summer!
xoxo
Annie
2018-01-03 at 5:14 pm
My dad and brother are both teachers and can totally relate to this!
2018-07-23 at 5:22 am
This is an extraordinary guide for educators amid the mid-year!
2018-07-24 at 4:30 am
This is an awesome asset for online course records. Never quit learning!