The last thing some of us want to do in the summer is take a class but the reality is summer is the perfect time to take advantage of great learnings and have enough time to put those learnings into practice in your planning for next school year.
ISTE is again back in person this year, for example, and there are various online events and opportunities of which to take advantage.
However, if you are more than tired of virtual conferences and can’t find any in-person events to attend, here are five ideas for summer professional learning.
1. Join or start a summer book club
This is a great way to keep your community connected over the summer with very little effort. Some incredible books are coming out this summer and you can always read those that you didn’t have time for.
Some favorites include:
- Educational Technology for School Leaders
- Planning for Technology: A guide for school administrators, technology coordinators, and curriculum leaders
- Happy Teachers Change the World
- No More Culturally Irrelevant Teaching
- Cultivating Genius
- Disruptive Thinking
- Breaking Bold
2. Enroll in a free workshop for certification
Several organizations offer certifications now, including ISTE, CoSN, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and many others. These certifications are typically free and you can take the classes at your own pace so you can spend time at the beach and then check when it’s convenient. Once you become certified with an organization, you become part of the community of certificated professionals and typically have access to resources that are only available to that select group. These certifications can help improve your resume and enhance your teaching for next year, too!
3. Visit parks
Most national and local parks have professional development programs for teachers that are year round! For example, the Bureau of Land Management has Project Archaeology, which teaches scientific and historical inquiry, cultural understanding, and archaeological stewardship. Teacher workshops are offered across the country and online. The National Park Services offers the Teacher - Ranger - Teacher program to 250 educators for a summer professional learning experience. The Department of Interior hosts a website with all of the details related to professional development for educators, and most everything is FREE!
4. Take an online course
Several organizations offer free online PD to teachers year round. You can complete the courses in your own timeline, even while sitting poolside catching some sun.
Here are just a few sites that offer free courses:
- PBS TeacherLine offers a wide variety of online courses to teachers, and some even offer an opportunity to earn graduate credit.
- Coursera is widely used in higher education and offers incredible courses developed by universities and made available through this open university format. Courses are completely free, online, and self-paced!
- Sanford Inspire offers free resources for SEL that include recorded webinars, plus complete courses that enable you to earn a certificate.
- Learning for Justice offers self-guided learning resources supported by recorded webinars focused on social and emotional learning and other topics, including diversity, leadership, and empathy.
- The Library of Congress lets you create your own path and personalize PD with documentation that can be submitted to earn CEU with your district if you need that service. Completely online and free!
- The STEM Connection offers STEM PD designed to help teachers implement STEM in the classroom. Some sessions to highlight are STEM Quick Wins and STEM for Unique Needs Youth.
- And don’t forget Tech & Learning, and the rich resources available, including edtech tool primers, lessons plans, and more.
5. Last but not least: Reflect and journal!
You may not be able to earn CEUs for this professional development but summer is a time to think about how you navigate your instruction, leadership, and overall management of time and task in the previous year, and reflect on how you might improve your efficiencies and processes next school year. Journal new tools you're exploring so that you can recall what you want to use in the classroom when you are planning for next year. Now is also the time to record any celebrations or noteworthy moments from last school year that can motivate you next year! Keeping a mind on continuous improvement is always a winning way to develop your skills!
So, five tips on PD you can do in your PJs or swimsuit all summer long. Have a wonderful summer! You’ve earned it!!
