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Honing Your Craft During the Dog Days of Summer

Introduction | Background Knowledge | Activities | Extensions | Standards

Introduction

Teachers make approximately 1,500 decisions every day, more than a brain surgeon. Add that to the concern about our students, which keeps us up at night, along with the grading and the planning. It is more than a year's worth of work in 180 days! Teachers need a break as summer approaches - a few weeks to unwind and refresh. But teachers are lifelong learners, and we all know that by about the Fourth of July, it's time to start thinking about the new year.

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Background Knowledge

Summer is a great time to learn something new and is the perfect time to read something that will spark excitement about the new year. The Internet is a treasure trove of professional development opportunities, but wading through the search results can be overwhelming. From inspiring books to free classes, check out these ideas for continuing to learn when school is not in session.

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Activities

Read a New Book

  • Professional Books
    • Relentless by Hamish Brewer (ISBN 9781949595345) The tattooed skateboarding principal will change your thoughts about teaching children. Mr. Brewer is all-in for children and will make you want to be, too. His unconventional approach is student-centered. He focuses on teamwork, respect, and love. He will encourage you to challenge the status quo to be your very best. Get inspired or renew your passion with Hamish Brewer's TED Talk.
    • Go See the Principal by Gerry Brooks (ISBN 9780738285061) When Principal Gerry Brooks speaks to auditoriums full of educators, they walk away inspired and with 1.5 recertification points. This book reads like his presentations, and the reader can hear his voice in his writing. Mr. Brooks believes that a change in climate and culture in a building, starting with the principal and trickling down to the students, is what makes a school great. He understands what teachers need to be happy at work and embraces the idea that happy teachers lead to happy, successful students. He addresses Climate and Culture from an Educator and has many videos on his YouTube channel.
    • Teach Like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator by Dave Burgess (ISBN 9780988217607) Focusing on student engagement and building relationships, this book can transform your teaching. It includes checklists to ensure that your lessons are exciting and engaging for students. There is an entire chapter on how to hook your students.
  • Children's Books
    • Check out the list of ALA's Award Winning Books. The Newbery Medal is awarded for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature. The Caldecott Medal recognizes artists for the most distinguished illustrations in a picture book
    • Take a look at the ALSC's Notable Children's Book List. This graded list includes books that are considered to be "of especially commendable quality."
  • Young Adult Books

Take a Class

  • Teacher Institutes
    • Keep these opportunities in mind for summer. Most have a March deadline to register.
      • The Library of Congress Teacher Professional Development - The programs immerse teachers in primary sources and teach them how to use them in the classroom. They include on-site free workshops, self-paced modules, webinars, and more.
      • Division of Education Professional Development Programs - These summer programs, which cover various topics, are free for educators and include a stipend for food and lodging.
      • Check your closest historical site to see if it offers a summer institute. Most are about a week long. If tuition is high, grants and scholarships are available. Some may have online options, like this one from Colonial Williamsburg.
      • Each of the Smithsonian Institute Museums offers professional development. The programs are free, but participants must provide food and lodging.
  • Online Classes
  • Subscribe to educational blogs and podcasts to stay up to date with the latest trends in education.
    • Cult of Pedagogy Blog (reviewed here) offers many ideas for fine-tuning your craft, exploring theory, and refreshing your soul. The author, Jennifer Gonzales, also produces a podcast that features interesting discussions on teaching strategies, classroom management, educational technology, and much more.
    • Ditch That Textbook Blog shares information about educational technology and ideas on incorporating tech tools into classrooms.
    • The Creative Classroom with John Spencer podcast encourages teachers to transform classrooms into spaces of creativity and wonder. Topics include ideas on how to encourage student choice and inspire student curiosity.
    • Class Tech Tips by Dr. Monica Burns shares tech-friendly lesson plan inspiration and resources for every classroom. Dr. Burns also produces a weekly podcast, Easy EdTech Podcast, sharing strategies for community building, ed-tech trends, and more.
    • TeachersFirst has our Infusing Technology Blog packed with strategies, pedagogy, technology tools, and other edtech-related topics.

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Extensions

It is always more fun to learn in a community. Gather other teacher friends, in person or virtually, and make a professional learning community. Meet at a restaurant or out at someone's pool. Get together virtually with teacher and administrator friends from around the country. It is amazing how geography can shape perspectives and sharing experiences can make teachers better.

  1. Professional Book Study
    1. Choose a book from the list of professional resources above.
    2. As you discuss each chapter of the book, discuss how these resources can change your practice and one thing you can do in September to be a better teacher.
    3. Meet again each quarter for accountability. Discuss what is working and what is not working. Adjust your plan and continue to grow and evolve as an educator.
  2. Book Club
    1. Choose a book from the children's book or Young Adult book list above.
    2. If you choose children's books, take turns reading a book aloud to the group. (Each person chooses a book to share at the meeting.) Work together to determine how you can put the book to work. Is the book a perfect fit for a specific skill you are teaching? (Does it have a strong main character that you can use as a model to teach traits and feelings? Does it have a very obvious problem and solution?) Could you use the book to activate prior knowledge for a topic? Is this a book that can spark some discussion to lead into a topic or wrap up a topic?
    3. If you choose young adult books, read them for pleasure. Host a book club just like you would do with an adult book. Think about how it feels. Think about what worked in the book club and what did not. How can you use this experience in your classroom? Did you skip the last chapter? How did you feel? Did you dislike the book and want to stop reading on every page? How can this experience inform your instruction?
  3. Participate in a book club or book study offered by TeachersFirst. Join our mailing list to learn about upcoming opportunities and receive notifications about new book clubs offered throughout the year.

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Correlation to Standards

reading in the grass
  • AASL National School Library Standards
    • Inquire Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners demonstrate empathy and equity in knowledge building within the global learning community by: 1. Seeking interactions with a range of learners. 2. Demonstrating interest in other perspectives during learning activities. 3. Reflecting on their own place within the global learning community.
    • Inquire Shared Foundation, Create Domain - Learners engage with new knowledge by following a process that includes: 3. Generating products that illustrate learning.
    • Inquire Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners identify collaborative opportunities by: 1. Demonstrating their desire to broaden and deepen understandings. 2. Developing new understandings through engagement in a learning group. 3. Deciding to solve problems informed by group interaction.
    • Inquire Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners display curiosity and initiative by: 1. Formulating questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic. 2. Recalling prior and background knowledge as context for new meaning.
    • Inquire Shared Foundation, Share Domain - Learners adapt, communicate, and exchange learning products with others in a cycle that includes: 1. Interacting with content presented by others. 2. Providing constructive feedback. 3. Acting on feedback to improve. 4. Sharing products with an authentic audience.
    • Curate Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners act on an information need by: 1. Determining the need to gather information. 2. Identifying possible sources of information. 3. Making critical choices about information sources to use.
    • Include Shared Foundation, Create Domain - Learners adjust their awareness of the global learning community by: 1. Interacting with learners who reflect a range of perspectives.
    • Include Shared Foundation, Share Domain - Learners exhibit empathy with and tolerance for diverse ideas by: 1. Engaging in informed conversation and active debate. 2. Contributing to discussions in which multiple viewpoints on a topic are expressed.
    • Include Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners demonstrate empathy and equity in knowledge building within the global learning community by: 1. Seeking interactions with a range of learners.
    • Collaborate Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners identify collaborative opportunities by: 1. Demonstrating their desire to broaden and deepen understandings. 2. Developing new understandings through engagement in a learning group. 3. Deciding to solve problems informed by group interaction.
    • Collaborate Shared Foundation, Create Domain - Learners participate in personal, social, and intellectual networks by: 1. Using a variety of communication tools and resources. 2. Establishing connections with other learners to build on their own prior knowledge and create new knowledge.
    • Collaborate Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners actively participate with others in learning situations by: 2. Recognizing learning as a social responsibility.
    • Explore Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners develop and satisfy personal curiosity by: 1. Reading widely and deeply in multiple formats and writing and creating for a variety of purposes.
    • Explore Shared Foundation, Create Domain - Learners construct new knowledge by: 1. Problem solving through cycles of design, implementation, and reflection.
    • Explore Shared Foundation, Share Domain - Learners engage with the learning community by: 3. Collaboratively identifying innovative solutions to a challenge or problem.
    • Explore Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners develop through experience and reflection by: 1. Iteratively responding to challenges. 2. Recognizing capabilities and skills that can be developed, improved, and expanded. 3. Open-mindedly accepting feedback for positive and constructive growth.
  • ISTE Standards for Students
    • Empowered Learner - 1.1.b. Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process.
    • Empowered Learner - 1.1.c. Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
    • Knowledge Constructor - 1.3.a. Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or create pursuits.
    • Knowledge Constructor - 1.3.d. Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories, and pursuing answers and solutions.
    • Innovative Designer - 1.4.d. Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance, and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.
    • Creative Communicator - 1.6.d. Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audience.
    • Global Collaborator - 1.7.c. Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.

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