HOW WILL YOU SPEND YOUR SUMMER? A FEW IDEAS...
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The last few months you have lived the life of an online school teacher, the addition to your resume you probably never planned on and possibly never wanted. But, summer is now here (or almost here) for most of you. And, the next question is how you will spend it.
As I wrapped up my coaching conversations with my teachers for the year, many of them ended with the mama in me coming out and reminding them that quality rest is absolutely NECESSARY. Don’t jump from this chaotic school year directly into planning and prepping for the next one. Down time is critical. Shut down all things school for a minimum of a couple of weeks and enjoy thinking about other things.
Now, I realize that your 2021-2022 school year is evolving in real time, and it is a lot to process. But, you will be better off if you find a way to shut down the endless thinking cycles and what ifs that are tied to a new school year that will also prove to be unlike any other.
For those of you who promise to take that down time, you can proceed to the next question.
How do you prepare for the next school year?
While I can tell you with certainty that there is no way I can predict exactly what the new school year will bring, I think we can all agree that brushing up on your online learning skills will be to your benefit. So, if and when you are ready, here are three things you might want to consider checking out.
Brush up on your LMS
No judgement if you don’t know what LMS stands for. I’m referencing your learning management system. This could be Schoology, Edmodo, Google Classroom, Canvas or a number of others. Chances are, when you were thrown into the online teaching world this March, you were also thrown into learning an LMS. I would highly encourage you to return to that platform and get to know it more intimately, all the ins and outs, so you can maximize its potential this school year. Whether it is back to the regular classroom, a return to online teaching, or a combination thereof, being a master of your LMS will only benefit you and your students. Most have free training videos to help you brush up your skills. And, there is always YouTube to see how your fellow educators are navigating it.
Google Certification
I will be honest. I didn’t realize until just a month ago how simple it was to become Google certified. A teacher I was coaching shared the process with me. In a nutshell, you work through the training content online at your on pace, and when you are ready, you pay $10 and take a certification test. That’s it! There are two levels, so depending on how far you want to take this and how much time you have, you could potentially knock it out this summer. That is my personal plan…wish me luck! And, bottom line, being trained in Google Classroom will only benefit you moving forward. It will be great to have the knowledge base moving into next year, and it will make a great addition to the resume. You can find Google Certification here. And, if you are interested in learning more but don’t want to go the certification route, check out Google’s site that they created for at-home learning.
Get to know a new site/app
If you read my last post, you saw the Padlet that I shared with you to provide a variety of resources and sites that I vetted. I also want to share with you this Wakelet from Catapult Learning that has some wonderful resources to check out that are organized by topic. You could spend some quality hours diving into all that is there and enter next year with a few new resources you are ready to put to use.
Summer PD has been our norm,…forever! But, now more than ever, make those precious hours count. Curate a personal PD calendar for yourself that will bring more clarity and support to the new school year. And, if you are looking for even more ideas, check out my previous post on summer PD options.
And, again, don’t forget to rest!
:) Brandy
P.S. For any of you who might be interested, I am now on Teachers Pay Teachers, and you can find me here! It’s very small right now, but there are big plans! I have to give a shout out to my daughters who have helped me finally take the plunge. I promise this blog won’t turn into a TPT sales forum, but if there are items that I feel relate, I will share the links from time to time. Please consider following me!