Thursday, June 13, 2013

Summer Learning - Happened so fast..





Now that the school year has ended and teachers are so excited to be on vacation, it is time to relax and rejuvenate, right? Right! But it is also a fantastic time to focus on your professional learning! I know many teachers who use summer as an opportunity to take classes, read professional books, and work collaboratively with their teammates. Here are a few other ideas for how you can take advantage of summer learning while also working on your tan!



1.) Develop a Professional Learning Network: Using social networking tools like Twitter, Google+, Feedly, and many others, you can connect with teachers around the globe who are doing amazing things. Read about what they are doing, participate in conversations with them, read articles recommended by colleagues, all from your mobile device on your back deck, poolside, or green lawn!  Check out Cybraryman’s list of Twitter Hashtags to follow.

2.)  View some amazing Google Hangouts On Air for free learning opportunities!  Here is a great resource to peruse through.  Connect to a Google + Community like Edudemic.


3.)  Attend a local Edcamp in your area.  Edcamps are usually held on weekends and are free of charge.  Edcamps let you choose the topics being covered and its a great place to network with other professionals.

4.)  Follow some amazing educational blogs.  This is the 2013 best edtech blogs honor roll, as well as some of our favorites:

5.)  Finally get that class website going for free at www.weebly.com!   This site gives you tons of great looking templates to work with. No HTML knowledge is required.  And best of all it is free for educators.


6.)  Find some great YouTube Channels to subscribe to. This is a great way to learn new skills on practically any topic.  Subscribing to a channel gives you instant notifications when a new video has been added.  Check out this #tt4t YouTube channel for a multitude of ed tech video tutorials.  Also click to see some amazing TED lessons for your students using the Flipped Classroom idea.

7.) Think of a place where you can read quietly, soak up the sun, and turn on that mobile device for some unique learning opportunities.

Return in the fall with some great new skills and feel invigorated by the fact that you cared enough to dig a little deeper with your knowledge even on your “time off”!  So if you choose to do any of the above suggestions this summer, congratulations!  You’re a leader, you inspire others with your knowledge, and your students will be better for it!  

Written by Jenny Krzystowczyk in Conjunction with Guest Blogger Dave Zukor

1 comment:

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