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.

Teachers already have plans for the (unpaid) summer work they want to do. #edchat
Click To Tweet

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, newsELA certified educator – 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: http://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?

The post 5 Summer Plans Teachers Already Have appeared first on Hot Lunch Tray.