The dog days of summer professional development
Sometimes people think the phrase “summer learning” is a bit of an oxymoron, as summertime traditionally is thought of as a break from schooling. Yet summer provides the perfect downtime to engage in a bit of your own learning, whether you want to call that professional development (PD) or personal growth. Beach reading these days can look quite different and can also have a major impact during the new school year!
What counts as professional development?
In our land of multimedia, learning engagement can come in the form of a print book, audiobook, video, and even an online course. You may choose to commit to a long text or digest some microlearning via short-format videos. Remember, professional development or professional growth is a spectrum of formal and informal opportunities. During the summer, you can click on a handful of articles, enjoy the heft of a book, listen to a webinar, participate in a workshop, complete a course, or join a community discussion. Whether in-person or online, there are many experiences available that won’t infringe upon your summer schedule.
Do some backward design of your own to determine your summer goals and then ladder back to find the resources that can best support your objectives. Ask your peers for recommendations, generate a list of suggestions via AI, surf the internet (like in the olden days!) and follow the breadcrumbs based on your interests. Renaissance has some great resources teed up and ready to go for you these next couple of months.
Eight Professional learning options from Renaissance
1. Email yourself some PD
While you may be putting your work email on pause for a few months, do consider signing up for our newsletter with your personal email for a bit of beach reading! Truly diversify your summer reading with some blog articles that will highlight trends in education, pedagogical tips and tricks, as well as stories of success from the field. Inspiration in your inbox!
2. Get up to speed
This digital landscape of ours is ever-changing, but the experts at the Center for Digital Thriving at the Harvard Graduate School of Education have a new asynchronous course, 8 Mindshifts for Teaching Digital Well-being, designed to help you unpack what your students are experiencing in this 24/7, always-on world. Discover thoughtful reflections and insights based on ten years of research from Dr. Carrie James and Dr. Emily Weinstein. Learn how to best support your students and encourage digital agency and responsibility. The course also includes classroom-ready resources you can earmark for the fall—plus, you’ll earn a certificate for 12 hours of learning!
3. Choose your own adventure
Renaissance Educator Academy offers “choose-your-own-adventure” online modules for building essential skills and deepening mastery across our product portfolio. Awarded as a finalist for the Best Professional Development App or Tool by the 2024 Tech Edvocate Awards. Renaissance has on-demand PD resources such as a library chock full of webinars and a catalog of virtual and in-person workshops. If you’re focusing on Nearpod and Flocabulary in particular, you can find more webinars as well as tutorials, how-to videos, and blog articles.
4. Binge watch webinars
Many of you may fill some of your summers by working in Out-of-School-Time (OST) programs. Join Dr. Julie Vogel and Dr. Merv Jenkins for tips on how best to craft summer learning plans for students that will drive meaningful, measurable results—whether that be closing skill gaps or building that all-needed confidence. Watch this free 40-minute webinar, Ignite OST & Summer Learning: From Engagement to Measurable Growth, with a colleague or on your own time.
5. Make some new friends
Summer is a time to reengage with an existing community or start a new one, and none are so dedicated as those in professional learning networks (PLNs). Nearpod is known for their PioNears, a rockstar group of edtech leaders, international educators, and classroom and industry innovators. Additionally, Renaissance has a PLN called REN: Renaissance Educator Network that you can join at any time. These groups of educators strive to build vibrant, collaborative communities, where they share ideas for accelerating learning and transforming the future of education. Dive into such opportunities for a bit of connection as well as a plethora of resources and professional development experiences.
6. Go to Camp
Speaking of new friends, join thousands of other educators at Camp Engage this July. Whether or not you are familiar with Renaissance’s Nearpod, Flocabulary, Freckle, and Lalilo, it is the perfect time to see these products in action. Earlier this July, educators participated in three days of live and on-demand professional learning or inspiration, connection, and ideation.
7. Explore new resources
Teachers never have enough time in the day, so summer can give you some space and grace to look ahead without the pressure of another workday right around the corner. Even if you’re not teaching summer school, Renaissance has a host of resources on their summer learning webpage. Dive into the downloadable implementation or lesson guides, challenges, activities, and tip sheets to find those ideas that you can take back to your classroom in a couple of months. Also, check out Renaissance Intelligence, one seamless solution for the instructional cycle that uses trustworthy, adaptive AI to unify assessments, curriculum, and targeted practice.
8. Get lost in a book
As Beverly Cleary suggests, sometimes you need D.E.A.R. time = Drop Everything And Read. There are lots of options that center around everyday heroes like yourself, who dedicate themselves to the ups and downs of classroom life. Check out memoirs like Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher’s First Year by Esme Raji Codell or The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy. Immerse yourself in a fictional tale like Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman or a nonfiction book like Among Schoolchildren by Tracy Kidder. Alternatively, pick up some works by teachers-turned-authors like Frank McCourt, Maya Angelou, Stephen King, Alice Walker, and Dan Brown.
Conclusion: Focusing on professional development
Summer is already here, and many of us are enjoying downtime on a beach, in a field, on a mountain, or on a rooftop with a book in hand. As you enjoy some well-deserved time off, pursue those personalized interests that will fulfill you professionally as well as personally. We know that teachers are lifelong learners themselves. So, what’s on your beach reading list this summer?
Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.
