Jump into Summer Learning
A MiddleWeb Resource Roundup
Whether summer brings you time to relax, an opportunity to bolster your credentials, or some extra work to help balance your checkbook, you’ll likely want to keep at least one toe in the education pool. We have suggestions to spur your cogitation and avoid any professional “summer slide.”
Books and Videos to Savor
> Anticipating some deep relaxation? Ready for neural stimulation? The folks at Powerful Learning Practice have compiled a list of favorite books from education authors like Linda Darling-Hammond, Ken Robinson, John Hattie and 17 others.
> You may want to take on this year’s version of the Book Whisperer’s summer reading Book-a-Day Challenge. “Any book qualifies,” says the Book Whisperer (AKA fourth grade teacher Donalyn Miller), “including picture books, nonfiction, professional books, poetry anthologies, or fiction–children’s, youth, or adult titles.” Miller, who blogged about a recent reading slump, welcomes educators to this summer’s challenge at the Nerdy Book Club. Get the latest at #nerdybookclub.
> To travel beyond the world of pedagogy, whether on vacation or on your deck, you can find lots of super fiction and nonfiction reviews at NPR’s Book page (@nprbooks). And don’t miss New York Times reviewer Janet Maslin’s stack of titles selected for the beach.
> Edutopia blogger and MiddleWeb contributor Elena Aguilar has some summer book suggestions at her Edutopia blog —for 2012 it’s a mix of professional and personal reading ideas with lots of added ideas from readers. Her 2013 selections play into her concerns about education and society: dystopian science fiction and challenging nonfiction. Teaching coach Lisa Dabbs does much the same in a post at her blog, Teaching with Soul. Of special interest are summer reading ideas suggested by folks in the new-teachers hashtag group that Lisa facilitates (#ntchat).
> For a visit with magical books, view “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” by Moonbot Studios LA, LLC. This winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2011 is available in a $5 interactive version posted at the iTunes store.
> Finally, if you’re looking for just the right professional read, don’t miss MiddleWeb’s large book reviews collection. If you’d like to read a new book and review it for us, get the details here.
Go Beyond the Book
> The next time you are online and missing your school year chats with middle graders, drop by This American Life for their audio hour on students’ perceptions of middle school life.
> In the past year TED-Ed has mushroomed to almost 300 videos featuring collaborations between teachers and animators and well over 20,000 ‘flips’ by teachers. Drop by to soak up ideas and learn how you can ‘flip’ the videos into your own lessons this fall. And think about lessons you could submit for the TED-Ed treatment. TED has also ventured into hour-long PBS programming with TED Talks Education. Up early in the series: Geoffrey Canada, Bill Gates, Rita F. Pierson and Sir Ken Robinson.
> Ready to dive into tech-augmented learning? Summer may be a great time to review your use of web tools and connected learning sites and plan for the future. Writing for Edutopia, Nicholas Provenzano has suggestions to get you started. For a quick overview of how online resources can make teaching more efficient and effective, read Mary Blow’s Scholastic blog post. Richard Byrne at Free Tech for Teachers always has great ed tech ideas to share, including this challenging post from 2012.
> Educators can benefit from a new project at Coursera, the massive online open classroom (MOOC) of free college courses from leading universities. Launched in April 2013, Coursera’s teacher PD category already offers quite a few courses. edX is another option. Writing at Library Journal’s Digital Shift, Audrey Watters adds her perspective on “MOOC Mania: Debunking the hype around massive open online courses.” For quicker doses of immediately applicable PD, check ASCD and Ed Week for free new and archived webinars. Educators can also order other ASCD webinars and Ed Week courses for a fee. Find more summer learning at Powerful Learning Practice with eCourses which combine digital resources with pedagogy at a range of prices.
Have a Go at Grants
>To augment your classroom’s resources, scout out grant opportunities during the summer months. For a quick overview of foundation grants, visit The Foundation Center’s Philanthropy News Digest which, thankfully, is searchable. Grant Wrangler from Nimble Press offers K-12 teachers a free searchable listing of grants and other resources from foundations, companies, and educational organizations. You can sign up for an emailed newsletter for near-term listings. Possibilities range from grants for a few hundred dollars for quick classroom projects to much more complicated awards.
> And we always scan the latest grant info at the Public Education Newsblast. Now published by the Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP), the newsletter is packed with the latest ed news as well as links to funding sources.
Share Your Voice
> Have an itch to write about your educational practice and learning issues that matter to you? Summer can be a good time to plan or launch a blog. At Free Technology for Teachers, Richard Byrne offers a collection of how-to videos and evaluates hosting platforms. Another way to share your thoughts is to post comments at prominent blogs and ed organization websites. Blog authors and managers love comments!
> For writing opportunities you can add to your vita, consider ASCD’s Educational Leadership and the ASCD Express, which solicit articles from educators by theme. And of course MiddleWeb welcomes book reviewers and proposals for guest articles.
>You can also raise your voice by joining an online professional community. Among the many options are the large and lively ASCD Edge, and Edutopia’s special interest groups, which range from Games and Technology Tools to more general areas like Middle School, Elementary School, Social & Emotional Learning, Education Leadership, New Teacher Connections, and more. Education Week also offers opportunities to share your experience. And what about Twitter? Sign up for free to start posting your 140 character observations.
> Get a headstart on educators to keep up with at Edudemic’s top educational hashtags as well as their list of tweeting education leaders. Both lists were posted in 2012. For a quick guide to Twitter, visit Powerful Learning Practice’s guide for teachers. If you’re uneasy about coming out from behind the curtain to express your ideas and opinions, be sure to read Opening the Curtain on Lurking by 4th grade teacher Stephanie Bader.
Update (May 15, 2013): eSchool News has amassed a collection of workshops, conferences, webinars and reading resources at a range of costs to boost educators’ summer PD.
Update (May 15, 2013): Writing for Scholastic, 4th grade teacher Meghan Everette shares ideas for funding PD and offers a brief how-to for grant searches.
Check back in early June for more breaking PD news!
