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| Um...What? |
@joe_edtech
Summer must be approaching because my daughter keeps saying things like, "One more Monday of school!" or "4 more wake ups til no more alarm clock!" My schedule doesn't work exactly like that anymore, but I remember really looking forward to summer vacation, except for one thing. Preparations for the Fall and professional development responsibilities coupled with all of the responsibilities of home really can create a whirlwind.
The summer should afford us the time for deliberation and study, but too much of our professional development models resemble the "Networked Professional Development" schematic embedded on this page. A LOT of things to do and talk about in a very little amount of time - usually in a poorly lit classroom with sketchy air conditioning. With that in mind, I suggest you take matters into your own hands and engage in Personal Development in addition to your summer workshops and classes and, and, and...ad infinitum.
Pick some good books to read. This summer I'm going to read two books (both of which I've previewed, neither of which will take much more than a complete weekend to read). First, "The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined," by Salman Khan. Mr. Khan has a Harvard Business background, but has turned his tutoring business into something incredible, Khan Academy. I may not agree with all of his conclusions, but I do think that we should ask some big questions about how we got to our current primary education system and about how we might redesign it for the 21st Century. Secondly, I'm going to read "What Connected Educators Do Differently," by Todd Whitaker, Jeffrey Zoul, and Jimmy Casas. This book is about establishing powerful personal learning networks with other teaching professionals across the globe. Selfishly I want to read this because I think that such PLNs have a tremendous amount of potential to offer us all informal PD and support as continue to grow and improve as teachers and school leaders. Also, one of the authors, Jeffrey Zoul, is an Associate Superintendent at one of our sender schools, and I am always interested in pursuing a closer relationship between the high schools and the K-8 schools.
Next, watch some inspirational speakers - even if it is only on YouTube. If you want to get charged up about teaching with digital tools I suggest watching Kevin Honeycutt, former art teacher and current school board member, as he discusses the importance of authentic learning environments - helping students pursue their passions to the point of creating real and marketable products. Jim Sills, very Googley, is another expert in teaching digital media. At the Google Summit in Glennbrook, IL over spring break last year, he taught about telling a story with video using just four shots. It was amazing.
Finally, learn something new that is just fun to learn. I suggest subscribing to the Google Gooru and trying some of the tools in Google Chrome and in Google Apps not because you are ready to use them in your class, but just because they'd be fun to try. I love learning about Space and our place in it even though it serves me no professional purpose. So I installed "3D Solar System Web" from the Chrome Store and I'm going to play around with making my own 3D Solar System tours over the summer.
Regardless, teaching and using technology should be fun. So take some time this summer to do something fun!
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What do you do for Personal Development over the summer?
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