The 3R’s of Summer for Teachers: Rest, Reflect, and RENEW

Focus on Online Learning

This is the last post in our series: The 3R’s of Summer for Teachers: Rest, Reflect, and Renew. Today we will continue to focus on RENEW, this time talking about Online Professional Development. The face of professional development is changing - in a good way. Online Professional Development provides great opportunities for teachers to engage in meaningful professional growth at times that are convenient for their schedules. According to Edutopia’s article, Teacher Development and Leadership Review, “Research has shown that teaching quality is the strongest school-related factor that can improve student learning and achievement.” Online professional development is a great way for teachers to enhance their skills and learn new practices. The same reasons that 21st century teaching and learning is appealing to students make online professional development practical and engaging for educators. Dr. Denise Douglas-Faraci, with Kaplan University's School of Education, believes that online professional development is a great option for teachers to sharpen their skills.

Pepper provides many great options for teachers to build upon and diversify their skills. With Pepper, teachers can:

• Enjoy unlimited access to online self-paced professional development 24/7.
• Build a professional portfolio of work in each course to share with others.
• Find, collaborate, and join in discussions with other educators in a peer network.
• Put understanding into action with powerful resources for teachers and students.

Be sure to peruse Pepper’s Course Catalog. Check out the growing list of professional development offerings, covering topics from Language Arts and Mathematics to Writing and Special Education. 

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The 3R’s of Summer for Teachers: Rest, Reflect, and RENEW

This is the third post in our series, The 3R’s of Summer for Teachers: Rest, Reflect, RENEW. We’ve spent the past two posts talking about the importance of teachers taking time to “rest” from the school year and then to “reflect” on their previous year. As we move to “RENEW”, we have to think about rekindling our excitement for teaching and remembering why we chose to teach. Merriam-Webster defines renew as “to make something new, fresh, or strong again”. Each year as teachers, we are called to make learning fresh and exciting for our students. In order to do that, teachers must “feed” themselves so that they can grow and develop as professionals. One way to do that is through summer reading. It’s hard to find time to read professional books during the school year and summer is the perfect time to catch up on new strategies and resources. Edutopia’s article, Summer Reading List: 5 Books on Professional Development, encourages teachers to read a variety of books and recommends the 5 following topics: something fun, something practical, something research-based, something digital, and something connected. Diversifying your reading is a great way to get a wide variety of ideas to take back to your classroom in the fall.

For another great reading topic, be sure to peruse Pepper’s Course Catalog. Check out the growing list of professional development offerings, covering topics from Language Arts and Mathematics to Writing and Special Education. 

We’ll be talking more about online professional development later this week. Be sure to check back - OR sign up to receive "The Big Idea" directly to your email each time it's updated. To do this, simply add your email under "Follow PepperPCG Posts by E-mail!" to the right.

The 3R’s of Summer for Teachers: Rest, REFLECT, and Renew

We’re talking summer...specifically, The 3R’s of Summer for Teachers: REST, REFLECT, and RENEW. Earlier this week we talked about the importance of rest for teachers during summer break. Today we move on to REFLECT. Reflection is equally important. According to Rachel Nobel, “You may even find that reflection can go hand-in-hand with relaxation — which, it goes without saying, should be an integral part of your summer routine.” You can read more about how reflecting on this year will help you plan for next on the United Federation for Teacher’s site. 

Synonyms for reflect include, “contemplate”, “consider” and “review”. John Dewey once stated, “We do not learn from experience...we learn from reflecting on experience.” So, what does “reflecting” on the experience of your previous school year look like? For some teachers it can be simply thinking back on what worked and what didn’t, for others it may be a more formal process, like journaling, or reviewing lesson plans and making notes.

Regardless of how you “reflect”, the process can help you recharge and prepare for the next school year. The State Department of Minnesota encourages teachers to use reflection to improve instruction and make plans for professional growth. See more about this at Teacher Centricity.

Reflection can help you remember why you chose teaching - and help you focus on the positive ways you influenced students throughout the year. Ross Morrison McGill gives “10 Reflection Questions to Ask Every Teacher”. There are two sets of 10 questions each - Pedagogy and Curriculum. Pedagogy questions include things like, “What makes you a good teacher?” and “What would your students say about you?” The Curriculum questions ask things such as, “What resources could you create, adapt, and refine?” and “What displays can you update?” See more of these questions at @TeacherToolkit.

Take time to reflect on your school year and remember, “Why I Teach”.

Here are some other great articles for your consideration:

For Whom the (School) Bell Tolls: What Calls You to Teaching? Use the Summertime to Rethink Teaching and Learning

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