Gearing Up for Summer Break

Another school year is coming to a close - for some it’s the first, for some it’s the last. No matter how many school years you have achieved, we hope your school year was excellent. Pepper’s The Big Idea blog is taking the summer off. But, like many of you, “summer vacation” is more of a time for planning, preparing, and re-fueling. We will be back in the Fall with new ideas and encouragement for a new school year. Your Pepper team will be working over the summer to bring you new Courses and Workshops.
So, as you plan your summer, take some time for yourself and your family, sleep in, take a trip, indulge in a hobby, lay by the pool - or ocean or lake or river, or do nothing at all. But, just in case you have reading on your list of summer “to-do’s”, Education Closet provides a Summer Reading List for Teachers. The list of 40 books are divided into the following topics:

MINDSETS   |  CLASSROOM DESIGN  |  TEACHING RESOURCES & IDEAS  |  CLASSROOM LIBRARY  | JUST FOR FUN

No matter what your ideal summer looks likes - travel, rest, work, play, or even professional development - we hope you enjoy and come back rested and refreshed.

See you in the Fall!

Making it Through

We’re in the final stretch to summer vacation. The last weeks can be exhausting and seem to go on forever. The challenge for teachers can be pacing themselves to sustain their energy and creativity. Edutopia author, Nicholas Provenzano, provides some great tips for making it through. His recent article, Stop, Drop, and Roll With It: Teacher Burnout Prevention, gives some suggestions for approaching the end of the year:

• Hobby Time - Find a hobby or something to do that has nothing to do with education. It can be therapeutic to spend time doing things that you enjoy completely away from school.
• Find a Teammate - A friend who understands your struggle can be a true lifesaver. It’s even better if this person is an educator. Finding a confident who’s also an educator can provide empathy that others cannot.
• Write it Out - Journaling is a great way to manage stress. Thinking about the things that are weighing on you often makes them seem worse. However, writing them down is often compared to talking to a close friend. It can give a different perspective and can help alleviate stress.
• Laugh - We’ve all heard “laughter is the best medicine.” And, for teachers making it through the final weeks of school, laughter can really help. Watch a funny movie, read a humorous book, or surround yourself with witty people, but try to find some ways to get some laughs during this time.

Teaching is one of the most challenging professions out there and teachers are notorious for giving of themselves, their time, and their energy. Whatever it takes, hang in there. Summer is just around the corner.

Pepper hopes that you’ll spend some time with us this summer in the form of Professional Development Courses and Workshops. Pepper provides a wide range of courses for teachers that allow for growth and learning opportunities. As a member of the Pepper community you also have access to Pepper's online learning community where you can meet others who are teaching and engaging in schools across the country. We hope to “see” you this summer!

New POW: Universal Design for Learning: Making Learning Accessible for ELL Students

Our world is increasingly diverse and globalized. Teachers are dealing with multilingualism and bilingualism in the classroom more regularly.

According to the National Council of Teachers of English:

• ELL represents that fastest growing segment of the student population, with the highest growths in grades 7-12.
• English Language Learners now represent more than 10 percent of the nation’s K-12 enrollment.
• Non-native English speakers ages 14-18 are less likely to complete high school than native English speakers.

Diversity in languages provides an opportunity for these students; there are strengths and assets of being able to speak more than more language.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that provides ALL students equal opportunities to learn. It encourages teachers to design flexible curricula that meet the needs of all learners. The goal of implementing UDL principles is that it makes the teaching and learning in the classroom engaging and accessible. One of the benefits of UDL is that students have a range of needs, skills, interests, and experiences. UDL hopes to maximize these differences by building curriculum that responds to the needs of the students.
According to the National Center on Universal Design for Learning, “The UDL framework enables educators to plan their instruction with all kinds of learners in mind. ELLs, while limited in their English proficiency, come to school with tremendous variability in their home language skills, from full oral and literate proficiency, to very limited skill sets. Rich English-language instruction that provides students with oral and written access to their native languages has at its core the UDL principle of multiple means of representation.”

Pepper has released a new workshop focused on Universal Design for English Language Learners as part of it’s Pepper Online Workshop (POW!) content. This workshop will explore short videos specific to incorporating UDL strategies for ELL students and examining the principles of UDL design as related to English Language Learners.
You can check all of our new POW content by visiting the Courses and Workshops section on your dashboard.