Since I was young, one of my favorite things to do was read. So naturally, as I got older, I more or less stopped doing it. Part of the problem was that I was waiting for the perfect time and place to read. I wanted a quiet spot with a comfortable chair and enough time to read a chapter or so.

However now, as a father of two young kids juggling multiple teaching and writing experiences, these types of perfect reading moments don’t really exist for me—I'm sure other educators can relate.

Over the years, I’ve had to abandon this idealized reading mindset and adopt a more I-thrive/read-in-chaos mindset. Technology has helped with this, and the combination of using ebooks and audiobooks has allowed me to average about three to four books per month.

I’m certainly no super reader, but as the summer approaches and we all look to get in extra reading, here are some ways in which technology has helped me keep up with my reading.

1. Reading Ebooks

I truly prefer to read a real paper book over an ebook as there’s just something about the way the paper crinkles as you turn the page that can’t be duplicated in a Kindle or other digital reader.

Even so, I read much more when I read ebooks. Unsurprisingly, this is all about convenience. Real books require two hands to hold and proper lighting to see. They also have a habit of getting lost or left at home when you need them most.

Ebooks are always with you. I’ve tried dedicated ebook readers, such as a Kindle, but the best bet for me is just to use a reading app on my phone. This way it's always with me, and when I’m tempted to go online and start scrolling through social media, I remind myself to read for five minutes instead. Often this five minutes turn into 10 or 15 minutes, and little by little, I work my way through more books.

2. Listening to Audio Books

I love going to live author events and listening to them read from their work, but I will admit that during a live reading, my mind often wanders and I can’t follow the plot details. This used to happen to me with audiobooks as well.

To stay engaged, I eventually started adjusting the playback speed. I start at 1.25 speed and then go up from there based on the speed of the narrator. When I’m really dialed into a story, I’ll often listen at 1.7 speed, which approaches the speed at which I actually read.

I also find that audiobooks lend themselves particularly well to nonfiction, first-person narratives, and/or stories with fewer characters. Sprawling multicharacter epics still tend to confuse me a bit when listening. But overall, when we listen to books, we retain about as much information as when we read them, research shows, and that's what I've found.

3. Reading Audio and Ebooks Together

Some worry that when we listen to audiobooks instead of reading, it encourages us to stop reading altogether. This isn’t the case, according to most reading experts. In fact, some have told me that listening to books supports reading books.

I’ve certainly found this to be the case personally, and I've discovered a great strategy to increase my reading is to listen to and read the same book.

Amazon offers Whispersync, a feature that allows you to seamlessly toggle back and forth between your audiobook and Kindle without losing your place. Even if you prefer to use a more independent bookstore-friendly platform such as Libro.FM, I find that with a little effort, it’s not too hard to go back and forth between the two and keep moving forward through the narrative. If I’m listening to an audiobook and want to find my spot in the ebook I’m reading, I just search a particular phrase.

One of the biggest hurdles to me finishing a book is momentum. If I spend too long reading any book, I tend to get tired of it. Listening and reading the same book really fights this and helps me get to 50 pages or so of progress without too much effort.

4. Chunking

As teachers, we are often encouraging our students to make small manageable goals and then start completing those. I believe the same sort of principle is behind what makes social media so addictive. It comes in bite-sized servings. We don’t have to commit to reading any particular text or watching any video, it doesn’t matter if we get interrupted.

I’ve tried to apply this to my reading habits and be less concerned about interruptions. If I have a few minutes to read, I’ll take that opportunity rather than scroll on social media. Audiobooks and ebooks lend themselves well to this technique because chapter and section breaks are less prominent as you read or listen, but the same idea holds true for traditional books as well.

5. Scrolling Past

Another lesson from social media I try to apply to reading is the idea of scrolling past something in which I'm not interested. On social media, the scroll never ends, and if what the algorithm is showing me isn’t interesting, there’s always plenty more to read. The same is, of course, true of regular reading. And those who study literacy say the idea that you must finish every book you start can halt reading progress.

Personally, I’ve started abandoning ship or scrolling past if I find my reading focus waning while reading a book. What I try to do is revisit the book after reading two or three other books, just to see if it was a matter of my being in the wrong mindset. This is occasionally the case, but more often than not, if I don’t finish a book, it’s because it is just not for me. Unless it is something I need to read for research, once I’ve given a book a second try, I move on for good.

A part of me still hates not finishing a book, but I’ve learned to silence that part of me and figuratively scroll past the book I don’t like. This is one of the most effective ways I've found for continuing to read overall.

I used to set giant goals for summer only to be disappointed and stressed when late August rolled around and I had hardly accomplished any. I also noticed I wasn’t the only one doing this. In May, graduate students would tell me of their plan to write hundreds of pages on their book-length thesis projects. Come fall, they would sheepishly admit that they'd made virtually no progress on their thesis.

I’ve heard many similar stories from friends and colleagues in various roles within education. Because we tend to have less work in the summer, we think we will accomplish more, but it almost never seems to work out that way.

After seeing this pattern play out in both myself and others for a few years, I came to the realization that summer is fundamentally a terrible time to be productive for many of us. A lot of reasons are to blame for this: if you live in a climate with cold weather, it’s one of the few times of year when it’s nice to be outside; if we have kids, they are often off from school; our friends are more likely to want to do things; and we're more likely to plan vacations in the summer.

In addition, despite what we think, sometimes the structure of the semester and school year actually helps us stay focused on goals rather than hindering us. I, unfortunately, find that the less busy I am the less productive I am on long-term professional development goals and big-picture projects.

Realizing this over the past few years has helped me be simultaneously more forgiving about the extent of my summer accomplishments and more productive. Last summer I set specific, easily attainable goals and met most of them. Because it worked, I’m taking the same approach again this year.

Here are my modest teaching and professional development goals for the summer.

1. Read A Book That Helps Me As a Writing Instructor

One of the things I love about teaching at Western Connecticut State University’s MFA program is the opportunity I have to mentor students in a variety of writing genres. From my specialties in journalism and creative nonfiction to poetry, screenwriting, and science fiction and fantasy, I pride myself in having a genuine interest and decent knowledge.

Currently, however, I feel like my understanding of the current memoir marketplace could use an update. So, this summer, my goal is to read one recent memoir. This is a good goal because it helps me as a professor, is specific, doable, and perhaps most important, is fun. Plus, I like reading in the summer, and this is an excuse to dig into something new. I did this last year, and I’m looking forward to exploring the memoir genre again this year.

Obviously, for you, this can translate as tackling one book that you believe will help build your specific teaching skills.

2. Take A Free Online Course in A Subject Unrelated to My Teaching

I annoy myself when I say it, but I love learning new things! I also find that nothing helps me better empathize with the struggles of my students than trying to learn something that I am not well versed in.

To both those ends, this summer, I’d like to enroll in a course of some type. Ideally this would be in-person but that might be ambitious given my schedule, and cost could be prohibitive. Fortunately, there are a plethora of free or low-cost classes in a variety of topics from online sources such as Coursera and others.

A few years ago, I took a great course in health statistics that really increased my understanding of medical studies. All it took to complete was replacing my morning podcast or audiobook-listening sessions for a couple of weeks.

As positive as the experience was, for some reason, I haven’t taken many other courses since. This summer my goal is to get back on the course-taking bandwagon.

3. Learn More About Writer’s Block

This semester, several of my students talked to me about struggling with writer’s block. This is, of course, an old issue in the profession but one I’ve never looked at in a more systematic way. I’ve always shared what I do to overcome a lack of motivation and have provided advice in this regard that I have received from others, but I think I could do better for my students.

So this summer, I’m going to spend some time learning more about research into writer’s block, its causes, and any evidence-backed solutions. I’m also curious to learn if it is linked to other types of motivation issues students encounter. As is the case with most educators, sometimes the hardest part of the job is just getting students motivated to learn. Once they are motivated, in the majority of cases, the learning follows.

This is a bigger and more ambitious goal than some of my others, but I’m not planning on becoming a leading authority. I just want to know more about it from the science side than I do now, which should be pretty easy as I know almost nothing currently.

4. Prioritize Fun and Relaxation

It might be cliché, but there’s an old truism that people rarely look back on their life and wish they spent more time working. This summer I’m reminding myself of that and making sure to not stress about being productive and prioritizing doing things away from teaching and writing while the weather is nice.

Okay, I know this goal could use some more specifics, and I thought about adding something such as spending two hours outside a day when it's nice, or swimming twice per week. But, for me at least, those types of activities come very naturally when work isn't getting in the way. So thinking of this as making an effort not to let work overtake summer is all I need.

The other goals stated previously would be nice to accomplish, but are not 100 percent required. On the other hand, this goal is a must. There will be plenty of time to handle those work projects, teaching improvement goals, etc., when the semester kicks off again in the fall, but there won't be any summer left to enjoy.

So I'm making sure to soak as much of summer in as I can. You should, too!

• Best Summer Learning Apps & Sites
• 4 Learning Tips From A Cognitive Scientist Turned TikTok Star

Summer is a time for exploration, creativity, and fun -- and we’ve kept that firmly in mind with these summer learning apps and sites, many of which prioritize active learning and creativity through gamification and student-led inquiry.

Before the school year ends, it may be appropriate to remind your students of ways they can have fun and keep learning this summer. These learning apps and sites are digital tools that can help them do just that!

Best Summer Learning Apps & Sites

PhET Interactive Simulations - If you like STEM topics, you’ll love the University of Colorado Boulder’s interactive sims, all of which help users to answer the question, “What happens if…?” In the Natural Selection sim, what happens if white rabbits breed with no predators and no food limits? The answer may be "Bunnies take over the world!” It’s ok, you can start over, add some predators and food limits. Whether physics, math and statistics, chemistry, Earth and space, or biology, every sim illustrates an important STEM concept in a way that encourages users to keep tinkering with parameters in order to change outcomes. For a more structured approach, PhET's teaching guides are ideal for educators, groups, and classes. Fully free.

SplashLearn - A gamified preK-5 learning platform for math and English topics, Splashlearn offers accounts for teachers or parents, who then create classes and assign activities. Parents and teachers receive progress reports while kids get immediate feedback and brief explanations of answers. Kids are also free to investigate topics according to their own interests. Quote-based accounts are available for schools while parents pay a modest $60 (math or reading) or $90 (both) annual cost. Free one-week trial with credit card.

NASA Space Place - Outer space is mysterious and fascinating, for kids and adults alike. NASA Space Place harnesses this natural affinity with a strong collection of educational games, activities, crafts, and videos that make STEM learning fun. Kids can explore topics including the Earth, Sun, solar system, and universe, as well as related science topics, such as how GPS works. STEAM topics are also addressed, from the monthly art challenge to making a “stained-glass”Earth. Fully free.

IXL - IXL (sounds like I excel) is a web- and app-based platform for CCSS- and NGSS-aligned practice problems for K12 students and adult learners. It provides tailored skill recommendations, feedback, and analytics in math, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish. Memberships vary based on features and range from $9.95 to $19.95 monthly for families, while teachers and districts can request a quote. A thirty-day free trial is available to educators.

Catchy Words - Catchy Words is an engaging, free, augmented reality word game that works on smartphones and tablets. It brings digital letters virtually into the room, as if floating, that students then "catch" to help solve puzzles and learn spelling and grammar in the process.

StoryJumper - StoryJumper is a digital story creation tool that allows students to write, illustrate, and arrange stories into book format. These can be shared digitally or published in physical books that can be purchased through the platform's library. It's easy to use with a library of images, a selection of fonts, and colors that can easily be arranged by students of almost any age.

Tinkercad - Tinkercad is a free computer-aided drafting software platform that allows for the design and manipulation of 3D images using CAD, coding, and circuitry. It offers student the ability to work with virtual circuits and to learn code using blocks.

TinyTap - TinyTap is a website and app-based educational gaming platform that has more than 250,000 pre-built games, created by teachers across the world. It covers a range of subjects that include math, science, language arts, social skills, and reading.

Overdrive - Sora, the student version of this reading app, lets kids borrow ebooks, audiobooks, comics and more from their school or local library. It’s a wonderful tool for encouraging year-round reading as it lets students choose what they want to read or listen to and gives them access to a vast library anytime, anywhere.

Duolingo - Duolingo is a game-style language learning tool that's based online. It offers a digital way to learn a whole host of new languages for students of varying ages and abilities. Thanks to smart algorithms, this can even adapt to help specific students in areas they need.

Book Creator - Book Creator is a fun-to-use learning tool designed to get students excited about creating their own books on the topics they are learning about. Students can upload images, choose from emojis, make recordings and videos, and create and then share a finished book they wrote.

Arcademics - Arcademics is a math and language learning tool that uses arcade-style games to engage and train students to progress, through enhancing their abilities in these varying subjects.

Wonderopolis - Users submit questions that may be answered in detail -- as an article -- by the editorial team. Wonderopolis posts a 'wonder' each day, meaning one of the questions is answered in article format with words, images, and videos as part of the explanation.

Nova Labs PBS - An online-based gamified resource center from PBS that teaches STEM and science-based subjects to kids using engaging video, questions, and answers, plus interactive content.

MIT App Inventor - Created in conjunction between MIT and Google, this offers a place that students, as young as six, can learn the basics of coding with drag-and-drop-style block coding. It offers plenty of tutorial guidance, which makes it ideal for self-paced learning.

Minecraft Education Edition - Minecraft: Education Edition is a learning-specific version of this very popular block-based game. So while students will be drawn to the game anyway, this also allows teacher controls to help educate them as they interact with this virtual world.

Roblox - Roblox is a block-based, multiplayer, open-world digital game that works in app format and via a browser. It's not primarily designed for education but thanks to it's openly creative environment, it can be used that way.

Best Free Virtual Escape Rooms - Virtual escape rooms feature gamified learning that incorporates riddles, puzzles, math, logic, and literacy skills to create an exciting adventure in education. Students can build problem-solving skills and critical thinking while having fun. Some escape rooms are one-page affairs, while others weave an intricate backstory to enthrall players.

This summer, more students will be doing their summer reading (or listening) via ebook or audiobook — or at least that’s what the industry data suggests.

A new report from Sora, a K-12 reading platform, found that audiobook checkouts from students were up 20% and ebook checkouts were up 17% last year. Since 2019, digital book usage is up 286%, according to the K-12 ebook reading report.

Even so, not all students are aware of or have access to ebooks, audiobooks, and related digital book content, says Melissa Jacobs, director of library services for New York City’s Department of Education.

“I still think there's a lot of opportunity for growth, and there are some growing pains that publishers and platforms are going through,” Jacobs says.

Jacobs offers how teachers can encourage students to explore ebooks and audiobooks this summer, and how they can use their voices to advocate for more affordable ebook pricing for libraries in general, but particularly school libraries.

1. Remind Students Reading Includes More Than Print  

Many teachers and students need to be reminded that reading is about more than, well, reading. Or at least what we tend to think of, incorrectly, as reading. “To read means to absorb a story, to absorb text,” Jacobs says. “You can do that via audio. You can do that via text.”

Realizing this and reminding your students of it enables readers to control the ways in which they absorb stories and information, Jacobs says. They can speed up or slow down audiobooks, or get text in a language that they are more comfortable reading. “I really think that empowers the reader,” Jacobs says.

2. Help Students Find The Reading Mode That’s Right For Them 

Sometimes students need help understanding how audiobooks and ebooks can best serve them.

For instance, some readers only enjoy audiobooks after they start increasing the playback speed on the recording. Many listeners like to go to 1.25, 1.5, or even higher playback speed because it makes listening to an audiobook closer to the speed at which they might read text.

Jacobs’ learned this lesson in her own home. Her daughter was struggling with reading assignments for school, so Jacobs encouraged her to consider listening to audiobooks and reminded her to try speeding up the playback. “I said, ‘You'll get through a book much quicker,’ and she's like, ‘Wait a second, I do that with my podcasts.'”

It was a lightbulb moment for the young student. “She went from being three weeks behind in reading, and crying that she'll never be ahead and she'll never catch up to being three weeks ahead, and then asked if she could apply to honors English,” Jacobs says.

3. Raise Awareness of The Budget Issues Around School Ebooks 

Buying an ebook or audiobook is different for libraries than for individuals, Jacobs explains. Instead of purchasing a digital copy, they purchase temporary rights to a digital copy, but those rights can expire after 24 months or less, and need to be repurchased.

This can result in buying certain books from certain publishers incredibly expensive for libraries overall, and makes providing access to ebooks particularly difficult for school librarians, given tight school budgets.

Jacobs would like to see more publishers adjust their pricing to better match print prices. “If I was buying a book for a physical print copy, it would be $25, $30. If I'm buying that same digital book, it should be in that same realm that I'm buying the print copy of, it shouldn't be five times that cost,” she says.

4. Remember Digital Reading and Listening Is Here To Stay

“We spend a lot of time, and we will spend a lot more time, reading digitally,” Jacobs says. “It's either on a computer screen or on your smartphone or your tablet, but digital reading is here to stay.”

Encouraging students to explore digital reading can help them unlock new routes of access to books. “I would introduce it to a student as an assignment, as pleasure reading,” Jacobs says.

She adds the best way for teachers to introduce students to ebooks and audiobooks is probably as “an opportunity.”

• Audiobooks for Students: Listening to What the Research Says
• Listen Without Guilt: Audiobooks Offer Similar Comprehension As Reading

The last thing some of us want to do in the summer is take a class but the reality is summer is the perfect time to take advantage of great learnings and have enough time to put those learnings into practice in your planning for next school year. 

ISTE is again back in person this year, for example, and there are various online events and opportunities of which to take advantage. 

However, if you are more than tired of virtual conferences and can’t find any in-person events to attend, here are five ideas for summer professional learning.

1. Join or start a summer book club 

This is a great way to keep your community connected over the summer with very little effort. Some incredible books are coming out this summer and you can always read those that you didn’t have time for. 

Some favorites include: 

• Educational Technology for School Leaders 
• Planning for Technology: A guide for school administrators, technology coordinators, and curriculum leaders 
• Happy Teachers Change the World 
• No More Culturally Irrelevant Teaching 
• Cultivating Genius 
• Disruptive Thinking 
• Breaking Bold 

2. Enroll in a free workshop for certification 

Several organizations offer certifications now, including ISTE, CoSN, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and many others. These certifications are typically free and you can take the classes at your own pace so you can spend time at the beach and then check when it’s convenient. Once you become certified with an organization, you become part of the community of certificated professionals and typically have access to resources that are only available to that select group. These certifications can help improve your resume and enhance your teaching for next year, too! 

3. Visit parks 

Most national and local parks have professional development programs for teachers that are year round! For example, the Bureau of Land Management has Project Archaeology, which teaches scientific and historical inquiry, cultural understanding, and archaeological stewardship. Teacher workshops are offered across the country and online. The National Park Services offers the Teacher - Ranger - Teacher program to 250 educators for a summer professional learning experience. The Department of Interior hosts a website with all of the details related to professional development for educators, and most everything is FREE! 

4. Take an online course 

Several organizations offer free online PD to teachers year round. You can complete the courses in your own timeline, even while sitting poolside catching some sun. 

Here are just a few sites that offer free courses: 

• PBS TeacherLine offers a wide variety of online courses to teachers, and some even offer an opportunity to earn graduate credit. 
• Coursera is widely used in higher education and offers incredible courses developed by universities and made available through this open university format. Courses are completely free, online, and self-paced! 
• Sanford Inspire offers free resources for SEL that include recorded webinars, plus complete courses that enable you to earn a certificate. 
• Learning for Justice offers self-guided learning resources supported by recorded webinars focused on social and emotional learning and other topics, including diversity, leadership, and empathy. 
• The Library of Congress lets you create your own path and personalize PD with documentation that can be submitted to earn CEU with your district if you need that service. Completely online and free! 
• The STEM Connection offers STEM PD designed to help teachers implement STEM in the classroom. Some sessions to highlight are STEM Quick Wins and STEM for Unique Needs Youth. 
• And don’t forget Tech & Learning, and the rich resources available, including edtech tool primers, lessons plans, and more. 

5. Last but not least: Reflect and journal! 

You may not be able to earn CEUs for this professional development but summer is a time to think about how you navigate your instruction, leadership, and overall management of time and task in the previous year, and reflect on how you might improve your efficiencies and processes next school year. Journal new tools you're exploring so that you can recall what you want to use in the classroom when you are planning for next year. Now is also the time to record any celebrations or noteworthy moments from last school year that can motivate you next year!  Keeping a mind on continuous improvement is always a winning way to develop your skills! 

So, five tips on PD you can do in your PJs or swimsuit all summer long. Have a wonderful summer! You’ve earned it!!

• Best Tools for Teachers
• T&L PD Hub

Scrolling through LinkedIn, an unbelievable number of members are changing their status from active to retired. Many teachers and school administrators are changing their profiles as well, in fact, the National Education Association predicted in February 2022 that 55% of teachers would retire last year. Teachers have carried a heavy load this school year and several years before as well. With this in mind, it is time to consider how schooling could look as we usher in the 2023-24 school year. 

Summer is a time for flip-flops, mountain tops, and beaches, but it is also good to plan for the next school year. The spring was most likely spent justifying spending needs and hopefully, many budgets will be passed by the first of July. With approved budgets in hand, districts should strategically think through the implementation of programs and projects that were included. 

This is also the time to consider what was learned from the past year that can be applied to future improvement. Summertime has a short number of weeks, and with staff vacations added to the mix, time is of the essence. 

Here is a quick list of priorities for school leaders summer planning.

1. Assess Facilities 

Summer is the time to take inventory of all of your facility needs, including technology. Make sure old equipment is properly disposed of and new equipment is on the way prior to absolute disposal. Walkthrough as many buildings as possible to check the grounds and determine if there are priorities for rehabilitation in the coming years. Additionally, some communities are experiencing a lot of growth while others are declining in population. This is the time to set the needs of buildings and the demand on the capital budget. Check boundary lines in conjunction with the new development and begin a plan that will inform the school board of upcoming needs. 

2. Recruit Teachers/Staff 

Currently, recruiting staff is a priority every day but summer is the chance to reach out and hire as many highly qualified educators, administrators, and support personnel as possible. You may consider hiring ‘permanent substitutes’ to create a pipeline of teachers for when vacancies occur throughout the year. These teachers serving as permanent substitutes fill long-term subbing positions or are assigned to one school to substitute. Because they are certificated and highly qualified, they can move into teaching positions that match their skill set. 

The April 2022 issue of Tech & Learning features a teacher recruitment and retention playbook for school districts, with advice, best practices, and resources to help find quality educators. 

3. Inventory

Inventory is a dirty word but someone has to do it. Inventory is the best way to know what resources are available to your teachers, students, and staff members. Technology, books, and other necessary equipment should be not only inventoried but checked to make sure it still functions properly and can still meet needs.  

4. Purchase

After a thorough inventory, purchase orders can be written to recoup resources and add new items before school starts. This process should begin as soon as students leave the building so that orders can be placed in a timely fashion. 

5. Reflect and Retreat

Leaders spend a large amount of their time lifting up others and troubleshooting. Summertime offers the chance for them to slow down to middle gear and reflect on what was successful during the past year and what needs to be tweaked. 

Of course, this can be done through an email memo but trust and relationships are built when leaders retreat to work together in an environment that is different from the school or office environment. This can be done at a retreat center, a conference that all will be attending (such as ISTELive 23), a public state park, a church, or other community building located nearby. Taking time to reflect and plan as a team builds the infrastructure needed to endure anything the 2023-24 year has to offer by way of challenges or opportunities. 

Education can only improve if we put the time and effort into rethinking what it can be. Taking advantage of the summer to assess, reflect, and revise is a great use of time for any administrator. Happy Summer!

• 5 Summer Professional Development Ideas for Teachers
• Summer Reading Recommendations

When the end of the school year is approaching, some teachers dream of languid summer days on the beach or extended family vacations. But many prepare instead to spend their summers supplementing their modest salaries. If educators can earn summer income without the time, cost, and hassle of a commute, even better.

The following online summer jobs for teachers promise not only extra summer cash, but also outstanding flexibility, support, and opportunities for advancement and/or year-round work.

Best Online Summer Jobs for Teachers 

Reading for Dollars
Reading is typically one of the pleasures of summer. So why not get paid for reviewing the books you read? Various online platforms pay qualified reviewers (qualifications may vary) to provide an honest review of books they’ve read. Perhaps the best known name is Kirkus Reviews, which pays experienced book reviewers of English and Spanish-language titles to review for Kirkus Indie, the book review magazine's section dedicated to self-published authors. Booklist is another top-flight organization with fairly high standards for its reviewers. OnlineBookClub.org may not be well known, but it pays from $5-60 per review. The catch? You must follow their review guideless scrupulously in order to be paid. The U.S. Review of Books lays out its guidelines clearly and even offers helpful examples, while the aptly-named BookBrowse, an online book review magazine, offers an online reviewer application clearly detailing their review criteria.

Upwork Freelance Platform
Browse thousands of freelance jobs that can be performed online, on your terms. Simply create a profile with your skills and credentials and hourly rate required. Categories include development and IT, design and creative, writing and translation, and much more. There’s no charge to sign up, but the platform will retain 10% of your earnings.

VIP Teacher
VIPTeachers is the companion platform for the online English teaching platform VIPKid. Perfect for ESL-certified teachers who want flexible hours, no commute, and no need to be conversant in any other language. A six-month contract is required, but no minimum hours, so teachers can set their own as they see fit.

Training Large Language Models (LLMs)
While awaiting the inevitable takeover by our robot overlords, we might as well make some money, right? Multiple platforms pay qualified individuals to assess LLMs’ language, logic, and computing outputs, or to test its ethical boundaries. No AI experience is required, but for most, you will need to demonstrate a solid foundation in your skill area. Top sites include Outlier, DataAnnotation, Alignerr, Mercor, and Mindrift.

Best Sites for Online Tutoring and Teaching
Tech & Learning’s comprehensive online tutoring article is a great place to start your summer job search. Choose your preferred subjects, create your schedule, and start teaching and earning.

Pear Deck Tutor
Pear Deck makes it easy to apply to join its community of qualified tutors, who teach according to their own subject expertise and schedules. Its remote platform includes live audio/video chat, virtual whiteboards, screen sharing, and other tools to support high-quality interactions with students. Additionally, Pear Deck handles all billing and pays weekly, so tutors can focus on teaching.

ETS Online Scoring
One of the oldest educational testing companies in existence, ETS (Educational Testing Service) is known for creating and administering several widely used standard tests, including the SAT, GRE, TOEFL, and others. The company employs online test scorers (“raters”) to evaluate and certify various test results. FAQs, guidance, and the online scoring opportunity database allows teachers to explore options before signing up.

Preply tutoring
The Preply tutoring platform allows approved tutors to teach exactly as many hours as they’d like to, with no minimum schedule required. With its global membership, Preply provides numerous diverse opportunities for tutoring, while the well-designed website supplies potential tutors (and students) with everything they need to know before signing up. Preply’s business model relies on commissions, so it’s free to create an account and make use of all site features.

Varsity Tutors Virtual Summer Camps
Lovers of science, tech, art, or finance (Monopoly's Money Matters Camp, anyone?) can find a great summer job with Varsity Tutors, which offers an impressive lineup of virtual summer camps ranging from introductory coding to chess masters to outer space adventures. In addition to the many STEM virtual camps, Varsity Tutors also provides drawing and animation classes.

Teach Online Reading Classes This Summer
Do you love reading? Would you like to share your passion for reading with young learners? Since 1970, the Institute for Reading Development has taught and promoted literacy and a love of reading to students aged 4-18. Its online summer reading program needs dedicated teachers of all levels of experience. Professional training and supervision makes it easy for educators to adapt to the platform.

Skillshare
Skillshare’s online program allows experts in the arts, business, technology, and lifestyle to share their knowledge while reaping financial gains. Create a class, upload video lessons, promote your class, and even engage with students via the website. A robust teacher help center guides each step of the process.

Rev Freelance Transcriptionist or Captioner
If you have top-notch language, listening, or transcribing skills, convert your expertise to cash with Rev freelance work. Select only the jobs that interest you and work as much or as little as you like, all from your home computer. Know a foreign language? Earn the highest rate per minute adding English subtitles to international audio/video.

Teach English Online to Adults
You may love your students, but kids can be a handful. If you’re worn out at the end of the school year, consider teaching adults English online this summer. This article explores the requirements, structure, pay, and features of 11 sites for teaching English to adults.

The Princeton Review
For decades, The Princeton Review (a private company not associated with Princeton University) has provided tutoring and test preparation for students in grades 6-20. The company offers test prep for the SAT, ACT, and AP, as well as tutoring for academic subjects. A rich source of teaching and tutoring opportunities for those who prefer to work from home.

Sell Stock Photos: Comparison of Major Services
Talented shutterbugs who wish to earn income from their hobby should consider selling their digital photos to stock image sites. This detailed article explores the pros and cons of selling to Getty Images, Shutterstock, iStock, and Adobe Stock.

Tutoring Jobs at StudyPoint
If you have two years of teaching under your belt, a bachelor’s degree, and good ACT/SAT scores, consider becoming a personal online tutor for StudyPoint. You’ll help students study for standardized testing or a variety of academic subjects. StudyPoint offers plenty of training, coaching, and support so teachers can transition to online tutoring with confidence.

Father’s Day presents a wonderful opportunity to encourage your students to express their thoughts and appreciation for their fathers as caregivers, mentors, and role models.

The following Father’s Day activities and lessons are all free or low cost, and allow students to practice language, art, and STEM skills while acknowledging Dad or other important men in their lives.

Best Father’s Day Activities and Lessons

Would You Go to a Concert With Your Dad? (Yes, Your Dad!)
The New York Times Learning Network explores the unexpected rise of father-daughter bonding over popular concerts by artists, such as pop star Taylor Swift and country hitmaker Zach Bryan. Is it awesome or is it cringe? Students read the article, then write answers to five thought-provoking questions. Although the article focuses on the father-daughter relationship, the questions are well-suited for all kids.

Best Father-Son Movies
An inspiring, yet clear-eyed look at the best movies depicting the father-son bond from the experts at Common Sense Media. Reviews cover every key aspect – synopsis, appropriate age range, language, violence/scariness, sex, positive content, and more. Even better, each movie review offers questions for discussion that can be adapted for the classroom. Informative ratings from parents and kids are also included for some movies. After reading three free reviews, users will be prompted to join Common Sense Media for Parents at $3.99/month or $39.99/year.

PBS KIDS Celebrates: Father's Day
An agreeable selection of Father’s Days videos from PBS shows, including Alma’s Way, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Cyberchase, Design Squad, and other kids’ programs. Videos range from 2-26 minutes and highlight common father-child interactions; several feature singing characters. A lovely low-key way to present Father’s Day topics, from first haircut to camping trip to puppy vet visit. Ideal for younger learners.

The Best and Worst Dads of All Time
From History.com, this fascinating look at historical fathers includes the likes of Charlemagne, Mark Twain, Peter the Great, and other famous men. Charles Darwin may be the father of evolutionary theory, but how was he as the father of 10 children? The answer may surprise you.

How Many Dads Does It Take To Screw In A Lightbulb? Father's Day By The Numbers
A lighthearted, funny, and fact-filled look at the history of Father’s Day and the role of dads in today’s society.

Father’s Day Activities that Incorporate Social-Emotional Learning
A selection of activities, divided by grade, that allow students to explore the father-child relationship through brainstorming, writing and art. In addition to the emotional aspects of the relationship, the lessons reinforce skills such as planning, decision-making, and budgeting.

6 Stories From Incarcerated Writers on Father’s Day
From the Prison Journalism Project, a collection of fine essays about how incarcerated fathers try to maintain and restore their relationships despite the barrier of prison walls. Use as the basis for writing lessons or social-emotional learning lessons for high school students.

Father’s Day May Not Be Easy for Some Students
A professional learning PDF that offers concise guidance on dealing with students whose fathers aren’t present in their daily lives. For these students, Father’s Day can be a painful reminder of their absence. By considering such students when preparing Father’s Day lessons, educators can ease the emotional impact on them.

Fathers Day Quiz
This simple yet not-so-easy multiple choice quiz asks questions about terms related to fathers, such as Founding Fathers, the Father of Medicine, Father Christmas, and others. Fun and educational—and no account is required to play.

Father-Son and Father-Daughter Athletes
A fascinating look at professional athlete fathers whose offspring also achieved a high level of accomplishment in sports. Is it genes, environment, or both? Do top athletes tend to raise top athletes? To create a high school lesson from this article, ask students to research the heritability of athletic talent and write about their findings.

The Forgotten History of Father's Day
Why didn’t Father’s Day become a national holiday until 1972? Why weren’t men on board with Father’s Day when it was first proposed? Who were the women behind the first Father’s Day? These and other questions are answered in this intriguing article from Almanac.com, the 21st-century version of the Farmer’s Almanac.

Best Fathers in Shakespeare Canon
Use Father’s Day as an opportunity to delve into the rich trove of father characters in the plays of William Shakespeare. Written by a longtime Shakespearean teacher, scholar, and actor, this article conveys with humor, videos and scholarship the differences among the many dads of Shakespeare. A great starting point for a literature or sociology lesson with high school students.

Father's Day Lesson Plans and Activities
A rich source of varied Father’s Day lessons and activities, from Father’s Day printables to guided reading lessons to a comparison of fictional fathers from the works of William Shakespeare. Sortable by elementary and secondary grades. Free.

Digital Father’s Day Gift
Educator Jennifer Findley’s digital Father’s Day gift includes four themes to choose from, a Spanish-language version, and alternative versions for loving parents and guardians. The digital gift is designed to be used easily with (or without) Google Classroom.

Poems About Fathers
Dozens of poems by such poets as William Carlos Williams, Anne Sexton, Robert Hayden, and others will evoke powerful emotions in readers. Some are lighthearted, too. What do you know, what do you know, of love’s austere and lonely offices?

Poems for Fathers
Need more Dad poetry? Explore additional father-related poems here, from the Poetry Foundation. For ideas on how to get started teaching poetry, try How to Read a Poem, then share with your students.

Fathers in Fiction
A concise analysis of six fictional fathers, from Atticus Finch to Geppetto. Have your students read this article, then write their own analyses of these fathers, or others from literature.

Send an ehug to a father or father figure
Students can create and send a loving ecard to their fathers or father figures, choosing from among the customizable templates or starting from scratch. They can then use the rich library of characters, backgrounds, emojis, and much more to express exactly what they’re feeling. Print, save, or share via email. Free.

Father’s Day Online Quizzes, Games and Worksheets
Although geared toward English Language Learners, these free online Father’s Day activities are also well suited for any younger student to practice basic literacy skills. Exercises include alphabetical order, matching letter cases, word search, online crossword puzzle, and listening comprehension.

Father’s Day Remixable Game
Combine Father’s Day notions with a fun coding challenge from the Playlab at code.org. Students run the Father’s Day interactive drama, then hit the “Remix” button to adapt the code for a Father's Day performance of their own.

Always ask for a teacher discount while vacationing. 

As an adjunct professor and frequent travel writer, I’ve learned that simply asking, “Do you have an educator discount?” can often lead to savings. 

Many places say yes, and I have saved on lodging, transportation, and museum tickets. 

And after a stressful year of pandemic teaching, many educators are more eager than ever to travel. We’ve definitely earned the time off and any discounts our profession entitles us to. 

Here are some areas in particular that you are likely to find teacher discounts. 

1. Teacher Discounts at Hotels  

Teacher discounts are offered at many hotels, though these savings are often disguised as a government discount. If you work for a public school, you are a government employee and therefore entitled to a government discount. 

Hotel chains that offer this government/teacher discount include Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt, IHG, and Wyndham Hotel Group Hotels. But many more chains and smaller hotels offer a similar discount. Remember, in this instance, you may have to ask for a government discount rather than an educator discount. 

2. Teacher Discounts Through Teacher House Swap 

For the tech-savvy and adventurous teachers, house-swapping apps specifically geared to educators may be the way to go. Teacher Home Swap, for example, is only open to teachers, who are all often off around the same time, and allows them to connect with one another directly to swap or rent homes. Membership costs $100 per year.  

3. Teacher Discounts for Car Rentals and Flights 

When it comes to getting around while on vacation, there are plenty of teacher discounts out there. Car rental companies regularly offer teacher discounts for their services. NEA members can also save up to 25 percent when they rent a car through the NEA’s car rental partners, which include Enterprise and Budget. NEA members are also eligible for discounts on select domestic and international flights.  

4. Teacher Discounts for Museums  

Many museums offer educators free admission. Others offer teacher discounts that can make a significant difference, especially if you’re the type who likes to visit multiple museums per trip. For example, I was all set to pay full price during a recent visit to a museum while on vacation, but asking for the educator discount knocked off $5 from my admission and $20 off my entire bill, which included tickets for three other educators. As with other teacher discounts, these deals are not always advertised and often require you to ask.  

5. Teacher Discounts Most Places There Are Student Discounts  

If there is no teacher discount available, ask about a student discount. Many educators are still technically students who are still working their way through various grad school programs and building on the degrees they already have. Even if that’s not the case, much of the time student discounts apply to educators as well, though you’ll have to clarify that that’s the case. As with other teacher discounts, the secret is often just to ask. 

• 3 Education Trends to Watch for the Upcoming School Year
• 5 Learning Gains Made During the Pandemic

According to the American Camp Association (ACA), there are more than 5,000 day camps and 7,000 overnight camps across the country. In addition, there are additional church- and school-based summer camps. Many of the overnight camps have closed this summer even though the CDC has recommended guidelines for the safe operation of camps and the ACA created a special operations guide for Summer 2020.

Rules and guidelines for summer camps vary by state. For example, the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Oregon have banned overnight camps this summer. The few overnight camps that have chosen to open, such as Camp Winnebago in Maine, have put rigid guidelines in place. Campers and staffers must be tested for COVID-19 prior to camp and then they become a “sealed bubble” for the duration of the one- or two-week session.

Many more children participate in local day camps during the summer rather than go to an overnight camp. For the most part, summer day camp programs that are sponsored by school districts, such as the two programs offered by Yukon (OK) Public Schools, are not available this summer as the school buildings have been closed for four months. A similar situation in Chicago Public Schools, where various groups usually rent school buildings during the summer for their camp programs, is also experiencing a similar situation.

Day camp providers who are offering in-person day camp this summer plan to have smaller groups, physical distancing, and lots of hygiene opportunities. “I don’t believe they will be 100% infection-free,” says Dr. David Cennimo, an infectious disease expert at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. “In some ways the day camp scenario is kind of a dry run for school. And if we’re not able to pull off day camps, I don’t know how we open schools.” 

Shifting to a Virtual Camp Model 

Many organizations that usually host in-person day camp have shifted to virtual models. Some, such as the Chicago Metro YMCA, offer both in-person traditional day camps and online specialty camps. Recognizing that most students spent the last three months of this school year on their computers, virtual summer camp providers are mixing it up with exploratory, hands-on inquiry-based learning, arts exploration, physical activity, and interactive group activities.

The National Inventors Hall of Fame has transformed its leading summer STEM camp, Camp Invention, into a new program called Camp Invention Connect. This new at-home program balances active, independent hands-on exploration with opportunities for socialization from home, including: 

• STEM activity kits packed full of fun materials are shipped directly to each participant.
• Daily challenges motivate kids to go outdoors, get active, and stretch their imaginations.  
• Kids choose a screen-free, self-led experience, or connect with local educators and fellow campers for online collaboration sessions. 

The importance of hands-on innovation and invention is emphasized in the group’s new video by Frances Ligler, a 2017 National Inventors’ Hall of Fame inductee. “Invention can be a habit," Ligler says. “You learn to create new things. You may never stop.” 

Staying mindful that virtual summer camp needs to be more than passive participation, the Chicago YMCA Specialty Online camps curriculum has been developed by educators and focuses on STEAM and social-emotional learning. 

• Kits are delivered to the home. 
• Live remote instruction is included. 
• Sessions run 2½ to 3 hours depending on the camp specialty and child’s age. 
• New camps begin each week throughout the summer. 
• Topics include animals, creative arts, science, coding, cooking, and improv. 

Other virtual camps offer fun and educational experiences for students at home. Camp PBS Kids and Nat Geo Family Camp are good examples. And Camp SuperNow offers virtual “cabins” of 6 to 8 kids for daily crafts, games, field trips, and more. 

Home-Hosted Virtual Summer Camps 

Some parents want a more home-grown approach to the summer camp experience for their children this year. Many child-focused organizations like the Connecticut Medical Children’s Hospital offer suggestions and resources for summer camp alternatives at home, such as stay-at-home sleepaway camp, geocaching, at-home science exploration, virtual tours of art museums around the world, outdoor picnics, and hikes. 

The National PTA also provides a list of virtual camps and options for parents who want to DIY summer camp alternatives for their kids.

No matter how children attend camp this summer, the ACA reminds us that a good camp experience allows children to learn powerful lessons in community, character-building, skill development, and healthy living. 

• 15 Online Summer Learning Opportunities
• Best Virtual Field Trips

Fall means planning for the unplannable for schools. One Wichita, TX district decided to test those uncharted waters while offering a safe and educational option for summer learning. 

“In March, we did what we could to bring 14,000 students online,” says Dr. Peter E. Griffiths, Associate Superintendent Wichita Falls ISD. “Systems were in place but we reached a point of if the kid got on, the kid did some kind of work, the kid had some sort of interaction with the teachers — that was going to have to be good enough.” 

In a crisis, the bandaid sufficed. But going forward, students deserved more. 

“June was our Covid-19 recovery month. Forget conferences, we told staff take this time and read about new things, try things out, purposefully fail so we can see what works and what doesn't,” says Griffiths. “Sometimes there was pushback, a lot of handwringing and ‘there’s no way we can do this’, but we said — This isn’t a choice. We have to figure this out.”

Define the Issues

“We first had to define our options and learning models. We had Synchronous Instruction and Asynchronous Instruction— two very different brands of instruction models, as far as delivery of lessons. When it came to movement on campus, we defined ‘Structured’ as students seated in desks and ‘Unstructured’ as in the halls, restrooms, etc. where masks will be required.” 

Here are the definitions of each learning model:

• Face-to-Face: Traditional
• Virtual Instruction: Synchronous (set schedule throughout day)
• Blended Learning: Synchronous (set schedule throughout day)
• Online Instruction: Asynchronous (schedule at students’ discretion)

“There is an anticipation that while the majority of parents want face-to-face, some will choose a typical school day schedule through Virtual Instruction. We believe the next most popular model will be a blended one, where students come in for face-to-face instruction on Monday/Tuesdays, but Wed/Thur/Fri they'll be doing their school work from home online. We think a much smaller group will stay home and do online instruction with a flexible schedule. We have to allow for that, but we don’t have the staff to develop the full lineup of lesson plans. We decided to make use of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Texas Home Learning programming.”

Ages and Stages

To make the most of the Summer Learning, the district honed in on what mattered most at each level of education using input from administration and department heads. 

“After much discussion we settled on focusing high school on credit recovery using Odysseyware. They'll be coming to the high school, socially distant,” says Griffiths. “For middle school, we wanted learning that allows touching items, congregations, and discussion. We're very big on tech here, kids need to play with technology, so we figured out how to do that safely. We are doing a three-day STEAM camp. Some will be online with virtual instruction with kits, some face-to-face. (Online became the easier one because we could just develop the lesson plan, send their kit and video lessons, and check in on their progress.) Our district nurse used the spirit of the health guidelines to require temp check, masks, hand sanitizing before joining groups and all tools and surfaces being sanitized before use. Elementary students focused on painting, singing, so we devised Fine Art camps using similar safety protocols.”

It Take a Village to Keep Students Safe

The district then turned to logistics. Bringing in transportation and maintenance departments, maps were drawn, desks were moved, hand sanitation stations and three isolation zones were created (one for temp check or symptom concerns, one nursing station to address and further analysis, a third to safely wait for a parent to pick up ill student). Signage was key to directing traffic and personnel, reminders of social distancing and mask requirements. 

“We went with this restrictive environment with the anticipation that it might be less restrictive in the fall. It’s easier to loosen up than tighten up,” says Griffiths. “This three week dry run can highlight issues while we work with a lower number of students. A task force of parents, county health officials, and teachers will observe our program decisions. We'll be doing surveys asking questions like: did you feel safe, were you fearful, were the systems in place clear, did they work well for you? We can take all that data and tweak things to be ready for fall.”

Challenges

“It's all about logistics and systems-- taking the emotion out, following the guidelines, mitigating the cases. How do we keep students and staff safe? Current guidelines dictate the number of students (up to 22 max) by how many can physically fit into a classroom observing the six foot distancing. If only 12-15 students now fit safely, it’s a question of having enough staff. In the secondary world, we're used to a 30 to 1 ratio. We have to consider the facility. If we are used to 30 kids and now can only accommodate 12-22 max, where do those other students go?”

Solutions

“I would recommend taking a good look at your staff. This educator is really good face-to-face. This staff member has a really great ability to maintain organizational skills so they'd work well for blended learning. This educator has green screens, uses tech daily—they are comfortable stepping into virtual learning and facilitating asynchronous instruction. Principals started looking through everyone's certification— a fifth grade teacher certified for first grade might need to move. 

Use PD to encourage interaction and familiarity. We took a group of 25 educator “class members” and created 'virtual tables' or mini-meets. We assigned five groups of five to different 'tables' and they would break off to work on a Google slide deck. Then we return to the original Meet after 15-20 minutes to present that work. We mimic what it could look like in a classroom with students.”

Hashtag: Nothing New

“Five years ago there was no way we could pull this off. Certain decisions turned out to be great, such as choosing a Google LSM. We decided to use Google Meet for video conferencing with kids since it plays nicely with Classroom. For us in this time, this approach has become #NothingNew. It's almost funny, now a lot of us are comfortable saying, ‘let me share my screen, let me see your screen, no problem.’ Three months ago, we didn't even know how to talk into a microphone much less do a Google Meet.

“We're open to criticism, but we ask for grace. No matter what we do, we have to be able to turn it on a dime.”

Click here to view a presentation of Wichita’s plans for Summer Learning. 

Tech Tools

• Screencastify
• Google...Meets, Docs, Slides, Worksheets, Classroom
• Odysseyware
• Gaggle
• Kajeets
• Chromebooks
• Lego Mindstorms
• Vex Robotics
• Sphero
• Little Bits
• Class Dojo
• Swivl

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Cybersecurity Planning for Next Year 

How Districts Responded to COVID-19: Remote Learning and Other Benchmarks 

Even Teachers Fail: How to Embrace Mistakes as an Educator 

Edgenuitytoday announced new courses designed to address the learning loss and gaps in knowledge expected to occur as a result of COVID-related school closures. 

A recent NWEA study indicates that students may return to school in fall 2020 with only roughly 70 percent of the learning gains in reading and less than 50 percent of the learning gains in mathematics compared to a typical school year. In mathematics especially, students in some grades are expected to return to school “nearly a full year behind what we would observe in normal conditions.” 

To address this disruption – and to promote readiness for the upcoming school year – Edgenuity has developed these new solutions to support students in mastering critical concepts and skills from the last school year while preparing for future courses.

• Booster Courses focus on the critical concepts and skills students in grades 6-12 must master to be prepared for the next level course. Available for English language arts and math, these courses can also be used over the summer or at the beginning of the school year to help get students up-to-speed or simply for review.
• Concept Recovery Modules focus on single standards coverage for recovery, remediation, and review, and are a flexible option for schools wanting students to focus on standards mastery and recovery. The modules can also be used any time of the year to support student success and address ELA standards covered in grades 6-12 and math standards covered in grades 6-11.
• Pathblazer Courses for Summer School and On-Level Mastery for mitigating learning loss for students in grades K-6 who are working below grade level. These courses enable teachers to use Pathblazer’s instructional content to provide extra learning opportunities so students can refresh their learning and master skills and content covered during school closures.
• Learning Loss Courses cover all standards that would have typically been addressed in the last 8-9 weeks of a school year and are an ideal option for students to complete the last quarter of their courses, especially in high school where credits may not have been earned. These shortened courses are available in each of the core subject areas in grades 6-12. 

All of Edgenuity’s Learning Loss solutions are customizable and can be used individually or in combination. Districts interested in learning more about Edgenuity’s Continuing of Learning solutions can visit this page.

Parents and teachers may fear that the "summer slide" of 2020 will be even more pronounced than usual, due to COVID-19 school closures of the past three months. To address this concern, PBLWorks, provider of Project Based Learning tools, has created a free eBook with ideas and resources to help parents re-engage their children in learning throughout the summer.

“This Teachable Moment,” authored by PBLWorks CEO Bob Lenz and Curriculum and Program Manager Laureen Adams, provides an intro to Project Based Learning and features 21 easily-implemented PBL projects informed by educational research and designed for children of all ages and abilities. Using the projects as a roadmap, parents can create a simple summer routine that engages children and keeps their curiosity and love of learning alive.

To download the eBook, visit https://www.pblworks.org/ebook-parent-portal.

To help parents get started, PBLWorks is offering two free 45-minute webinars with the authors to discuss how to kick off the projects at home. Participants can choose from one of two sessions:

• Wednesday, 11 a.m. Pacific Time on June 23, 2020
• Thursday, 2 p.m. Pacific Time on June 24, 2020.

To register, visit: https://www.pblworks.org/for-families/webinar-teachable-moment

Projects are organized into three categories -- “Me, My Family, My Home,” “Our Community,” and “The World” -- and allow kids to flex the intellectual muscles that have been sitting dormant for the last few months. Example projects include: creating a cooking show focused on family recipes and the history behind them, enlisting the community in protecting the local environment for the future, or brainstorming a whole new reality--a world that supports the dreams they have for their lives. 

The projects are clearly laid out step-by-step so children can do them independently or with a small amount of supervision. Each project also includes recommended adjustments for different grade levels.

After the pandemic eases, the projects can continue to be a resource for involved parents, caregivers, and homeschooling families, both in the classroom and in the home.

Summer is an opportunity for students to catch up or supplement their remote learning, or even pursue additional opportunities. These summer online learning programs also fill a gap that sometimes occurs over the summer months, and best of all, can be done at the comfort of home. 

15 Online Summer Learning Opportunities 

• BoomWriter Haunt - A summer writing club that relies on an interactive story-writing process to create entertaining collaborative stories. 
• Brain Chase - A five-week program for grades 2 to 8 featuring a treasure-hunt adventure that  includes work in math, reading, writing, and more, through watching animated episodes and solving education-based problems. 
• Coding With Kids - A live interactive summer camp program that teaches kids of all ages how to code using Scratch, Minecraft, and Python, among other tools.
• CodeWizardsHQ - Teacher-led instruction over a three-week course focused on coding and related activities.  
• Connected Camps - Learn STEM-based skills such as coding, problem-solving, and collaboration through activities such as esports, game design, and Minecraft. 
• Connections Learning - A collection of technology-related online courses from Pearson for math, reading, ELA, science, and social studies for grades K-8. 
• Edgenuity - A summer learning program for students K-12 that can be tailored for a district’s needs, including course expansion, credit recovery, intervention, and test readiness. 
• Fueleducation - Hundreds of classes in dozens of subjects for grades 6-12, including Advanced Placement and CTE electives such as veterinary science, fashion and interior design, game design, sports and entertainment marketing, and culinary arts. 
• GoNoodle (Camp GoNoodle) - A fun and free online program that offers learning through play and other movement or mindfulness activities. 
• ID Tech - An online STEM-focused program that teaches skills such as coding, game development, and robotics. 
• K5 Learning - An interactive reading and math program for grades K-5 that also provides real-time results, feedback, and detailed reports. 
• K12 - A robust online summer school program with dozens of core electives (history, science, literature, etc.) for students grades 6-12. 
• Outschool - More than 15,000 video classes led by qualified teachers on subjects ranging from core subjects to life skills, health and wellness, music, and international languages. 
• Time4Learning - A fun online program for grades PreK-8th in core subjects with a detailed curriculum in each area. 
• Treca - An eight-week course for grades 9-12 in a range of online courses such as math, science, and social studies. 

David Kapuler is an educational consultant with more than 10 years of experience working in the K-12 environment. For more information about his work, contact him at dkapuler@gmail.com and read his blog at cyber-kap.blogspot.com.

As the school year winds down, we need to start considering preparing for the fall. One of the key opportunities in the fall will be to onboard new faculty and staff via new teacher orientation and similar events across the nation. The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) provides a guidebook for onboarding new employees. They identify four areas for onboarding; compliance, clarification, culture, and connection. 

How does that impact the technology staff as they interact with new staff? Compliance is straightforward in many ways. Explaining to staff appropriate behavior with technology, explaining network or technology use agreements, teaching proper password safety, etc. is simple for most organizations.

CIO Magazine and the AME Group both provide ways to address common IT compliance issues that can be adapted to effective orientation. Clarification regarding technology should share who to contact for what type of need. In the best IT organizations, a user should be able to call a single help desk number and be directed to the correct person. Telling people to contact another aspect of the IT system is less than excellent customer service. 

The Balance Small Business website has a good nine point summary for effective customer service. This can easily be adapted to school IT employees to make sure IT services always stands out for its excellent service to new (and all) employees. Regarding culture and connection, it is important for IT staff to make sure that they take the time to interact and make connections with new employees. 

Often new employees will be willing to try new things and expand the use of technology. Where possible, make sure IT staff have as many opportunities as possible to interact with the new staff and set a positive first impression. Where possible small gifts like mouse pads with IT help numbers, etc. is another way to make a positive impression with new staff. Good luck with planning your new year! It is coming more quickly than you think. 

As you wind down the year with your students, May offers Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and it starts off with Screen-free week. 

April 29 - May 5, 2019 is Screen-Free Week!

Screen-Free Week is an annual celebration of life outside computers, television, and game screens, during which people are encouraged to read, play, be active, create, think and spend time with family and friends.  It is about taking a break from digital entertainment.  In some of our classes, we will be teaching teamwork by mixing up 4 or 5 50-100 piece jigsaw puzzles, putting them out on tables and then having the students in groups of 4 or 5 work together and with other groups to put all the jigsaw puzzles together. To close out the lesson, there will be a class reflection/discussion on what students did in order to complete all the puzzles.

STEM Literature/Literacy list  

If you or your students are looking for some end of the year of summer reading, think about the following books/movies:

• Ada’s Algorithm
• Alan Turing: The Enigma (the book that inspired the movie The Imitation Game)   
• Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two (DVD: The History Channel : Navajo Code Talkers) 
• Elon Musk and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Young Reader’s Edition
• Hello Ruby: Adventures in Coding Hidden Figures (also a great movie for STEM, ESL and Math Classes)
• Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot,and the Battle for the American Dream (also a great movie for STEM, ESL and Math Classes)
• The Secret Lives of Codebreakers: The Men and Women Who Cracked the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park

cross posted at collaborationsdigitalandotherwise.weebly.com

Deborah Marshall is the Department Chair of Career & Technical Education and Lisa McKnight Ward is the librarian at Granby High School in Norfolk, Virginia. Both are Nationally Board Certified, former Teachers of the Year, who have taught multiple subjects including AP and IB courses. They have over a decade of experience collaborating on technology-based learning. Read more at collaborationsdigitalandotherwise.weebly.com/

For those of us in the western hemisphere, the summer vacation is almost here. The question is, what can you do that will get you up and running for the Fall term without sacrificing a well-earned rest? That’s assuming, of course, that you want to do anything at all. I know that when I was teaching, I liked to feel completely ready for the new challenges ahead, and that meant doing at least some work over the long break. So, if you’re of the same mind, here’s what I found works pretty well.

Have a complete rest

This ought to be obvious, but I have had some co-workers who worked for a couple of weeks after the end of school. Their thinking was that they could get everything done that they needed to, and then forget about school for the next month.

That approach never worked for me, mainly because I was just too tired. I always spent the first two weeks in a zombie-like state, so any kind of work was out of the question for me. Besides, I think people work more effectively after a really good rest.

[Digital Note-Taking]

Catch up on articles

I often come across articles that I think will be interesting but which I don’t have time to read, especially if they’re not directly or immediately relevant to my work. However, I always bookmark them, and then spend some of the vacation time reading them when I don’t have any other very pressing matters to attend to.

Catch up on non-fiction books

It’s the same with books. Sometimes I’ll buy a book because it’s in a Kindle deal, even though I don’t have time to read it. That’s what summer vacations are for.

Read some fiction books

I regard reading stuff like time travel stories as part of my rest and relaxation. However, if you are beset with guilt about actually switching off, you can always find books that are relevant to your subject. For example, I sometimes read dystopian novels and short stories in order to have some ethical issues to discuss with the kids I taught. Fiction enables you to speculate without fear of being proved wrong.

Visit an exhibition or museum for ideas

I live in London, and a great source of inspiration for me is the Science Museum. As well as exhibits and information about computers, Ada Lovelace and technology in general, they occasionally have special exhibitions. For example, there has been an exhibition about the data collected by Transport for London, including data which suggests unusual activity by a person. Another recent event was about the development of robots. That raised questions about whether a humanoid robot was a good thing or too scary. What exhibitions or other events are coming up where you live?

Check plans and resources

I always liked to set aside some time towards the end of the vacation to check over my lesson plans and resources, and to tweak them if necessary. I realise that this is a potentially never-ending task, but I always wanted to make sure I didn’t have to worry about the first couple of lessons in each class.

Get your classroom ready

The final thing I always found useful was to go into school for a day or two towards the end of the vacation. I used the time to make sure my classroom was ready, that I had the names of new kids and their user identities for the school network, made sure my computers and laptops all worked ok -- in other words, just some general housekeeping.

If you decide to do this, I highly recommend not going in on the very last day or two days of your vacation, for two reasons. First, lots of other teachers will have the same idea, and you can easily find yourself chatting about what you did over the summer instead of doing any work. Secondly, I think psychologically it’s better to have a couple of days off before getting back into the fray.

Conclusion

I always admired those colleagues who could completely switch off for six or more weeks, and then turn up to school on the first day of the new semester and just get on with it. I always needed to feel assured that I had everything in hand, at least for the first week or so. If you’re the same, I hope these suggestions prove useful.

Terry Freedman is an independent edtech consultant and freelance writer based in London, England. He publishes the ICT & Computing in Education website.

Contraption Maker

Solve problems, puzzles, brain teasers while creating wacky machines

Pros: Full-featured puzzle game offers ample opportunities for building conceptual knowledge.

Cons: Teachers will need to build the bridge from fun to actual learning.

[Use Coding to Create Diverse Projects, From Art to Robotics]

Bottom Line: Hands-on problem-solving leads to great fun and independent learning with the right curricular wraparound to connect what kids are doing with what they need to know.

Read more here.

Site of the Week picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education, which helps educators find the best edtech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

By Common Sense Education

Much like snow days, the summer months seem sacrosanct to some. And while I agree conceptually, the reality today is students need to keep learning whether school is in session or not. Many districts are finding a solution through online learning. Middle and high school students across Missouri are earning original and recovery credits online through the Missouri Online Summer Institute (MOSI). The virtual summer school, hosted by Grandview R-2 School District, gives students free access courses from Fuel Education. San Mateo (CA) county's Summer Learning Challenge, hosted by the libraries, use a new tool called Beanstack that enables students to track summer reading goals, receive reading lists, and earn badges by attending library events. And some institutes of higher learning are offering courses to children such as Pittsburg State in Kansas. While it doesn’t mean you can’t have fun this summer, there is no reason to just shut off your brain. Or at least that is what I try to convince my kids!
—Kevin Hogan, Content Director

[Join the Passionate Readers Summer Book Club Study]

While summer is definitely a time to unwind without guilt for me, it is also a time where I want to grow as an educator. Where I want to think of new ideas, come up with a plan, and maybe even make a few connections. And I am not alone. When I asked the educators in our Passionate Readers Facebook group what their plans were for re-energizing themselves over the summer, every person who answered had some sort of professional learning they wanted to do.

Read more.

[One Week Into a Phone Free Classroom]

cross posted at http://pernillesripp.com/

Mass consumer of incredible books, Pernille Ripp helps students discover their superpower as a middle school teacher in Oregon, Wisconsin. She opens up her educational practices and beliefs to the world on her blog www.pernillesripp.com and is also the creator of the Global Read Aloud Project, a global literacy initiative that since 2010 has connected more than 1,00,000 students. Her book Passionate Learners - How to Engage and Empower Your Students is helping teachers change the way students feel about school. Her other book Empowered Schools, Empowered Students is meant to give others the courage to change. Follow her on Twitter @pernilleripp.

• These are 6 characteristics of a great STEAM lesson I’ve adapted from EdWeek:
  • Connect & integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math
  • Real world learning
  • Hands-on inquiry
  • Cooperative learning
  • Multiple right answers
  • Engineering Design Process (EDP)
• Connect & integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math
• Real world learning
• Hands-on inquiry
• Cooperative learning
• Multiple right answers
• Engineering Design Process (EDP)
• Send them on field research!
  • For young learners, they can go on nature walks, observe, and take photos of the nature, ecosystems, animals, and bugs in their environment. Observation logs are just one of the 32 resources in Hacking Learning with Edtech Missions.
  • I’ve had students collect water samples with SAWS engineers, bird watch with park rangers, analyze clouds with meteorologists, and fossil hunt with local paleontologists.
  • Students can document their observations using the iNaturalist iOS/Android app.
  • They can include their observations, photos, and research in interactive field guides or digital scrapbooks using iBooks, EduBuncee, or Book Creator. There is one mission dedicated to this in my book.
• For young learners, they can go on nature walks, observe, and take photos of the nature, ecosystems, animals, and bugs in their environment. Observation logs are just one of the 32 resources in Hacking Learning with Edtech Missions.
• I’ve had students collect water samples with SAWS engineers, bird watch with park rangers, analyze clouds with meteorologists, and fossil hunt with local paleontologists.
• Students can document their observations using the iNaturalist iOS/Android app.
• They can include their observations, photos, and research in interactive field guides or digital scrapbooks using iBooks, EduBuncee, or Book Creator. There is one mission dedicated to this in my book.
• Go on a scavenger hunt! Try these apps and web tools- KlikaKlu app, Goose Chase app, QRWild.com, and the Qr Treasure Hunt Generator.
• Geocaching is where you search for little treasures people hide using GPS coordinates. Many are at local parks or landmarks.
• One of the most important parts of STEAM is guiding students through various processes of inquiry, observation, design, collaboration, and problem-solving. For the following activities below get students to employ the scientific method and the Engineering Design Process. This article by ASCD has a nice visual and information about combining these processes.
  • Students collaborate in small groups to invent rides for a future amusement park, construct a course for an art history mini-golf course, or design playground equipment (click here for an additional lesson plan) at their school or for a local park.
• Students collaborate in small groups to invent rides for a future amusement park, construct a course for an art history mini-golf course, or design playground equipment (click here for an additional lesson plan) at their school or for a local park.
• Playground STEAM:
  • Students work in pairs to study the math and physics of the slides, swings, or other playground equipment. They create questions, make predictions, test these out, collect data, and come to conclusions.
  • Students can measure their shadows at different times of the day. Get them to bring in other objects and draw what they predict the shadows will be depending on the time and location.
  • Get them to test different distances and angles with their bodies playing different sports to improve their game.
  • Group students to experiment with designing and testing out their designs for creating kites, paper airplanes, rockets, or ships.
• Students work in pairs to study the math and physics of the slides, swings, or other playground equipment. They create questions, make predictions, test these out, collect data, and come to conclusions.
• Students can measure their shadows at different times of the day. Get them to bring in other objects and draw what they predict the shadows will be depending on the time and location.
• Get them to test different distances and angles with their bodies playing different sports to improve their game.
• Group students to experiment with designing and testing out their designs for creating kites, paper airplanes, rockets, or ships.
• Another mission in my book is about citizen science. Researchers and scientists have created tons of free projects students can join and contribute important research they conduct outdoors and indoors.
  • Find projects open to students and the public at SciStarter.com and Zooniverse.org.
• Find projects open to students and the public at SciStarter.com and Zooniverse.org.
• To inspire learning in the summer add them to a digital calendar that students click on to see the activity and receive a digital badge for completing the activity. In a later post I’ll include an example of a Summer STEAM Challenge Digital Calendar for students.

Challenge: Try one of these STEAM inspired activities to motivate students to investigate the science and math in their surroundings.

cross posted at teacherrebootcamp.com

Shelly Terrell is an education consultant, technology trainer, and author. Read more at teacherrebootcamp.com.

“Summer break”: two words that bring smiles to both teachers and students. For those of us in education, summer is a time for relaxation, reflecting, and also new learning. Whether you are attending a conference like ISTE, or creating your own personalized learning experience, utilizing this “break” to explore new tools and strategies that help expand your teaching toolbox can be very rewarding. Not sure where to start? Here are a few tips.

[It’s Not Too Early to Think About Summer Learning]

• Expand Your Classroom Walls: While you’re lounging by the pool, think about how you can share the awesome things going on in your classroom, create a classroom blog or website, share lesson ideas, projects you've tried, or ideas you have for your classroom.
• Try Connecting: Are you a connected educator? How do you develop relationships with other educators, besides the ones at your own school? Instagram, Twitter, or personalized Facebook groups allow you to create your own learning opportunities, anywhere, and anytime. The connections you make through social media lead you to a wealth of knowledge that is not made possible without it.
• Learn From Others: Maybe you are more comfortable connecting with people in person than through the virtual world. Attending conferences, edcamps, and playdates are great ways to make lifelong friends, and connections in your local community.

As we bring this school year to a close, I am sure you will use this summer to relax, but also make some time to reflect. As educators, we must stay current by finding innovative ways to engage students. Don't let the whole summer go by without exploring ways to improve the quality of your instructional practices, by refilling your learning toolbox!

BoomWriter Media, Inc. today announced its second annual Online Writing Camps, which offer five-day camp sessions where students can collaborate to write and publish a chapter book. Teachers promote and run their own camps, selecting camp dates and flexible daily schedules.

BoomWriter will provide support for educators with web-based professional development will give teachers strategies and ongoing direction on how to provide their campers with effective feedback and how to manage students’ revision requests.

The Online Writing Camps include writing instruction, personalized feedback, and collaborative peer review. To get their campers started each day, educators post a web-based writing lesson provided by BoomWriter.

At the end of the camp, participants receive a published, paperback copy of the story sent directly to their home by BoomWriter. Teachers will be paid within two weeks of completing camp.

For more information on Online Writing Camps, visit BoomWriter’s registration page.

One of the many myths about the education profession is that you “get the summer off.” Just by picking up this magazine, you prove that particular stereotype false. Many of you may be reading this right now in Denver at #ISTE2016, using your “summer off” to attend or present at sessions and workshops geared to professional development. Most of you will also be creating curricula and budgets to prepare for classes come fall—hopefully from a laptop on a lakefront or beach!

We’re here to help. This special double summer issue of Tech&Learning is packed with information and insights to tackle both the granular and the global picture of education technology. First for the gear:, we surveyed a number of our advisors at our most recent SchoolCIO Summit on their first impressions of Apple’s iOS9.3, contributor Tara Smith goes deeper into the tools districts are using to manage the multitude of devices that have invaded schools; and, of course, our usual hands-on tests of tech. Then there are the ideas: how about visiting lectures via holograms or ensuring digital equity?

Want to keep learning in real time? Bookmark Tech&Learning Live @ISTE (www.techlearning.com/tltechlive), where we will be culling the best bits of insight from the year’s biggest edtech event. Here’s wishing you a fun and productive summer!

— Kevin Hogan
Content Director
khogan@nbmedia.com

Looking for a quick and easy way to plan ahead for the school year? You’ll definitely want to check out Edcite for summer planning! Edcite is a free digital platform that offers: a library with thousands of teacher-created assignments, technology-enhanced questions types, automatic grading, and the ability to create your own assignments.

Teacher Profile
Showcase collections of your favorite Edcite assignments. Organize your collections by month, unit, topic, or however you plan your lessons. After you’ve created a great collection, share it with other teachers!

Featured Collections
Find dozens of Edcite-recommended collections. Follow your favorites and make copies of assignments to send to students in the fall. Click here for recently-created collections by teachers like you!

Discover Teachers
Search for teachers at your school and in your state. Follow teachers and their collections, and easily make copies of assignments.

Use Edcite to plan ahead this summer by signing up for a free account today!

cross posted at classtechtips.com

Monica Burns is a fifth grade teacher in a 1:1 iPad classroom. Visit her website at classtechtips.com for creative education technology tips and technology lesson plans aligned to the Common Core Standards.