Summer Vacation

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Yesterday was the last day of school in our district and it is always a bitter sweet time of year for me and for the kids. There is joy in the air because school is out and there is sadness in the air over not seeing friends. There is also fear in the air for some over not having the security of being at school for 6 to 7 hours a day. For me I will miss the kids but am looking forward to some time off and getting away. I am looking forward to getting in the yard as well as retooling my curriculum in addition to the family vacations and conferences. Sharing this with staff at our end of the year party got me thinking that just because summer is here and school is out doesn't mean the learning is done; it is a time for the learning to begin or even continue. It is a time to possibly even apply the learning you did over the year to real life.

Summer slide

As teachers we often time talk to parents about the summer slide. For those not in the know it is what happens to kids learning over the summer. They tend to slide back a bit in skills and ability. It is something we have to account for in the fall when school starts up by reviewing basic skills to bring them back up the level they were at in the spring. It is something that districts struggle with and try to compensate for in many ways. I know I was a kid I would get summer math packets and reading lists every year. I came to loath them over time because summer was my time not teacher time. Now a days we have summer camps which focus on areas like Reading, STEM, math, outdoor skills, etc. There are reading contests, and learning centers open for tutoring. I know for me and my kids there will be some online classwork done to hopefully prevent some slide as well as bolster some of the skills they are behind in. However in a new twist I am going to be joining them this year in taking classes online with them. I want to prevent my summer slide as well. I am not talking about the a-fore mentioned conferences and training's I will be attending. I am talking about taking classes online in what I teach already (programming, 3d design, engineering, Google certification, etc.) so I don't slide in my learning. I have tried this in the past and found it to be helpful and also a good way to model life long learning for my kids. As a start off my journey I thought I would put together a list of resources for teachers, parents, and students who might want to join me in doing some basic skills learning over the summer to hep prevent the summer slide. Below is a list of resources I have found that you can use. This list is by no means complete and I hope that you will add to it.

Resources 

• STEM

• www.khanacademy.org/
• www.hourofcode.com
• www.codecademy.com/
• www.instructables.com

• Google & Microsoft office

• teachercenter.withgoogle.com/certification
• gsuite.google.com/training/
• www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/training.aspx
• support.office.com/en-us/office-training-center

• Reading list

• "Brain Rules" by John Medina
• "Social: Why our Brains are Wired to Connect" by Matthew Lieberman
• "Start. Right. Now." by Jimmy Casas, Todd Whitaker, & Jeffrey Zoul
• "Culturize: Every Student, Every Day, What ever it takes" jimmy Casas
• Any Fiction book in a genre you like

These are just a few of my quick ideas sits and book teachers can check out to keep their learning sharp. I invite and encourage you to share resources, books, etc. that you know about to grow this list for teachers.

As always: "Go Forth and Do Great Things!"