My Teacher Summer To-Do List

One of my favorite things about summer, by far, is not knowing what day of the week it is.  It truly is bliss!  But as much as I love not knowing whether it is Monday or Friday, I know that I am better when I have a to-do list to keep me organized, so here are some of the things I have done so far this summer, and some things I am working on...

Math for America Summer Think
Last week I attended my first Math for America Summer Think, which was inspiring!  The theme this year was "Identify Your Why," and we did a lot of reflection on our many "whys."  I got a lot of ideas from the Deep Dive and Splash sessions I attended:

• Why are we learning this?
• Why is independent learning empowering to students?
• Why can't you talk about 'social stuff" in math class? and
• Why do we need to listen to our students?

Being an MfA Master Teacher this past year has spoiled me from other professional learning because every time I participate in a MfA session I leave with new ideas about math and about teaching, and it inspires me to try new things in my classroom.  I am so grateful that I get to be #MfAProud!

Brilliant.org

Sadly Brilliant.org is not doing a 100 Day Challenge again this year, but I have been inspired to work on their Problems of the Week each week and I was even inspired to get a premium subscription.  I enjoy working on their math and science problems just for fun.  I really want to find a way to use this resource more in the upcoming school year.

Khan Academy & Teacher Training

I have been using Khan Academy in my classes for a few years now, and want to use it more effectively in the upcoming school year, so this summer I have decided to do my own summer math learning and work on all the 8th grade math & Algebra 1 skills, since that is what my students work on.  My goal is to finish all those skills and then slowly move my way up the math ladder, to refresh myself on higher level math, since teaching and learning goes hand in hand.  Plus this summer Khan Academy is doing online Teacher Training to get ideas on how other teachers use it in their classrooms, and I am about half way done with that and have already gotten some new ideas from it.

Learn Promethean

Unfortunately I learned about yesterday's Camp Promethean too late, (plus I had my Educating All Students exam yesterday to finally get my SBL certificate after 6 years), but I hope to check out their resources sometime before we go back to school.  Last year was my first year using a Promethean Board, but unfortunately we didn't get much training with it, and even through we figured out a lot, I know there is more we can be doing with it. 

EdPuzzle Certification

One of the resources that I knew about (and was reminded about at the Summer Think), but never really used was Edpuzzle and it turns out they have online professional development too, which I would like to check out before September.  Since getting my Google Certified Educator certificate last summer, I really want to bring in more tools and resources into my classes next year.

Jumpstart Basic

Speaking of technology, I also signed up for the JumpStart Basic technology course through The Cult of Pedagogy Classroom.  Although I am excited about this one, I am a little worried I might have signed up for too much this summer.

OSYD & Algebra for All

Next week I have Restorative Circle training for grades (6 - 12) at the OSYD Summer PD Institute and then the following week I have my Algebra for All elective on course on creating access points through the use of tasks.  Unfortunately there was a mix up with registration and I wasn't able to sign up for the second course, but at least I will get my new document cam thanks to the A4A teacher technology grant I applied for in the Spring.

Apartment Organizing, Fit Girl 28 Day Jump Start & Dave Matthews

So not everything has been work-related this summer (although from the look of this post they are) but some non-work things I have been working on this summer include hiring an amazing professional organizer to help me declutter & organize my apartment... we worked together this past week and my apartment feels brand new and I am completely inspired to keep up with it.  I also joined the Fit Girl 28 Day Jump Start Challenge to get my butt into gear physically, and my husband and I went to not 1, not 2, but 3 Dave Matthews Band shows and finally got to hear our wedding song played live, which was nice.  I also finally got to see Ocean's 8 (which I enjoyed) and have read three books so far this summer.  Oh yeah, and I figured out how to free up literally half of my MacBook Air storage, so not only is my physical space more organized, so if my digital space, which I am really happy about! 

Yep, you really gotta love being a teacher in the summer ;)