This year, the district has added summer book studies to the PD menu. The books chosen are Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Own Learning, The Wild Card: 7 Steps to an Educator's Creative Breakthrough, and Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics (PK-2 and 3-5). These studies are all done digitally through Google Classroom -- there are no face-to-face discussions. Participants are given six weeks to complete the study and can work through the activities at their own pace. I'm curious to see how these work out. While I like how technology allows staff the flexibility to participate when it best fits their schedule, I think I am going to miss the person-to-person discussions that a traditional book study offers.
Our building is also offering "Ear" Buds this summer. This is a group of staff who will meet virtually four times during the summer to discuss podcasts they have listened to. Each session revolves around a topic:
Session 1 - Classroom ManagementWe had our first session yesterday and I thought it was a good discussion. Most of the people that participated had not listened to podcasts before and were blown away at the wealth of information they have to offer. I look forward to the next three sessions.
Session 2 - Assessment/Grading/Feedback
Session 3 - Innovation
Session 4 - Your Choice
We are always looking for new ideas to enhance our summer PD, so if your district is doing something creative, please leave a comment and tell us about it.