Summer Learning "Opportunities" for Teachers - 7/11/2020

Every Saturday morning, I participate in the #pd4uandme chat at 8:30 AM. This week, we were discussing the 2nd Annual Blogging Bingo for the group. I started working on this board on June 28, 2020 with my first entry- Self Care where I described how I had completed a milestone- completing Couch to 5K! It was part of my commitment this year to #oneword2020 CHALLENGE myself to take risks.

This week, I am focusing on 2 different parts of my commitment which are interconnected- CHALLENGING myself to learn new things and grow and CHALLENGING myself to present more at conferences. Lucky for all of us, there are an abundance of learning opportunities available for teachers this summer. Many of them are available for little cost and some are even FREE. Even better, you can enjoy them from the comfort of your own home.

ISTE's Summer Learning Academy- July 13-31, 2020

This opportunity starts soon and is only $20.00 for four courses and daily webinars. I can't wait to start this opportunity on Monday. The whole experience is self paced and my district is sending many educators to participate in this experience, including 4 teachers from my school. During this experience, the microcourses focus on online learning from many different lenses: assessment, equity and inclusion, community building and even lesson design. Each of the 15 days, there are webinars that you can choose to watch live or recorded. Such a great opportunity at such a great price!

Teaching With Tech 2020- July 20 and 24, 2020

I am so excited to not only participate in this experience, but also to be presenting for it. Danville Public Schools is hosting this FREE virtual conference that is open to ALL educators. There are so many amazing sessions and I hope to get a chance to check some of them out between my sessions.

I am sharing three of my favorite sessions on both days.

1. Powering Up Learning with Pear Deck: Learn all about how Pear Deck can make your slide decks interactive and highlight your students' learning in amazing ways. In this session, we will cover how to use the Pear Deck add-on and how the web-based Flashcard Factory can help develop your students' collaboration and critical thinking skills.

2. Amplifying Thinking Routines with Technology Tools: Come to this session and learn all about Project Zero's thinking routines. Discover when and how using technology tools, such as GSuite, Padlet, Pear Deck and Flipgrid can amplify the use of these routines. Empower your learners to new levels as you learn to combine thinking routines and technology tools.

3. Empowering Student Voice with Technology Tools:What opportunities do you provide for your students to share their voices? Are you communicating that their voices matter? In this session, you will learn easy ways using technology tools such as Wixie, Flipgrid, Pear Deck and Padlet to give your students opportunities to share their voices in interactive ways.

Virtual VSTE- July 21 and 22, 2020

Another great learning opportunities for educators that is FREE is Virtual VSTE. I am thrilled to be presenting one of the many wonderful sessions- Powering Up Your Lessons with Pear Deck on July 22nd at 2PM. This is also one of the sessions that I am presenting at Teaching With Tech 2020.

All of the sessions sound amazing. They even have two Lunch and Learns scheduled, a nighttime social event, plus so much more. All of the sessions are part of this interactive, community based event. What a great way to learn and connect with others!

These three opportunities are JUST three of the many opportunities available this summer. With so much uncertainty in the upcoming year as we navigate this "new normal," these summer learning opportunities are great ways to add to your educator toolboxes. I hope to see or meet some of you at them!