Break is coming up for all of us. Don’t let it go to waste!  Today, we’re featuring a piece by Lily Jones, originally published on TeachingChannel, which offers some great tips that you can incorporate during your two weeks off that will help you brush up on your skills. Enjoy:

Winter break is upon us and, above all, I hope you’re planning on taking time off to rest and recharge. But winter break can be a great time to sneak in a little bit of professional development, too.

We asked our amazing Tch Laureates to share favorite resources to read (broken down into groups, depending on if you’ve got a lot of time or just a bit) and watch. As you browse this list of favorite resources, think about bookmarking one — or more — to dive into over break!

Read

Don’t have much time? Check out these online resources:

• At the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity site, you’ll find a great collection of resources for educators and parents (recommended by Crystal Morey).
• Read one of these math blogs, organized by grade level and interest (recommended by Kristin Gray).
• Learn about The Hour of Code, organized by Code.org, a public 501c3 non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science by making it available in more schools, and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color (recommended by Tom Jenkins).

Have more time? Settle in with one of these great books:

• Building Schools 2.0 is an easily digestible yet powerful vision for schools (recommended by Sean McComb).
• Fearless Voices focuses on engaging African American adolescent males in writing (recommended by Josh Parker).
• Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind is a rich collection of strategies to boost the achievement of students who come from places of poverty (recommended by Josh Parker).
• The Martian, the inspiration behind the movie, provides endless scientific and engineering connections for the classroom (recommended by Tom Jenkins).
• Intentional Talk is about how to facilitate productive mathematical discussions (recommended by Crystal Morey).

Watch

• Start your break with a little inspiration by watching this video about what happened when teachers found out how their students felt about them.
• Simon Sinek’s TED Talk Start With Why, discusses the key to being a successful leader. An interesting perspective for both teachers and students (recommended by Kristen Gray).
• Learn more about the Next Generation Science Standards by exploring Tch videos (recommended by Tom Jenkins).
• Need to remember why you do what you do? Check out this TED Talk,Every Kid Needs A Champion (recommended by Marion Ivey).
• And… listen to this radio show and consider how you can make grace your teaching superpower (recommended by Sean McComb).

What are you going to learn over break? Share your favorite resources by commenting below… and have a wonderful vacation!

Lily Jones taught K/1 for seven years in Northern California. She has experience as a curriculum developer, instructional coach, teacher trainer, and is also a contributing writer for Teaching Channel.

Do you have plans for winter break? Share below!

email to friend

Print

comment

Permalink

Comments (0)

Submit a comment

Name and location

Email (not published)

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment