By teacher guest blogger Kathryn Rose

Congratulations, educators and administrators! You have made it through another year! Can you see the finish line in the distance? Perhaps it still feels really far away, somewhere beyond the curvature of the Earth… we understand!

There are still jam-packed weeks in front of you. Parent/teacher conferences to get through. Grades to turn in. And the last of your curriculum to impart on students who know that pools and freetime are just around the corner. But as the days get longer and the weather gets warmer, hopefully you are finding some time to daydream about your own summer vacation.

After all, you truly deserve a break.

But we also know that a teacher’s job is never really done. Even as pieces of the bulletin board come off the wall and into their respective folders, you might find your mind is already wandering towards next year and how you might leverage some of your free time for classes and development that will help you advance in your professional career.

The good news is that teachers can find ample opportunities for PD and conferences during the summer months. What’s more, the chaos of the pandemic opened up a few choice doors that make access to these events increasingly more virtual. (Hopefully we can step through these doors and close them firmly behind us though!)

There are also many opportunities opening up for in-person gatherings, especially at the national level. We will circle back towards those in a minute but let’s touch on a few local places you could check out first.

As always, the first place to start looking for professional development is in your own school and district. Many schools will offer programs on site or will partner with other local outfits to offer free or reduced programming. Before you tackle any programming outside of your district, ask your administrators if they have a budget to cover your entry costs or tickets. You may be able to propose an educational opportunity that could be completely covered by your school.

The second place to peruse is your state’s department of education website. Many state websites will collect and organize popular and pertinent webinars into an easy-to-use calendar. Their listings often include a range of content and topics as well. For example, the California Board of Education website has a professional development tab that separates opportunities for administrators and content-based teaching. The Illinois Education Association is offering another Summer Leadership Conference that will entirely focus on renewing and restoring hope to educators who are physically and emotionally exhausted after two full years of teaching during a global pandemic.

Professional organizations that center around particular disciplines or departments are also offering a range of in-person and virtual events this summer. The National Science Teachers Association is hosting a three-day STEM education event in Chicago this July and The Music Teachers National Association will be hosting webinars at regular intervals throughout the entire year. Just a reminder, if you are not already a member of these associations, make sure to double check that they are offering classes to non-members.

Your textbook publishers might also be hosting professional development opportunities this summer.Kaplan is offering onsite development opportunities that focus on topics ranging from bullying prevention to playful engagement and learning in outdoor environments. They also have a free professional learning community that allows for regular collaboration with peers while offering a free resource library and free CE certifications for attending and viewing their webinars.

The really exciting news is that many national conferences that have been on hold for the past few years are coming back. Notably, the ICLE: Model Schools Conference will be running both virtually and in person from June 26-29th. Their theme for this year reflects their 30th anniversary - A New Era of Learning: Turning to the Future of Rigor, Relevance, and Relationship. Their conference will feature speakers who will engage with current best practices and school cultures that are geared towards achievement.

The ISTE conference will also be running virtually and in-person this year from June 26-29th. The ISTE conference is regularly recognized as one of the biggest and most diverse educator gatherings. This year they bring back their large expo and virtual participants will have access to over 800 recorded sessions that range from classroom management to STEM material.

The School Climate and Culture Forum will be meeting virtually and in-person during the first week of July. This conference focuses on how to change school culture to improve academic outcomes. The event features speakers that will highlight trauma-informed teaching methods and emotional regulation methods that help students thrive in classroom and school environments.

Regardless of whether you would like to continue learning virtually or step out into the large expo arenas this year, finishing another year of teaching in the midst of Covid is a monumental achievement. We congratulate you and wish you rest and educational opportunities that fill you up and restore you this summer.

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About Kathryn Rose

Kathryn Rose is currently a virtual tutor and a museum resource teacher. She also freelances for businesses and startups in the education field. She has taught at her city’s botanic garden for 12 years and has been a Social Studies teacher in both private and public schools.