The Dock

An Anabaptist Resource for Teaching and Learning

  • LOGIN / SIGNUP

Register
Continue with Facebook
Continue with Google
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Blog
  • Featured Clips
  • Philosophy & Leadership
      • School Administration
      • School Board
      • School Culture
      • School Library
      • Community Relationships
      • Curriculum and Instruction
      • History of Christian Education
      • Philosophy of Education
  • Teaching & Learning
    • Classroom Management
    • Inspiration
    • Learning Disabilities
    • Literacy
    • Project Based Learning (PBL)
    • Recommended Resources
    • Standardized Testing
    • Strategies and Techniques
    • Student Motivation
    • Teacher Development
    • Technology
  • School Subjects
    • Art

      • Art
      • Music
    • Bible and Christian Thought

      • Bible Study
      • Doctrine
      • Ethics
      • Worldviews
      • Service
    • Social Studies

      • American History
      • Anabaptist History
      • Church History
      • World History
      • Geography
    • Language & Literature

      • English
      • Grammar
      • Reading & Literature
      • Language Arts
      • Writing
      • Vocabulary
      • Foreign Language & ESL
    • Math & Science

      • Math
      • Science
      • Chemistry
      • Earth Sciences
      • Life Sciences
      • Physics
    • Electives & Health

      • Physical Education
      • Electives
      • Business
      • Apps and Programs
      • Technology Literacy
      • Special Events
  • Events
    • All Events
    • Submit an Event To Be Posted
  • Classifieds
    • Teachers Wanted
    • Teachers Seeking Schools
    • School Supplies
    • Submit a Classified
  • About
  • Donate
Home / Contributions / Early Summer Work

Early Summer Work

May 31, 2019 by John Mark Kuhns Leave a Comment

May 31, 2019 by John Mark Kuhns

In my last post, I promised a series on lean manufacturing and its application to teaching. Mea culpa. While I have learned and applied much more from lean manufacturing than what I wrote in that post, I found it more difficult than anticipated to wrestle those ideas into a blog post. Interested parties should read The Toyota Way as an excellent primer on lean manufacturing principles. Applications to teaching are not always obvious at first, but they are there, and they are worthwhile.

It is no secret that one of the best perks of a teaching career is summer break. At the end of a school year, it is always tempting to heave a big sigh of relief, throw the mess into drawers, and get started with summer plans. It’s tempting, in other words, to quit thinking about school as soon as the last report cards are issued, and not think about school again until the new year is about to begin. Instead, we should see summer vacation as a prime opportunity to prepare for success in the next year. The sooner we start after the end of the school year, the better will be our preparation. My early summer work falls into three categories.

Reviewing. While the old school year is still fresh in my memory, I like to review the highlights and lowlights of the year. What improved in my classroom over previous years? Where did we go backward? What teaching strategies worked? What didn’t work? Where should I have put more energy? Where should I put less energy? What are the major academic and non-academic needs of my students? These questions, and others, help me to focus my attention on the changes that will lead to the greatest improvements next year.

Brainstorming. Early summer is the best time to dream big. For example, I recently discovered a podcast called “A History of the World in 100 Objects,” and wondered, what if I could teach a science course that way? Perhaps I could try “Physical Science in __ Objects.” What would be the ideal number of objects? Which objects would have the highest payoff? How would I engage the students? What would they learn? How would I assess their learning? Now that school is out, I have time to dream of what could be.

These big dreams are unlikely to come to full fruition—let’s face it, I’m not going to write a science course from scratch—but that’s the point. Early in the summer, I am not under pressure to figure out the minutiae of implementation. However, the ideas I generate while brainstorming can shape how I actually teach my courses. I might not do a full science course this way, but what if I could do one section? Baby steps toward improvement are easier when I dream of massive improvements first.

Planning. High ideals almost never happen without specific plans. I have found that I do not get guest instructors or go on field trips unless I plan them well in advance. Additionally, if I know before the school year starts what sorts of projects I will be doing, I have the time to shop around and get the right supplies at good prices. No late-night runs to town to get mirrors because I just thought of a great project to teach optics.

Planning ahead is the best key to success that I know of. To that end, my goal is that, before I go on summer break, I will have at least a rough draft of the schedule for all my courses for the next year. This means going through the texts, deciding how long I think each section will take, and putting it into a calendar. Then, when I come back from break and start preparing in earnest, I’ve already done the hardest work. I will need to reject some ideas and hone others, but the early summer work will mean that my late summer work is easier and of higher quality that it would have been otherwise.

Summer break is good. Rest, refreshment, a change of pace—all of these are good things, and we should enjoy them. I find that I enjoy them even more if I delay starting the break by a few days and do the hard work to set myself up for success the following year.

 


Objectionable/Very PoorOKGoodVery GoodExcellent (4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...

CONTRIBUTOR: John Mark Kuhns

Pass it on:

Filed Under: Blog, High School Teacher’s Blog Tagged With: brainstorming, forward thinking, planning, review, summer break

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Continue with Facebook
Continue with Google

Your Saved-for-Later List

Related

FILTER RESULTS Search

Categories
Resource Type
Length


Grade Level
Popularity

Join the email group.

Find out about new videos, posts, and content.
Unsubscribe at any time.

View past emails.

Desk from Skippack School The Dock is conceived to serve schools in the spirit of Christopher Dock, the devoted teacher who authored a warmly practical teacher's manual in colonial America. Read more...

The Dock List: a Podcast

Listen and follow on the platform of your choice.

Subscribe on iTunes
Follow on Spotify
Subscribe on Google Play

OTHER HELPFUL SITES

Christian Light
Christian Learning Resource
Faith Builders Educational Programs
Sharon Mennonite Bible Institute
Contribute banner
2019® THE DOCK | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Powered by Cloudways.              
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Forum
  • Contact Us
  • Leave Feedback
  • Privacy

Optimized by PhastPress

Add The Dock to your Home Screen

Add
  • Home
  • Leave Feedback
  • Blog
  • Featured Clips
  • Philosophy & Leadership
    ▼
    • School Administration
    • School Board
    • School Culture
    • Community Relationships
    • Curriculum and Instruction
    • History of Christian Education
    • Philosophy of Education
  • Teaching & Learning
    ▼
    • Classroom Management
    • Inspiration
    • Learning Disabilities
    • Literacy
    • Project Based Learning (PBL)
    • Recommended Resources
    • Standardized Testing
    • Strategies and Techniques
    • Student Motivation
    • Teacher Development
    • Technology
  • School Subjects
    ▼
    • Art
    • Music
    • Bible Study
    • Doctrine
    • Ethics
    • Worldviews
    • Service
    • American History
    • Anabaptist History
    • World History
    • Geography
    • English
    • Language Arts
    • Reading & Literature
    • Writing
    • Foreign Language & ESL
    • Math
    • Science
    • Earth Sciences
    • Life Sciences
    • Physics
    • Physical Education
    • Electives
    • Apps and Programs
  • Forums
  • Events
  • Classified Listings
    ▼
    • Teachers Wanted
    • Teachers Seeking Schools
    • School Supplies
    • Submit a Classified
  • Log In
  • Share what you’ve made.
  • About
X