Summer Workation Helps Teachers Do More with Their Summers
Groundhog Phil may have doomed us to another six weeks of winter, but that has not stopped teachers from already celebrating the enriching activities they will participate in this summer. From February 17-27, teachers across the country are coming online to share their summer experiences and goals with the hopes of winning an Education Technology Makeover for their classrooms. The contest marks the launch of Summer Workation, a social enterprise geared towards helping teachers find the best summer opportunities to foster professional growth.
The Celebrating Summer Contest will feature a number of Summer Spotlights that highlight specific opportunities available to teachers. These spotlights are designed to help teachers think creatively and critically about how they will spend the upcoming summer. By using social media to share their own experiences, teachers can enter to win a number prizes (full contest rules can be found at http://SummerWorkation.org/
The contest is run by the new site http://SummerWorkation.org. Summer Workation offers teachers a free place to find hundreds of summer jobs and opportunities. These opportunities range from lab research to international travel to week-long seminars. Furthermore, Summer Workation helps organizations access talented teachers during the summer months.
“Many of us wonder what exactly teachers do over the summers? We have found it really depends. But the one thing we know is that even with the rapid growth of summertime programming for students, teachers don’t get much support during the summer months,” said Nitesh Banta, founder of Summer Workation. In fact, Summer Workation has found that many teachers have trouble finding the right opportunities and often times teachers have to simply settle for opportunities that offer little compensation or professional growth.
Research has shown that the right summertime opportunities can actually help teachers grow to become better educators. Banta explains, “Supporting teachers in their summer opportunity hunt seems like a no brainer. When teachers engage in the right opportunities students, parents and communities all benefit. Summer Workation has launched to try and unlock the great potential of teachers’ summers.”
Even as organizations like Summer Workation work to expand and improve summertime opportunities for teachers, there is already much to celebrate. Many teachers do great things with their summer. The Celebrating Summer Contest is geared towards recognizing these hardworking teachers.
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