Summer Learning to Strengthen Weaknesses

Whether you are an educator or a student, it would not be a bad idea to address any shortcomings you may have concerning education during the next few summer months. Rather than take the whole summer off, sleep late, and stay up all night watching Netflix, using a small amount of this time to strengthen weaknesses could make all the difference for the next school year. 

Educators

For instance, what do you feel you struggle with within the classroom? Some of the more common answers are:

• Technology: Would you like to learn how to use Google Docs for documents and presentations?
• Ideas for small group learning: Do you need some learning activities for each subject that can work well with small groups?
• Classroom discipline: It may be time to create rules and guidelines if you feel your classroom can get out of control now and then.
• Communication with parents: Do you feel you fall behind responding to parent emails? It could be time to organize your email so parents will receive a near-instant reply if they contact you.
• Developing grading rubrics: Grading rubrics remove any question of validity when approached by students and parents. If rubrics are in place ahead of time, everyone will know what they are being graded on without the need for apprehension.
• Classroom decorations: There are those teachers who have their classrooms perfectly decorated with educational posters on the walls and other learning visuals in place. You could be one of those teachers!
• Inventive seating design: Tired of straight rows of desks year after year? Get creative and design attractive seating plans for the upcoming year.
• Consistent dialogue with other educators: Sharing ideas with other educators can open your eyes to other possibilities. Perhaps a weekly luncheon with other teachers where everyone shares suggestions could work well. 

These issues could be addressed during the summer, and with a bit of studying and assistance, these perceived weaknesses could be fixed by the time school starts back up. 

Students

No matter how gifted, every student has certain subjects they do better in than others. But it does not always have to be this way. With a bit of planning, every student can take a couple of subjects they are struggling with and improve upon them during the summer. 

• Weekly tutoring session: A one-hour session with a qualified tutor once a week can work wonders. At iAchieve, we have plenty of these tutors that can work with your children in person or remotely! Plus, the right tutor may help the student develop a love for a subject they were previously not looking forward to learning about.
• Find the right apps: More than a million educational apps are available to learn from, many of them completely free. Use the student’s love of technology to increase their knowledge!
• Study for ACT/SAT: Properly preparing for these standardized tests during the summer will eliminate quite a few distractions that happen during a school year. And once again, iAchieve offers plenty of assistance in various ways!
• Form a study group: Do you know other students who would like to strengthen their weaknesses during the summer? Form a study group and get them on board as well!