Now that many of us are starting, have started, or are close to starting the summer, you might be wondering how you can get the most out of these summer months. In this month’s newsletter, we are outlining our suggested Top 10 things to do this summer to balance preparing for the following school year and taking a much-deserved break.
1. Have you seen your family lately? Do you still remember what your friends look like? If you answered “no” to one or both of these questions, it sounds like you might be in need of some time with your loved ones. Spending time with family and friends can be a great way to recharge, relax, and remember that you are loved and supported.
2. When was the last time you took care of yourself? Self-care is very important for increasing overall well-being and avoiding burnout. We suggest taking time for yourself to do the things you enjoy and take care of yourself. Check out some apps like Headspace for tips on mindfulness and reflection!
3. Attend the Hackathon hosted by the Early Career Committee. The Hackathon is a great way for teachers to share ideas and suggestions with each other about common courses we teach. This year, the Hackathon will be hosted online on July 19th. If you haven’t had a chance to do so already, fill out this survey and keep an eye out for more information about this workshop event!
4. Register for the STP’s Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT), which will be on October 10th-12th in Louisville, Kentucky. Also, keep an eye out for programming by the Early Career Committee at the ACT!
5. Rather than starting to prepare for next year’s courses from the first day of summer and working endlessly, we suggest taking some time away from your courses to process how classes went this past year. Taking a step back from your courses and coming back to them closer to the second half of summer will allow you to make adjustments from a fresh perspective. You might also get new ideas this summer that you want to try out in your courses, such as from the Hackathon, so waiting to start working on next year’s courses might be the best thing to do!
6. If you are looking for new ideas for your class or will be teaching a new class in the Fall or have just fallen out of touch with the latest teaching conversations, summer can be a good time to peruse the STP Facebook page. It’s filled with lots of information about things that people are struggling with in their teaching, helpful suggestions and ideas for various courses, information about upcoming events, and more!
7. Summer can be a great time to catch up on some reading that you’ve been wanting to do but just haven’t had a chance to get to. Our August 2023 newsletter has several recommendations for some of the newer teaching related books published that are backed by research. If finding, purchasing, or reading an entire book is too much of a barrier for you right now, that’s okay, there are others in the same boat as you! Taking a look at an STP e-book (or a few) or reading the E-xcellence in Teaching blog can be a great way to do some light summer reading.
8. Is there a research project that you’ve been wanting to make progress on that you haven’t had a chance to get to? Is your research folder of ideas growing larger and larger? Summertime might be a good time to read the literature that you’ve been wanting to read for a project, to submit your project for ethical approval, to set up your next research study, to analyze the data that you collected during the academic year, or to write up the final paper. Wherever you are in the research process, summer provides us with time to make real progress on the research projects we are a part of.
9. While there might not always be a lot of service work to do during the summer months, summer can be a good time to plan for what kinds and how many service commitments you want to take on in the upcoming academic year. This can help minimize overcommitting yourself to too many committees next year and can help ensure that you prioritize contributing in ways that you most enjoy contributing!
10. Challenge yourself to do something new! This could be a great time to pick a piano class, do a game night with some friends, learn to cook a new dish or dessert, or join a sports league, just to name a few ideas! It’s easy for ECPs, and others, to get bogged down in work, and it’s important for us to attend to other hobbies as well.
