How do we learn and grow when we are apart? Well, this is day 14, and we know we are doing it through distance learning with our students.  It is hard. It is rewarding. It is building strong teams and relationships.

Today, we launched the choices for summer professional learning: reading and watching. We make a commitment to read and learn every summer.

Ok…telling the truth: I was worried about sending this out to faculty and staff. We must look forward and plan for the beginning of the next school.  However, 2 minutes – literally – after I pressed send, we had a faculty member submitting their pick. And, in the first hour, we had a dozen picks. Whew!

Below is the 2020 Summer Learning flyer announcing the choices for this summer that I sent today to our faculty and staff.

In case you are interested, links to reviews of each book are shared below as well as the two sets of TED Talks: Voices and Perspectives as well as Health and Wellness. #SoGood

• Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David J. Epstein
• Better Conversations: Coaching Ourselves and Each Other to Be More Credible, Caring, and Connected by Jim Knight
• Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything by BJ Fogg, PhD
• Super Better: The Power of Living Gamfully by Jane McGonigal
• Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really earn–and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less by Roberta Michnick Golinkoff
• Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage with Life by Dr. Stuart Shanker
• Reading to Make a Difference: Using Literature to Help Students Speak Freely, Think Deeply, and Take Action by Lester L. Laminack and Katherine Kelly
• Choral Counting & Counting Collections: Transforming the PreK-5 Math Classroom by Megan L Franke, Elham Kazemi, Angela Chan Turrou
• Differentiation and the Brain: How Neuroscience Supports the Learner-Friendly Classroom by David A. Sousa, Carol Ann Tomlinson
• TED Talks: Voices and Perspectives
• TED Talks: Health and Wellness

Choral Counting and Counting Collection and Reading To Make a Difference have both been used in book study groups during this school year.  We hope to harness the power of the re-read and spread these ideas.

We will continue to use the Visible Thinking Routine Sentence-Phrase-Word to notice and note important, thought-provoking ideas. This routine aims to illuminate what the reader finds important and worthwhile.

Sentence-Phrase-Word helps learners to engage with and make meaning from text with a particular focus on capturing the essence of the text or “what speaks to you.” It fosters enhanced discussion while drawing attention to the power of language. (Ritchhart, 207 pag.)

However, the power and promise of this routine lies in the discussion of why a particular word, a single phrase, and a sentence stood out for each individual in the group as the catalyst for rich discussion . It is in these discussions that learners must justify their choices and explain what it was that spoke to them in each of their choices. (Ritchhart, 208 pag.)

What are you reading/watching/doing to grow as a learner? What do you want to read/watch/do to grow over the summer? Please feel invited and encouraged to watch us (or join us) learn by following #TrinityLearns and #TrinityReads in June and July.

Ritchhart, Ron, Mark Church, and Karin Morrison. Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2011. Print