Summer reading? Forget that! It’s the 21st century and kids need to be doing 21st century things. Why waste everybody’s time by assigning a couple of books to read and a couple of essays to do? We both know that’s not going to happen. Summer projects are perhaps a better idea and, guess what, we’re about to tell you why.
Summer Projects with Student Choice
Who says that STEAM learning has to end when the school year does? Kids need project-based stimulation during the hot summer months to ensure that they do not slip into a beach-and-pool kind of lull. While it’s not essential that it’s rigorous and demanding, as it’s okay for kids to get a bit of a break, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with keeping them fresh until they start back to school in September. When children spend a meaningful summer engrossed in developing their creativity and expanding their curiosity, they will show up on the first day of school ready to pick up right where they left off as if they never left at all.
As is the case during the school year, some of the best projects are those that allow for student choice, incorporate some form of educational technology and illustrate the importance of one of more community values. Many teachers find that with giving students more of a choice in how they learn, kids display more of their personal voice in their work, which fosters an authentic level of engagement and enjoyment throughout the summer months. In fact, the summertime is the perfect opportunity for this kind of personal learning, as there are no state or district requirements for this kind of fun project-based learning. When it comes to STEAM projects—where creativity is a huge part of the game—the freedom of choice not only intrigues kids, it translates into projects that are much more interesting and beneficial.
Since there is less of a focus on testing for knowledge during the summer and these kinds of informal projects are designed mainly to bolster creativity and inquiry skills in children, there is no need for drilling home facts and concepts as if students were preparing for a test. Much of the essence of summer projects lie in student inspiration. There are tons of STEAM-related projects available online for kids to browse and build inspiration. Once they have found that inspiration, they have the whole rest of the summer to work with if they want—kids can complete one big project or do as many smaller ones as they would like! That’s that student choice component coming into play again. Since they have the whole summer, they should be able to stretch their creative wings and come back to school in September ready and eager to continue what they have been doing!
Projects Teach Kids How to Solve Social Problems
When it comes to summer projects, it’s not only the intellectual skills that kids are able to access and develop. Some of the larger scale projects help children continue their quest to build specific STEM skills like critical thinking and leadership while they’re off for the summer. Though more geared to students in junior high and high school, summer-long projects that aim to solve a social issue like cancer or homelessness are a tremendous way to keep them thinking. It’s important for kids to identify the problems at hand and, in the same way as all project-based learning, come up with a practical solution using today’s top tools to help alleviate the concerns.
This community-oriented PBL can be done by students individually or in groups. The projects can be wide reaching or simple and contained to a nearby area. Should students choose to help out in the fight against cancer, there are a few different avenues they could take. They could arrange groups to collect donations, spend their time making gifts for patients or use their talents to educate the public about the potential severity of cancer and how to take steps to avoid encountering it. This kind of service learning is a rare opportunity for students, but one they should take advantage of by applying the skills they have developed throughout the previous school year.
If nothing else, a summer spent engaged in project-based learning should help kids easily transition into another rigorous school year of tackling an entrepreneurship-based curriculum. While some schools handpick the students they want to work on specific projects, we believe it’s important that anyone who wants to be allowed to refine their 21st century skill set over the summer months. When students embrace the opportunity to be active change agents, they realize how empowered they truly are in this day and age. And, the best part is that when students and classes engage in extended projects, the community tends to take notice, in turn, inspiring the kids to work harder and extending the awareness of the issues they are trying to improve!
The Benefits of Collaborative Summer Projects
Collaboration is the new favorite way for kids and teachers to unlock deeper learning through hands-on projects—and that doesn’t have to stop in the summertime. When students collaborate, they become much more engaged in not only the work they are doing, but in the context of that work as well. Through discussions with their peers, kids are able to feed off of each other’s creativity and apply new ways of thinking to project-based learning all year long. Sharing projects helps students build authentic knowledge that everyone has the chance to take ownership of with just a little bit of practice. Thankfully, the summer is the perfect time for them to get in on the ground floor of team-based projects.
When working with groups over the summer, students presumably do not have complete access to their teachers to ask them questions. That’s okay—they have each other. Many of the problems they’ll face just require a revamped approach and a bit of collaborative critical thinking in order to solve it. Chances are somebody in the group will have an innovative answer and, if not, they can brainstorm to find one together. Most kids love helping their peers out and putting their talents on display. Doing this in the summer helps them prepare for a greater amount of group work in the years to come. It’s important to get students to realize that they are all resources for each other—walking, talking, pretty helpful resources.
This kind of collaborative learning works best when there is not a definitive right and wrong answer. For example, if students are tasked with solving a complex math problem and they ask for help and receive a wrong answer, then they have defeated the purpose of collaboration. It works best for brainstorming ideas for problem-solving projects. Each student is able to offer a purely unique perspective to the group, one that could ultimately reshape and redefine the outcome of the project. When seeking help from their peers, students should use a bit of their own knowledge and common sense as well. Tell them to remember that if the advice they are receiving aligns with what they know about the topic, then it’s probably worth exploring, but if it doesn’t sound right, it might be time to rework their approach.
The Summer Projects for Teachers
Students are not the only ones who can use the summer to their advantage. There are a multitude of measures teachers can take to ensure they return to the classroom re-energized and ready to spark some innovation in the fall. If you’re a teacher and you signed up for the promise of enjoying a fun-filled summer vacation every year, we apologize for the misunderstanding. In fact, the summer months are some of the most crucial for educators who are looking to stay current with trends and tech in the world of 21st century education. From project-based learning of their own, to formal and informal professional development, workshops and EdTech conferences.
Creating innovative and inspirational lesson plans for the upcoming year can alone comprise an entire summer’s worth of “free time” for today’s teachers. Aside from that, there are countless challenges for teachers to undertake to ensure that next year they are providing a top-notch learning experience for each and every one of their students. It’s extremely beneficial to hold department meetings once a week or every two weeks (or however often you’d like) to brainstorm ways to improve and personalize the curriculum for the upcoming year. This is the perfect time to rework some of the lessons that have been around for a while and find ways to transform them into more contemporary learning experiences—perhaps by incorporating technology.
On top of tweaking the existing lessons, teachers—either on their own or collaboratively—should also spend some time creating new and exciting lessons using new and exciting tools and methods over the summer. Since some of the best learning in this day and age incorporates technology, they should spend some time researching the latest and greatest EdTech as well as how to use it in the classroom. Explore some of the hands-on technologies from the EdTech world and do a bit of research on the effectiveness of 1:1 classrooms that feature Chromebooks or tablets as well. Teachers can continue their professional development through the end of the summer, get started on designing their classrooms to cater to the most effective learning possible and then, finally, find some time all the way at the end to relax and recharge for another year of shaping 21st century learners!
Tips for Top-Notch Creative Student Projects
Project-based learning—especially over the summer—has many and far-reaching advantages for today’s students. To be honest, none of them want to read a book and spend the last two days of summer vacation rushing to write a half-baked essay on a predetermined and often meaningless series of “thinking” questions. Boring book reports are no way to highlight and develop student creativity, especially when they’re much more focused on the beach and the pool and—oh, a butterfly. Passion-based projects, however, are easily able to keep kids engaged and demand that they flex their creative muscles, better ensuring that they do not fall into a summer lull.
Students can incorporate creativity and technology into any project imaginable—even in those subjects that fall outside the STEAM spectrum. For teachers, it starts with evaluating current assignments—essays, posters and all that boring stuff. Be sure that summer projects demand more than students simply showing content knowledge; the best project-based learning challenges them to illustrate synthesis, application and deeper analysis. Since it is now summertime and most students have a lot more time on their hands, this freedom can be an asset in assigning real-world projects. Consider sending them out in groups or on their own into the real world to solve a persistent problem as we talked about earlier. Real-world activities compel students to perform and apply the skills they have learned to solve problems and provide opportunities to exercise creative design.
Teachers should determine which 21st century skills they want their students to focus on building over the summer—anything from art and design to experimentation or communication. This will likely vary depending on grade level. It also may be helpful to introduce them to their projects on one of the last days of school so that they have a chance to get familiar with what is expected of them and ask any questions they might have. Once that’s done, step back and let students get creative! Remember that the best projects have clear expectations, little teacher intervention and let students focus on developing skills rather than memorizing content. Teachers should be available via email over the summer in case kids to run into any problems, but, other than that, students should get a ton more out of this new kind of learning experience!
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