But you only work 9 months a year! How many times do teachers hear that? Those who make that comment obviously have never been a teacher or a family member or friend of a teacher. (And I’m not sure where the 3 months off idea comes from. My classes did not end until the middle of June, I spent a few days getting the lab in order before the building was locked up, and then we started up again the week before Labor Day—but that’s another topic).
So what do teachers do in the summer? Even on a family va-cation (Did you ever forget yourself and call them field trips?), we’re always on the prowl for ideas and resources for our classrooms. You can tell who the teachers are at amusements parks (figuring out the physics principles at work), on the beach (identifying shells and other critters), and on the hiking trails at state and national parks (with binoculars and guidebooks). We take our families and friends to museums, science centers, zoos, nature centers, botanical gardens, and arboretums. In our beach bags or backpacks, we might pack a mystery or romance novel, but we’re very likely to also include science-related nonfiction and professional books and journals. Even at historical sites, we can find applications of science to share with our students (for example, while my husband and I were exploring the history of the Gettysburg Battlefield, I was also photographing the lichens on the monuments). We stop the car to photograph interesting rock outcrops or fantastic cloud formations. Our souvenirs include rocks, sand samples, fossils, pressed wildflowers, maps, brochures, books, and thoughts and reflections about improving what we teach.  [SciLinks: Amusement Park Physics, U.S. National Parks, Identifying Trees, Identifying Rocks and Minerals, Clouds.]

For teachers, a stay-cation often involves teaching summer school, working on curriculum updates, graduate classes, workshops, webinars, using social media to form professional learning communities, and independent study. As NSTA members, we can access all of the journals, so summer is a good time to catch up on what’s happening at other grade levels. NSTA’s Science Objects are self-study units related to content, and they’re free to anyone. The summer editions of NSTA journals usually have suggestions for reading. Summer Reading –Its Element-ary in the July 2011 Science Scope has annotated suggestions based on the alchemist’s elements of earth, wind, fire, and water. This issue also has reading suggestions on Current Research, with abstracts of studies relevant to science teaching. Summer Reading Dawn to Dusk in July 2011 issue of The Science Teacher also has book reviews on science-related topics. (See NSTA Recommends for even more suggestions). Too many books, too little time!
Edutopia has a challenge for the summer: recommendations for 80 Online Tools, References, and Resources How many are you familiar with? I’ve noted quite a few that I’d like to investigate. These are general information and utility sites. What science ones would you add?
It would be interesting for us to collectively document the time, topics, and expenses we spend during the summer on upgrading our knowledge, skills, and classroom resources. We could show the public that most educators spend a great deal of our summers on edu-cation.
 
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kbrookes/4960877754/