Summer "Choose Your Own Adventure" PD Menu

Truth: No educator wants a rigid professional growth plan for their summer. You need and deserve space to breathe, reflect, and reboot.

Summer also offers a rare gift: a time for curiosity.

If you want to find some inspiration on your terms, I’m sharing a Choose-Your-Adventure Summer Curiosity Menu. Pick your path based entirely on how much time (up to one hour) you want to invest today—no deliverables, no status updates, just pure exploration. 

Peruse and enjoy! 

If you have 15 minutes…

Lurk: Follow 3–5 new educators on Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn. Don’t comment, don’t post, and don't feel pressured to network. Just observe their spaces, grab a few fresh visual ideas, and see what the digital staffroom is talking about right now.

Listen: Some educator podcast episodes are short enough for a quick dose of ideas. My favorite for these brief snippets is The Education Table. 

If you have 30 minutes…

Dream of the future. Envision that it’s been an incredible 2026-27 school year and you’re now in June 2027. Walking through the hallways, classrooms, playgrounds, and other spaces in your school, what do you see and hear that tells of the success? This vision can help you begin thinking about what it will take to get there. Need a thought partner to decide on concrete steps? Let me know; I'm always happy to talk through how to achieve your vision. 

Walk and listen. Get moving and listen to educational leadership podcasts to learn about what others are doing that’s working. My favorites are The Best of Us, The Independent School Leader, New View EDU, and Cult of Pedagogy. What would you add to this list? 

If you have 60 minutes

Coffee and connect. Grab iced coffee with a colleague, and start the conversation with this question: “What’s one thing you want to try next year?” Listen, enjoy the conversation, and let their excitement spark yours. 

How will you reboot your learning this summer? Let me know what’s on your list for books, podcasts, or just ideas!