Summer is prime conference time in education because, obviously, teachers find themselves with a few months of rest and an urge to travel. Conferences contain a wealth of information that can be turned around for the next school year, helping you become a rock star (or just make the job a little easier).

There are conferences about the craft of teaching, the technology of the classroom, expanding your knowledge of flipped learning, or finding out the latest research-based strategies.

ASCD Conference on Teaching Excellence

The main ASCD conference is held in the early spring, but they also produce a valuable conference in the summer centered around instructional excellence. This year’s version is being held June 27-29 just outside of Dallas.

Sessions are organized by familiarity with the topic being presented and include assessment strategies, standards-based grading, special strategies for ELL and disabled students, and much more.

ISTE 2014

The annual International Society for Technology in Education conference is probably the largest summer gathering of teachers, with over 18,000 educators in attendance. This year’s edition is June 28-July 1 in Atlanta.

As you can guess, this conference is slanted more toward educational technology, with sessions based on the latest tech tools and tricks as well as new technologies like augmented reality and blended learning models. A lot of the sessions and workshops are collaborative and urge attendees to get hands-on with the tools.

FlipCon

FlipCon ’14 is produced by the Flipped Learning Network, the organization established by flipped learning pioneers Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams. It’s hard to believe that this is their 7th annual edition, again being held June 23-25 at Mars Area High School in Pittsburgh.

It might not be a huge conference, but its intimacy guarantees a valuable experience for all flipped learning devotees or teachers curious about the theory. Sessions focus on strategies and tools that help make the transition to flipping easier and more productive.

Building Expertise 2014

Building Expertise is the only conference dedicated to the research and theories produced by preeminent educational researcher and strategist Dr. Robert Marzano. 80 breakout sessions, keynotes, and networking opportunities will be available on June 18-20 in Orlando.

Dr. Marzano’s work is all about taking research and finding ways to apply it in the classroom with easy-to-implement strategies. Many schools and districts subscribe to his methods. If you find yourself in one of these districts, this might be the most valuable conference on the list.

When it comes to engagement, you might think that some teachers are born with inherent skills that get kids to buy in, while others have to struggle at every turn. While some factors can be helpful (Are you relatively young? Are you the same gender as the majority of a certain class?), anyone can generate classroom engagement. Here’s how:

Show some interest

This is the first and most critical step. If the kids don’t think you care about them, they won’t care about you—or your objectives.

You don’t have to be a surrogate parent, although some teachers can’t help themselves in that regard. You simply have to be interested in their life. If you work in a school in a neighborhood different from the one in which you live, make it a point to visit the local hangouts. Go to some of the local junior sports events, like Little League or Pee Wee football.

Most importantly, ask them about their day and then listen. You wouldn’t believe how many teachers don’t think to do this simple act. You might be the only person in their entire day that takes this step. It means more than you know.

Keep up-to-date on latest trends

Students are always amazed when their teachers (who they assume to be, like, 100 years old) are familiar with their favorite TV shows, sports teams, and musicians.

You might think that keeping up with these things will make your brain hurt, but it really doesn’t take much. Just tool around on some entertainment websites and watch Sportscenter occasionally. Ask your own children or nieces/nephews what’s cool now. You don’t have to become a fan.

Not only will this buy you some street cred, but you’ll also know part of their code language. That way, when they refer to your hair as “looking like Nicki Minaj’s”, you’ll know not to take that as a compliment.

Creatively leverage this information

A teacher recently made a bit of news for using spoilers from the TV show Game of Thrones as a correction. Knowing her students were obsessed with the show, she told them that she would reveal a person who dies in the show for every bit of unruly behavior. They shaped up.

The knowledge you acquire about them can be used as both the carrot and the stick. Rewards can be as simple as the ability to listen to their favorite (clean) music during classroom transitions. A correction can be listening to your music.

Everything here is about building rapport. With rapport, they will be just as likely to listen to you during instruction as they would be when having these “off the record” conversations.

Your assistant principal is your front line of support.

Unless you’re at a really small school, the teachers rarely interact with the principal. Principals are like the CEOs of the school: they spend more time with the board than the workers. In management, your point of contact tends to be the assistant principal.

And there are many kinds of teachers. Some like autonomy and only need AP interaction during PLCs and evaluations. Others are in the AP’s office every day for a variety of reasons. Here is what you should be able to expect from any good assistant principal. Of course if you have a bad one, none of these are applicable.

A sympathetic ear

Unless you’ve really screwed up, the approach your AP should always take in communications is one of understanding. Teaching is one of the most stressful jobs in the world and sometimes you need to vent to someone who understands. Spouses and friends are great, but you need someone who can relate.

Willingness to give advice

Veteran teachers like to think they’ve seen it all; APs really have. Think about it. They’ve seen every dysfunctional student that has come through your hall, probably multiple times. They get called in on the weirdest classroom stories. This is a wealth of information that they should be willing to share, especially to new teachers who might think their careers are over because a parent is upset with them. Which brings us to our next point…

A buffer between you and the parents

You might try your best, but eventually you will run into an angry parent. They might not even be angry with you in particular. You just happen to be the sounding board. Eventually those angry parents will ask to speak to the AP. When you transfer them, you would like confidence that your boss will have your back (again, unless you’ve really screwed up). Even if they don’t fully support you in this case, they should at least be able to broker an acceptable compromise.

A passion for improving their area of the school

Most assistant principals are put in charge of a hall or grade level. They should always be willing to do anything to improve the situation of their territory, even if it means a change in the status quo that may put them at odds with the principal. It might be a creative idea to remediate a particularly disruptive student. Also, if their teachers have realistic ideas about the hall, the AP should be willing to help implement those ideas. Nothing can improve the lives of the teachers and students in the hall more than everyone, including the AP, working together to make things better.

Educators are learning how to get funding from across the globe.

Budgets are tight, but classroom supplies and technologies are staying expensive. With that equation, more and more teachers are turning to crowdfunding websites to make their (and their students’) educational dreams come true. Sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo are full of great ideas, but don’t specialize in education. Donors Choose, on the other hand, is only for teachers seeking help with classroom supplies or activities.

Here’s some tips on how to turn crowdfunding into your own educational ATM.

Cool and original sells

You might need basic classroom supplies, but unless you’re doing something novel and buzzworthy with them, your campaign will struggle. The campaigns that take off are the ones that people are excited to get behind and share with their social networking friends, usually with the headline “Look at what this teacher is doing!”

If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, simply cruise the crowdfunding sites to see what’s doing well. Then put your own spin on an idea you like and that fits with your curriculum. If the idea is cool enough, money can be no object.

Be as specific as possible

Say you want a 3D printer for your classroom. That’s a great (if not original) idea! What are you going to do with it? If your answer was “print stuff”, your campaign won’t be funded.

Donors want to hear concrete plans, especially on how the campaign will impact student learning. Describe how this fits into the curriculum, as well as the role the students will play in the process. Also, promise to keep the donors updated on the kids’ progress in the project.

Follow through

That last point brings us to a key factor on which campaigns get picked up. Donors might have hearts of gold, but they’re also human. They would like to get something out of the deal, even if it’s only a thank you note. In fact, Donors Choose has a policy that any donation of $50 or more will receive one. Some campaigns even give their donors commemorative t-shirts or stickers.

Keep a blog or post videos of the project’s progress once it gets started. Make sure the kids find ways of showing their appreciation, then make sure you follow through on all of your promises. A quick way of making sure you never get another campaign funded is to drop the ball on your donor gifts.

With crowdfunding, it’s more than possible for a teacher to completely revolutionize how they teach certain concepts. All they need is creativity, some communication skills, and dedication—traits most teachers already have.