Summer school for teachers

College programs mix education and vacation

A trip to the beach, a week on the Vineyard, sightseeing in Boston, staying home to relax. This may sound like a summer vacation to-do list, but for teachers the list has an added twist - they'll be learning something.

Many teachers use their summers as a time to brush up on their skills and meet state professional development requirements (PDPs). In response, area colleges have designed programs that offer teachers innovative and enjoyable educational experiences perfect for summer. Here's a look at what many teachers will do on their summer vacation.

Going to the beach takes on a whole new meaning for teachers enrolled in Wheelock College's field study program in natural science. It's a hands-on class in the open ocean to study wild marine life in its natural habitat. Teachers travel to Mingan Island in Quebec, where they learn about ecology and life sciences aboard 25-foot boats.

The course brings them "eyeball to eyeball with whales," says Michael Williamson, associate professor and director of WhaleNet at Boston's Wheelock College. "The hardest part for teachers is that in September they have so much information to share in their class, it's hard to fit it all in."

Similarly, Northeastern University takes advantage of its Marine Science Center in Nahant with a coastal ecology course. The center's private beach provides a natural microcosm of a typical New England coastline, with sandy beaches, rocky points, and salt marshes.

What's summer without a trip to the Cape and the Islands? Northeastern University has taken care of that by offering Right Writing for the 21st Century, a 10-day course on Martha's Vineyard for teachers in grades K-12. Art teachers can travel to the Cape Cod National Seashore for a four-day course called Pastel Painting on Cape Cod.

"It's the perfect backdrop for the creative process," says Todd Leach, Northeastern's executive director at the school of education. "The everyday distractions are gone and the participants can really focus on what's being taught."

Back in the city, Wheelock, Northeastern, and Harvard are opening up their dorms this summer as an alternative to high-priced hotel rooms for teachers taking courses, making Boston an attractive summer study destination.

Poetry as a Form of Life, a three-week course at Harvard's Extension school, includes literary trips to Concord and Amherst, the Longfellow House, and Houghton Library.

"We're getting incredibly soaked in ideas and perspectives," Ryan R. Asmussen, a teacher in from Elk Grove Village, Ill., told the Harvard University Gazette last year. "After the first week or so, we were all a little dazed by it-pleasantly so."

One of the most popular summer institutes on campus at Wheelock is Media Madness: The Impact of Sex, Violence, and Commercial Culture on Adults, Children, and Society. Offered every summer for 14 years, it has recently been reshaped as culture and media have changed, explains Matt Pellish, summer program coordinator.

Northeastern offers more than 45 weeklong courses for teachers this summer, from Teaching Poetry Writing to Adolescents to Functions and Trigonometry. Northeastern's campus is active all summer, says Leach, and he likes it that way. "Teachers make very motivated students. They are inspiring to our staff and faculty."

At Framingham State College the same sentiment rings true. "Teachers by nature are curious and interested in what's around them. It's going to be a great summer," says Nancy Proulx, Framingham's director of professional development programs for educators.

At the Christa McAuliffe Challenger Center at Framingham State, Lift Off to Learning is for teachers who want to incorporate "real" science in their classrooms with hands-on projects, such as building and test-flying a virtual airplane. The center also offers a variety of math and science courses that use NASA-created teaching materials.

Alternatively, teachers who want to stick close to home this summer are signing up for Framingham's online program, which offers 17 online, one-week courses.

"We started our online program last year with two courses. They were so successful we decided to expand," says Proulx, who predicts that the program will continue to grow.

For music teachers, Boston University's College of Fine Arts summer term features Orff Schulwerk Teacher Training Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 courses with renowned faculty expert in Orff Schulwerk philosophy, pedagogy, techniques, and theory. Other teachers could find themselves transported by the rhythms of West Africa or caught up in the vibrant and influential evolution of jazz and American traditional music. While still others could get caught up in the High School Musical craze with a BU course called Musical Directing for Middle School and High School Music Teachers, which promises to "uncover the 'secrets' of producing successful musical theatre to give your students the best experience possible."

Cambridge College, home to the National Institute of Teacher Excellent (NITE), offers a summer campus experience at Curry College in Milton, allowing teachers working on master's degrees or towards licensure to earn 15 credits in four to five weeks. Students come from all over the country, board at the campus, and attend classes during the week. On the weekend they get the chance to visit Martha's Vineyard, take a Boston Duck Tour, and go on a special Boston bargain shopping tour.

"The campus in the summer hums with excitement," says Jo-Ann Testaverde, Cambridge College's assistant dean and director of NITE. "We have a wonderful time and learn a lot."

What more could a teacher want?