June 2019 #futureofschool Chat Recap: School’s Out — Learning Is (Still) In

Did you hear the last bell ring? The June #futureofschool Twitter chat took place once again on the last Thursday of the month at 6 pm ET, coinciding with the end of the 2018–2019 academic year. Hosted by FBOL’s Amy Valentine, this installment included an hour of live tweeting with thought leaders, educators, parents and caregivers. They shared insights on how to mitigate the ‘summer slide’ (kids’ knowledge loss) and out-of-school boredom—while fostering a love for lifelong learning. 

What about the data behind the slide? It only supports what we already know: Summer break can have a detrimental effect on children’s academic progress in subjects like reading and math. Our #futureofschool advocates came together to share their thoughts on how to prevent the so-called summer slide. Here are some of this month’s discussion points: 

  1. You’ve likely heard of the #summerslide (kids losing knowledge over summer break)—how big of a problem do you think it is in K–12 education? 

  2. What has your experience been with learning from Jun–Aug, and what have you found MOST effective in encouraging students to continue?

  3. In your opinion, why has summer learning remained an issue for students? 

  4. How can parents play a more active role in helping their kids to keep learning over break? 

  5. What fun & educational activity would you recommend for K–12 students? 

  6. How can educators emphasize the importance of summer learning to parents, communities and policy leaders?   

While participants agreed that the summer slide remains an ongoing problem for students and educators alike, preventing learning loss has become easier than ever before with digital edtech resources at our fingertips. Similar to tech-enabled learning during the school year, bridging the persistent digital divide is a problem we must solve in order to achieve equity for students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. 

Aside from ways to prevent the loss of academic progress made throughout the year, participants also strongly advocated for fostering a love for learning. Summer is the time to explore the world hands-on; it’s a season for learning-by-doing and experiencing new places. So go out and broaden your horizons, and make sure to check out our Twitter chat highlights below for some great tips for summer learning resources.  

Pssst….having trouble coming up with ideas to keep your kids engaged? Try letting them be bored (screen-free!) for a change. It sparks imagination and creativity! 

😎 Our chat is taking a summer break. But don’t worry...we’ll be back at it this September to continue the #futureofschool conversation! 

Check out these highlights featuring @amyvalentine555, @summerlearning, @EdSuperHighway, @LearningAccel, @teachnMedlin, @thescottfuller, @reallykristi, @henneld_edu @FoundationBOL:

eventLisa Mullis