The holiday season isn’t just a time for festive cheer and joyful celebrations. It’s also a great opportunity for educators to infuse their classrooms with the magic of technology. As teachers, embracing this seasonal spirit can pave the way for innovative and engaging teaching practices, ultimately benefiting educators and students.
The holiday season presents an opportunity for educators to embrace technology in the classroom, fostering innovation, engagement, and collaboration. By leveraging the spirit of the holidays, teachers can not only enrich their teaching practices but also empower students with valuable digital skills and a love for learning that transcends the festive season.
As an instructional coach for technology, I am always looking for opportunities to get students to create with technology. In Jamestown, we are 1:1 with iPad so the options to be creative are limitless. Occasionally, as in any district, some educators are apprehensive about leveraging technology for learning. “It takes too much time,” “I don’t have the time to learn how the tech works so I can’t use it with my students,” and “Kids are too distracted on the iPad for learning to happen” are phrases that I hear from fellow educators. If I can get those teachers to have students use tech in ways that don’t deal directly with their content, then more times than not, they can see how engaged and excited students are when asked to be creative with technology.
Below are a few holiday resources that I use with educators in my district to get them to use iPads in creative ways in their classrooms. Most resources are iPad-specific but all can be adjusted for any device.
- 12 Projects for the Holidays: My colleague and fellow Tech Integrator, Jeff Kresge and I built this website. It asks students to create different holiday-themed products. Students follow video tutorials to help them along the way.
- Susan Maynor’s Imaginarium: Susan is an extremely creative educator and her monthly Imaginariums show that creativity. Her December Imaginarium is a 30-page Pages (or pdf) document that is beautifully designed. Each page represents a task for students to show off their creative genius.
- 12 Days of Creativity Series: This four-volume series is packed full of ideas and resources!! The genius educators who authored these books give you everything you (and your students) need to complete each task. This is such a valuable resource!
As educators, let’s unwrap the gift of technology this holiday season and embark on a journey toward a tech-infused, dynamic learning experience for all!
Happy holidays and tech-filled teaching adventures!