When I was growing up, Black Friday meant the big shopping day after Thanksgiving Day. We would get the newspaper ads in the Sunday paper before Thanksgiving. That would give us time to rummage through all the sales papers, make our list, and plan our strategies for the day. Planning was the key to getting through the traffic, the people, and the sale items we were searching for.
After Thanksgiving break, everyone goes back to school for three weeks until Christmas break. Teachers will be preparing and planning their lessons around all the activities that will occur at this time of the year. The lack of time continues to be a major challenge for teachers. On average, a teacher gets about 50 minutes a day called a conference period. Yet, it is never enough time to get everything done much less work on lesson plans and do any kind of research for new ideas and creative student-centered projects.
A couple of weeks ago, I had an opportunity to go to a Discovery Education workshop at the educational service center. One Instructional Technology Coach asked the question “we know that there are a lot of good resources and lesson plans on the web, but how do we get our teachers to use these resources?” That was the same question I had when I was a technology specialist for fifteen years at a middle school a decade ago. Instructional coaches need to build relationships with their teachers. I would meet with a teacher and ask what unit plan they were working on with their students. I would proceed to show the teacher the different technology and Internet resources that were available in that specific unit plan topic. I would demonstrate the different technology products that students could create to show their mastery of the topic. I know that takes time, but it is worth it. Not only does the teacher cover the academic standards but also the technology standards.
As we move into the Christmas season, what can K12 Internet Resource Center offer you? Can you find what you are looking for? I am continually updating the website with current educational and technology information. There are now 225 lesson plan websites available to you. I can also do the research and provide the resources for you on any topic that you need. Contact me (K12IRC.ORG@gmail.com) with your suggestion and I will provide the resources.
K12IRC is divided into 12 different topics. Each topic has more available resources. Here are some specific topics you might find beneficial at this time of the year.
Holiday – Christmas Includes Christmas Around the World, Origins of Christmas, Christmas Traditions, Christmas Teacher Resources
Library & Media If you want to research more on Christmas or any other topic