Ahhh... DECEMBER, holidays right around the corner! Excitement of the pending winter break in the air!!! My middle schoolers would begin the countdown immediately after Thanksgiving (as would I). As the holidays approached, they would start asking if we were going to do anything special/fun for the holidays. As a teacher of 8th grade Science in Texas where the STAAR test is given only 3 times in science in 12 years, one of those being in 8th grade- I was worried about losing precious teaching time, but I also wanted my students to have fun and enjoy the countdown to winter break. What was a teacher to do? There simply wasn't time to spend doing crafts and coloring pages.... UNLESS they somehow helped my students in meaningful ways to understand what we were studying! That's when I started making holiday themed lessons that covered our chemistry and physics standards. The students LOVED the holiday themes and I LOVED that they were still learning! You can help your students learn and have fun too! Find ways to creatively update what you are doing, or let me take the work out of it for you! Whatever you decided, may your countdown be fun and quick! Happy Holidays! Merry Winter Break! You've earned it!!!!
Comments