TL;DR:

• December will be a difficult month to keep students engaged, especially this year with a somewhat return to “normal.”
• Maintain student engagement by focusing on relationships and having fun.
• Have students participate in project-based learning and other activities to keep things interesting rather than focusing on the curriculum.

For most educators, December can be a tricky month in terms of keeping our students engaged and on task. In the U.S., this year, there are only three weeks of school between when we return from Thanksgiving break until we go on winter break. This year, there is certainly a lot more excitement around your school about getting back to celebrating a “normal” Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Christmas.  You may have winter pageants and celebrations going on that you haven’t had for a couple of years. Your students might be looking forward to seeing family members they haven’t seen for two years as well. They may also be excited to share what they are doing to celebrate the holidays with other students in their classes. 

During the weeks you have students in class in December, use this time to strengthen bonds you have built with them all semester. Click To Tweet

Engagement with Project-Based Learning

During the weeks you have students in class in December, use this time to strengthen bonds you have built with them all semester. Focus on project-based activities and end-of-quarter or end-of-semester wrap-up activities. These few weeks aren’t a time to start a new unit or to enforce new concepts. If you teach social studies or world languages, in particular, keep students engaged by exploring how residents in other countries celebrate the holidays. Infuse students’ research of how these holidays are celebrated into art, music, video, drama, or other creative projects.

Engagement with Fun December-Themed Ideas

Here are some ideas to spice up your day-to-day classroom activities during the month of December, thanks to Angel Honts, “December Classroom Ideas that You Need.”

• Incorporate students’ favorite holiday movie characters into table names.
• Play board or card games to incorporate math facts, vocab, social studies terms, etc.
• Have students choose an elf name with the free elf name generator.
• Celebrate the season by having dress-up days, not just the ugly sweater, but have a PJ day, a hat or scarf day, or anything else your class agrees on.
• Spend a few hours the last day before winter break watching a comedy that the class votes on (does not need to be holiday-themed, but make it a funny movie).

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Marker Days

Additionally, there are several marker days during the month of December your students can research and present on. Some days to be noted are: World Aids Day (Dec. 1), Nobel Peace Prize Day (Dec. 10), Wright Brothers Day (Dec. 17), and Roots Day/National Forefathers Day (Dec. 23).

Certainly, there are things your school community may be doing to celebrate this month. Whether you try these ideas or have some tried-and-true December activities, I hope you have a great time with your students reinforcing connections and thinking outside the day-to-day box of covering the curriculum. Tweet me @danagoodier to share what you’re doing this month.

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About Dana Goodier

Dr. Dana Goodier has 20 years of experience in education. She has taught World Languages and English and worked as a middle school administrator. She completed her doctorate degree (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership early 2020. For her dissertation, she researched reasons parents were opting their students out of high-stakes testing at middle schools and how that affected the district accreditation rating. She often speaks at conferences, providing educators with techniques to minimize off-task behavior and to increase time on task. She is the host of the “Out of the Trenches” podcast, which features educators who share their stories of resiliency. Follow her on Twitter @danagoodier and visit her website at: www.danagoodier.com