Need a few websites to fill in free minutes? Here are holiday websites that will keep students busy while teaching them (click for updates to list):

1. 12 Days of Christmas
2. Christmas Celebrations Across the World (video)
3. Christmas puzzles and games
4. Christmas—history—fun video
5. Christmas Traditions Around the World (video)
6. Gift Hunt–updated version of 12 Days of Christmas–just as much fun
7. Holiday Crossword
8. Holiday Elf Games
9. Holiday—Math Facts
10. Holiday—North Pole Academy
11. Phone call from Santa
12. Santa Tracker

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Holiday gifts for teachers are a challenge. If your child has many teachers, it’s difficult to find a personalized gift for each that is both affordable and valued. For me, as a teacher, I am always happy with a gift certificate that works anywhere but there are time-proven gifts that don’t sound like “money”.

Most popular gifts

When I chat with teacher friends, here are the most popular gifts they’ve gotten over the years. Many are free and others allow you to spend only what you can afford while still giving a gift the teacher will love.

Compliments to the Administration

Happy parents often forget to share their joy with the teachers’ administrators. Too often, Principals hear from parents only when they’re angry about the teacher or some class activity. Providing unsolicited good news about the teacher’s effectiveness is a wonderful treat for both the teacher and the school’s administrators.

A Thank You Letter

Handwrite a note to the teacher telling them how much you and your child appreciate what they do. There’s little more valuable to a teacher than the acknowledgment from stakeholders that their efforts are appreciated.

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Click to enlarge lesson plans

A Holiday Calendar

Kids love making this calendar. They get to talk about their upcoming vacations and hear what their friends are doing. It’s simple enough for third grade with advanced tools that satisfy a fifth graders growing intellect.

One of the most popular applications of math is through spreadsheets (like Excel) that make those numbers relevant to everyday life. We’re going to provide a series of lessons on spreadsheet basics you can use in your K-8 classroom. Here are some of the topics we’ll cover (all links aren’t live yet):

1. #74: Mastering Excel (for Beginners)
2. #71: Beginning Graphs in MS Excel
3. #70: Create a Timecard in Excel for Grade Two and Up
4. #73: How to Graph in Excel
5. #12: Create Simple Shapes in Excel
6. #75: Tessellations in Excel
7. #72: How to Check Your Math in Excel
8. How to Use Excel to Teach Math Arrays
9. #62: Email from Word (Or PowerPoint or Excel)
10. #79: Excel Turns Data Into Information

Today

#12: Create Simple Shapes in Excel

–from 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom. 

–5 bundled Excel lesson plans (for a fee)

Copyright ©2025 askatechteacher.com – All rights reserved.

Here’s the sign-up link if the image above doesn’t work:

https://forms.aweber.com/form/07/1910174607.htm

“The content presented in this blog are the result of creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”

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Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

This week, I’ll post updated suggestions to get your computers and technology ready for the blitz of projects you’ll swear to accomplish in New Year resolutions. Here’s what you’ll get:

1. 12 Ways to Update Your Online Presence
2. 8+ Ways to a Speedier Computer 

Regular readers of Ask a Tech Teacher know these are updated each December. New readers: Consider these body armor in the tech battle so you can jubilantly overcome rather than dramatically succumb. If you’re a teacher-author and read WordDreams, these are also posted there with some adaptations to writers.

8+ Ways to a Speedier Computer

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This week, I’ll post updated suggestions to get your computers and technology ready for the blitz of projects you’ll accomplish in the New Year. Here’s what you’ll get (links won’t be active until the post goes live):

1. 12 Ways to Update Your Online Presence— December 4th (today)
2. 8+ Ways to a Speedier Computer — December 5th 

Regular readers of Ask a Tech Teacher know I update these each December. New readers: Consider these body armor in the tech battle so you can jubilantly overcome rather than dramatically succumb. If you also read WordDreams, these are also posted there with some adaptations to writers.

Today: 12 Ways to Update Your Online Presence

For most teachers I know, life zooms by, filled with students, parents, meetings, grades, reports, reviews, and thinking. There are few breaks to update/fix/maintain the tech tools that allow us to pursue our trade.

That includes our online presence. But, if they aren’t updated, we are left wondering why our blog doesn’t attract visitors, why our social media Tweeple don’t generate activity, and why we aren’t being contacted for networking. Here’s a short list that won’t take long to accomplish. The ones from last year, consider a reminder!

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Every month, subscribers to our newsletter get a free/discounted resource to help their tech teaching.

December 2-5, 2025

Copyright ©2025 askatechteacher.com – All rights reserved.

Here’s the sign-up link if the image above doesn’t work:

https://forms.aweber.com/form/07/1910174607.htm

“The content presented in this blog are the result of creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”

---

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Here are the most-read posts for the month of November:

1. Websites that Explain Elections
2. Subscriber Special: November Holiday Project Book (still going ond)
3. National STEM Day Nov. 8th
4. Geography Awareness Week November 17-21
5. A Day to Remember Veterans
6. How to Graph in Excel
7. Create a Timecard in a Spreadsheet for Grade Two+
8. 8 Tips to Teach Tomorrow’s Students
9. Thanksgiving Activities That Keep You in Charge of Learning
10. What Makes a Great EdTech Teacher?

Here’s a preview of what’s coming up in December:

It’s a short month because we’re dark for the second half, to prepare for the new year:

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I wish all of my American friends and efriends a wonderful Thanksgiving Break. Enjoy your family and friends, take time to rest.

I’ll be around only in a limited way until December 1. Then, I’ll be back fulltime.

–image credit Deposit Photos

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I’ve taught edtech for almost twenty years to a lot of different grade levels–elementary school, middle school, and educators. Teaching technology is as much about the tech skills as overcoming the dread associated with geeky subjects like computer, science, and math. I usually spend a good bit of time make it user friendly before I can even get into the what’s and how’s.

Turns out there’s a trick to teaching this subject. The Ask a Tech Teacher team put some ideas together for you below:

What Makes a Great EdTech Teacher?

Educational technology, or EdTech, is much more than a buzzword. It’s become a building block of modern classroom teaching. Blackboards and textbooks have been accompanied (or replaced) by things like digital whiteboards, learning apps, virtual reality, and AI tutoring tools. These advances continue to redefine how students engage with learning — but being a great EdTech teacher is about more than just introducing or using apps — it’s about understanding how students learn and how technology can supplement meaningful teaching.

So what makes a good EdTech teacher great? Here are a few key qualities to consider. (more…)