It’s the most wonderful time of year! Get in the holiday spirit by enjoying some brand new OTIS courses. Gain engaging activities, effective tips, and ideas for revamping your classroom. Say goodbye to 2025 and gear up for 2026 with OTIS for educators!

Here’s What’s Brand New for December!

• Are you a Google Slides user?  Have you seen the latest tools and features? Dive into creating engaging presentations! Join PD expert Rebekah on December 1st for Google Slides: Tools You Didn’t Know You Needed.

• How can I prevent my class from falling victim to the student slide during winter break? Join curriculum expert Chris on December 3rd for a session on Break Assignments That Won’t Break Students.

• Looking to create unique gift ideas for the holiday season? Are you an educator who wants to incorporate hands-on learning and design in the classroom? Either way, join PD expert Michelle on December 8th for Designing in xTool Studio.

‘Tis the Season with More OTIS Courses! 

• Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could successfully teach students in a way that truly aligned with how their brains’ naturally learn? If this sounds intriguing, join curriculum specialist Adam on December 10th for Brain-Based Strategies to Elevate Engagement & Achievement.

• Are you a CTE teacher in need of classroom support for your students? Join PD expert Chris on December 15th for CTE + Gems, where you will learn how to leverage the AI tool, Gemini in Google Classroom. Discover how to create an AI assistant that tailors content to CTE pathways.

• Let’s improve our students’ argumentative writing skills! Join curriculum specialist Rebekah on December 16th for Digital Tools for Argumentative Writing. You will leave this session with a digital tool kit and ready-to-use lesson strategies.

• Spark creativity with Lumio! PhET and SMART Technologies have partnered to bring interactive math and science simulations into the classroom! Join PD expert Matt on December 17th for Enhancing Math Activities with PhET and Lumio. We’ll leverage fun resources and engage every learner! 

 Get in the Festive Spirit with These Popular Courses!

• Communication and Collaboration with Padlet

  Join us for this course as we explore new tools and features within Padlet that can help students boost classroom communication and collaboration. We will review Padlet’s tool Sandbox, an alternative to the departed Jamboard, as well as Padlet templates that can be used by both teachers and students. Lastly, we will review how to harness the power of AI when creating and monitoring Padlet projects in your classroom.

• Festive STEAM Challenges for Elementary Classrooms

  The holiday season is upon us! This time of year is the perfect opportunity to incorporate some festive fun into the classroom. Join us for our session where we will explore winter and holiday themed STEAM projects and challenges that elementary students can collaborate on. We will dive into the benefits of STEAM in the elementary classroom and then explore specific examples and ready-made activities to try with your students. From designing and building an igloo with consumable materials to sending robots on a sleigh ride, your students will be engaged from start to finish! 

• Create a Gamified Choice Board

  In this session, join Alice Keeler to explore two popular topics in education: gamification and choice boards. Choice boards allow for increased student agency and amplify student voices by giving them different options for how to connect with the content. This is also a great way to differentiate learning and allow students to demonstrate mastery of a topic in a way that is best for them. Learn how to make this even more engaging and fun by gamifying the board!

• Teach Coding Without the Code

  Students can be introduced to coding concepts way before they ever maneuver their first block of code. In the session, we are going to show you how to teach coding concepts without the actual code! We will be demonstrating different techniques to get students to think like programmers so they can understand the functions behind writing code.

• Differentiation and Student Engagement with Newsela

  Ensuring students of all reading levels are engaged and supported is not only tedious, but also time consuming. However, Newsela has got you covered! Join us for this session where we will explore how to use the platform to differentiate assignments for all students while also engaging them with Newsela’s diverse catalog. We will also be looking at how to use Formative to differentiate and customize your assessments.

Featured Courses for December

• Elevating Learning with Edpuzzle

  Join us for this session as we explore all things EdPuzzle, including some newer tools and features. The “Teacher Assist” feature will help you save time when creating interactive videos to use in your classrooms. Are you ready to let students take the lead? Learn how to elevate learning by using EdPuzzle to fill that “missing piece” in your next project/assignment!

• Sounds for ELLs in SMART Notebook

  Join our ‘Sounds for ELLs in SMART Notebook’ course and discover the power of integrating SMART Notebook technology to elevate English Language Learner (ELL) experiences. Uncover effective techniques for teaching phonetics, pronunciation, and auditory skills through interactive lessons. Participants will engage in practical applications, harnessing SMART Notebook tools to create dynamic and immersive learning environments that are tailored to the unique needs of ELLs.

• Fight Photomath with Graspable Math

  Are your students cheating on math problems by using apps like PhotoMath, Mathway, or other websites on their phones? This can be frustrating since it may be hard to determine what students actually know versus what they were able to solve with the assistance of their phones. Alice Keeler, math teacher and EdTech expert, will share with you the unique ways to use the tool, Graspable Math, to help students to develop procedural fluency. Make Graspable Math a part of your math classroom!

An overall look at OTIS for educators

Visit the online PD course calendar for a complete list of courses for December. Furthermore, with OTIS for educators, you’ll always get: