Holiday Extravaganza: The Challenges
December 13, 2007
This year we changed our “Holidays Around the World” event into the Holiday Extravaganza with three different events for schools to choose from. Rudolph and Santa worked their magic last week for over 3,000 young students in PreK through 2nd grade.
This week we had a two-day challenge for students in grades 2nd-6th. The concept was that our schools could do anything holiday related that fit into their curriculum and during the conference there had to be interaction AMONG the classes that were on the call. The past two years the emphasis was on the presentation, but not requiring interaction. I put together a list of ideas, opened registration, and hoped for the best.
It was amazing! We had 39 classes in 10 sessions with 804 students participating (including schools in New York and Michigan). What I saw were the most creative and amazing presentations. It was a bit tricky at times to figure out how to do a Mad-lib or work a math problem or guess the letters. We learned a lot. Be sure to check out the photos.
Christina and Rich brought an added element of “mystery” to the challenge and were great sports. The interactions between the musher and the reindeer raised our awareness of the different modes of transportation available to Santa as he embarks on his annual gift-delivering spree.
So….teachers, what did you think? It was different and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but from my end it was absolutely fabulous! I appreciate all the hard work of you and your classes.
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I think it was great. My kids really had a good time, and it was fun to have a “mystery” guest.
We throughly enjoyed every presentation. It was fun, interesting and challenging at times. The time passed so quickly even w/the minor technicalities like real snow in Alaska. We look forward to another vc.
I really liked the change this year. Our mystery country was Ireland and we had great fun. I really liked the mystery place.
My class and I had a wonderful learning experience. The students were very excited about connecting with students from other states. They were also excited to show off all of their hard work. Thank you for this opportunity.
Laura
We throughly enjoyed every presentation. It was fun, interesting and challenging at times. The time passed so quickly even w/the minor technicalities like real snow in Alaska. We look forward to another vc.
This VC was AWESOME!!! My students LOVED it! The personal interaction between the kids is truly a unique experience. The Mystery Guest was the BEST part. This kept the students really engaged and focused. They were trying HARD to figure out where and who they were. This was their favorite part of the VC. They are craving to do more like this.
Hey the Mystery Guest was awesome. The Students loved learning more about sled dogs and Alaska.
Great job… You guys Rock.
Love your list of ideas. One thing I didn’t like about my Holiday Traditions was there wasn’t enough interaction - before I read your blog I was racking my brain on how to make it more interactive! With our Holiday Traditions I quizzed the kids and some schools quizzed each other after the presentations - but it still wasn’t enough. Santa arrives by surfboard right? Merry Christmas!
Ashton, you are exactly right. That is why we changed ours this year. For the first couple of years to get the teachers and me used to the equipment, I think the presentation model works well. Now that we are in our third year and I could think of enough ideas, I thought we could pull it off and the teachers loved it!
The 6th graders have really liked anything that has a mystery twist to it.