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Back to School: A Reason to Celebrate Each Day

by Peggy Reimers
written by Peggy Reimers

So we all know the “biggies” of the fall holidays. Each month has something to celebrate: Labor Day in September, Halloween in October, Thanksgiving in November, and Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa to round out December. But as we enter the new school year, why not find a reason to celebrate each day? Just in case you want to throw a few mini-surprise celebrations with your students, I have a couple of great resources for you.

Screenshot by author

National Today Website

The National Today website is the place to go. This is the ultimate resource for 1,783 fun, unusual, and unique national days, international days, and holidays. The website has several ways to find out what is happening every day of the year, and it even provides ideas for ways to observe. You can visit the site and look for reasons to celebrate by trend, date, topic, or month. The website provides a ton of information for each national and international special day, such as:

  • History
  • Timeline
  • FAQ’s
  • Importance
  • Ideas for Activities
  • Traditions
  • Stats

National Day Calendar

Screenshot by author

National Day Calendar is another resource for celebration. It tracks 1,500 national days, national weeks, and national months. (Keep in mind that this website has plenty of advertisements on it, so it is a teacher resource and not geared toward student use.) In my opinion, the best part of the National Day Calendar website is the ability to sign up for the daily calendar notifications that are delivered right to your inbox. I must say that, every morning, it is a delight to find out what fabulous things are getting celebrated daily. 

As a bonus to educators, the National Day Calendar research team has organized monthly observances for teachers in what they call the Classroom. They have designed projects, lessons, and puzzles centered around most national days. They continue adding and growing their content all the time, and if you are a foodie, the recipe section just might be the cherry on the top. 

I dare you to celebrate the out-of-the-box, extraordinary, and unique days of 2021-22. By the way, Dare Day is June 1. Start your planning now– I double dare you.

Featured image created by author.

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ed tech appreciation day
Announcements/Important Dates

Celebrate Ed Tech Appreciation Day

by Alexis Cline
written by Alexis Cline

December 9, 2015 has been designated Educational Technology Appreciation Day by the Texas legislature. After supporting technology staff at all levels for over thirty-five years, we at TCEA were delighted to see hard-working technology professionals recognized for their contributions.

In order to help districts across the state honor their technology staff and celebrate technology in education, we’ve put together some great ideas and planning tools that can help. A press release template is available for download and can be easily tailored to announce your district’s plan. You can also browse a categorized list of twenty-eight celebration ideas offered by our members. These and other information are available here.

Education Technology Appreciation Day is important for two reasons. First, our technology teams play a critical role in providing rich learning opportunities for our students. Long hours of work and planning go into the set up and maintenance of networks, hardware, software, and other elements necessary for digital learning. The establishment of a day honoring technology staff communicates our appreciation of their efforts and their importance in our schools.

Second, recognizing the work of technology experts helps spread the word about the use of technology in our schools. Districts often struggle to provide the best possible tools for teaching and learning with limited budgets. Additional support, especially with broadband and other infrastructure challenges, is needed in order to help schools contend with the increasing demands and expenses associated with digital learning. Both for appreciating the professionals who support our teachers and students and for raising awareness about the need for more technology dollars, Education Technology Appreciation Day is a perfect opportunity to celebrate the amazing things happening on campuses all of Texas.

The Proclamation
Representative John Kuempel of Seguin offered the resolution for Education Technology Appreciation Day during the last legislative session. TCEA President David Jacobson, Area 13 Director Randy Rodgers, and Executive Director Lori Gracey were present for the reading of the proclamation, which specifically honors hardware and software technicians, network administrators, webmasters, database and lab managers, instructional technologists, technology administrators, and other technology staff.

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