Be the First to Listen: Begin 2026 with Real Talk

You're here first. I have a BIG announcement in this January edition of the LindyHoc newsletter.

And you get to hear it before the public launch, before social media, before anyone else.

Get ready to press play.

In this edition, here's what you'll hear about first:

🎧 Big surprise! Keep scrolling...

✈️ Listen live at FETC: Opportunities to connect at FETC (onsite or virtually) and make your own friendship bracelet!

🎥 What Students Need to Hear: YOU!: The research behind teacher created video.

⛄️ Post-Winter Break Learning Activities: Manage unpredictable post-break energy with these activities.

🧠 Learning Opportunities: More podcasts, courses, and events.

🎧 Make EdTech 100 with LindyHoc is Live: A Brand New Podcast

Make EdTech 100 with LindyHoc podcast graphic

I've wanted to start a podcast for years. It was on my 2025 goals list... and I'm counting a first-week-of-2026 launch as a win!

The Make EdTech 100 with LindyHoc podcast is all about real talk and real strategies that make EdTech feel doable.

Episode 1 is out now: "Teaching is Hard. Let's Solve One Challenge: AI Slop"

Episodes 2 and 3 drop in the next day or two.

I will be making a public announcement later today, which means you get to press play before anyone else!

Listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Listen

✈️ Listen Live at FETC

Speaking of real talk... I can't believe it's already FETC time. Orlando, here I come with TEN sessions across four days. Everything from AI literacy to immersive learning to teacher-created video.

I have a few extra special sessions throughout the event:

Sunday & Monday: Learning.com Room (W230C)

🤖 Sunday: AI Literacy isn't Extra, It's Core

❤️ Monday: There’s No Such Thing as Digital Citizenship—Just Citizenship

Learning.com's curriculum is a must-have for every school in 2026. If you want the full story on why, find me Sunday and Monday.

Learning.com

Tuesday 2:00 PM: Snorkl Booth #2709

🤿 Snorkl into better assessments with me. I'll be sharing my Assessment Puzzle Framework: how to design assessments that actually work in the age of AI. Snorkl helps bring this framework to life in ways that make sense for real classrooms.

Snorkl

Plus: Friendship Bracelet Making Kit!

You know I love to share my friendship bracelets. I can only make so many, so I created a friendship bracelet making kit. You can now make your own bracelets!

You can find the bracelet kit (and me!) in the following FETC booths:

📕 Monday 11:45-12:15: Meet the Author booth #3007

🔵 Monday afternoon: Learning.com booth #2608

🟢 Tuesday morning: MobileMind booth #1427

🟣 Tuesday afternoon: Snorkl booth #2709

Can't make FETC?

If you are having FETC FOMO, I am live-streaming from the event Sunday at 12:20 Eastern time. Real talk, live from Orlando.

Join the Livestream

🎥 What Students Need to Hear: YOU!

Are you hesitant to make teacher videos because you don't have professional equipment or perfect lighting? Because your hair isn't right or your classroom feels messy?

Here's what the research actually says: None of that matters.

Students need to hear your voice and see your face. That's it.

Studies show that hearing and seeing the teacher builds stronger connections than any polished YouTube video ever could. Your enthusiasm matters more than lighting. Your expressions matter more than editing. Your presence matters more than production quality.

This new blog post breaks down the research on why teacher-created videos work. I'll show you exactly what the studies say about video length, when to use video, and the simplest tools to get started.

Blog Post

Bonus: there is also a visual reference guide you can print and keep at your desk.

⛄️ Post-Winter Break Learning Activities

The post-break energy is... unpredictable. Whether you're dealing with slumps or spikes, here are three easy activities to carry you through January:

The Presidential AI Challenge for Students
Students can win up to $10,000 (yes, really). Teach AI literacy while giving kids a shot at serious money. It's not too late to enter!

Student Challenge Guide

Chopped: AI Stars (Teaching AI Literacy Through a Cooking Analogy)

AI is the ingredient, you are the chef!

What does cooking and teaching AI literacy have in common? Well, everything in Chopped: AI Stars.

Turn your classroom into a creativity kitchen where students are the executive chefs of their learning.

This classroom-ready lesson uses a Chopped-style challenge to teach students when and how to use AI strategically—not as a shortcut, but as an ingredient. The cooking metaphor is the perfect framework for teaching AI literacy, because it emphasizes that the “chef’s” original thinking should drive the work.

Chopped: AI Stars

13 Days of AI Literacy (Snowman Edition)
My advent calendar is snowman-themed, which means you can keep using these 5-minute AI literacy activities through January (or until April if you're in Montana like me 😃).

13 Days of AI Literacy

🧠 Learning Opportunities

As you are getting the first listen of Make Edtech 100, you can also queue up these conversations I have had on other podcasts recently:

Play Ed3 Podcast: I joined hosts Tisha and Rich to talk "Are we preparing students for an AI world?," as well as full English breakfast and Montana ranching (really 😃).
My EdTech Life Podcast: I joined Dr. Fonz to talk: AI Literacy Isn’t One More Thing.

More learning with LindyHoc:

Math Behind the Machine: Finding Real World Math in AI Literacy: Explore the real math powering today’s AI tools. In this free course, I break down AI concepts into classroom-friendly examples that help students connect algorithms to real-world math. Create a free Fobizz account to access the course. You will even receive a certificate upon completion.
TCEA 2026: I will be presenting several sessions in the Learning.com room at TCEA conference in San Antonio, TX.
NCCE 2026: Join me in Seattle this February!