It’s no secret that kids LOVE a good snow day when school is called off and they can lay around the house all day long. But don’t be fooled—teachers love a well-timed snow day as much as the kids! During the dreary winter months, the kids get a little crazy, everyone’s feeling a little down, and teachers get tired. A snow day can serve as a much-needed day of rest for overworked teachers.

What do teachers do on snow days, you might be wondering? I’m sure that some may plan lessons and catch up on grading, but in my opinion, teachers should take the day off to recharge.

A new year is a great time to look at our accomplishments from the year gone by. Traditionally, it is also the time when we seek out opportunities for growth as we look ahead. I thought I would share some areas in which I would like to grow in 2018. By sharing these with you, I hope that maybe you can be inspired to take on some new learning, grow as an individual and a teacher, and get out of your comfort zone to try something challenging.

I love a clean slate, a new calendar, and the optimism that a new year brings. I enjoy the idea of making positive changes for myself and those around me. A new year pushes me to think about my life and resolve to do better. The same applies to my teaching—it’s a great opportunity for me to set goals for myself in the classroom, so I’ve come up with six teaching resolutions for 2018. I think these resolutions will be beneficial for myself, my students, and maybe even other educators out there.

A new year is upon us, which means many of you will be making or renewing resolutions for self-improvement in 2018. Resolutions may include taking your health goals more seriously by eating better and exercising more, taking charge of your life by being direct in accomplishing certain goals, improving money management, or making a bigger impact on others around you.

As we turn the calendar once again, we find ourselves with a new year full of possibilities. But even with all these possibilities, we know that old habits die hard—this is why listing our New Year’s resolutions is a popular practice and can be very profound. The list either helps us to do something new that we have always wanted to try, or start doing something we have known for a while and need to pick up again.

So for 2018, I have developed my top list of things I would like to do, improve at, or focus on for the year. These resolutions are aimed at improving my knowledge of educational technology (and more!) and are in no particular order—and a few are a little tongue in cheek!

Let’s face it: The top 20 things teachers like to do over winter break might be filled with at least 10 days of a chance to sleep in, but we all know that most teachers are also caregivers, parents to children of all ages, or parents to fur kids—all of which have their own agenda. But teachers are people too, and we need to start a campaign to do something for ourselves to celebrate the time off we have each December.

The top 20 things I plan to do over winter break are:

Today’s classroom has many English Language Learners (ELL), once referred to as English as a Second Language (ESL) or Limited English Proficiency (LEP). There are over 4 million students in public education classified as ELL—and these numbers continue to rise. In the 1990s, there were 14 million immigrants who moved to the US, and there were 14 million more between 2000 and 2010. In fact, ELL students are the fastest-growing student population according to the National Council For Teacher Education (NCTE).

Teachers enjoy the holidays for multiple reasons: Two weeks off school, extra time with our family, a few extra moments to catch up on a good book or television show, and—of course—presents! Even teachers make a list for Santa, and they are checking it twice hoping they get something nice. What’s on your list for Santa this year? Perhaps your list is full of things that others teachers also want most. 

After polling elementary school colleagues and friends, here are the top 5 gifts that teachers said would “wow” them this year:

It’s true what people say: Each year seems to go by faster than the one before! For Boxlight, 2017 has been full of exciting new product launches and a greater focus on STEM initiatives—including becoming the convening agency for the Georgia Girls STEM Collaborative, formed under the auspices of the National Girls Collaborative Project. We received a host of accolades from a number of prestigious organizations, and we also saw the closing of our initial public offering. However, these activities won’t have us resting on our laurels and there is still much work to be done.

Considering the dynamic nature of the education industry and the practices followed, a teacher’s role today is quite multifaceted in comparison to how it used to be. For example, earlier curriculums and teaching methods were standardized and the teaching tools were common for all. However, with the introduction of technology, the options for teaching methods and tools have greatly increased.