The start of a school year is a great time to consider endless possibilities. So consider this: What if we educators approached our personal well-being the same way that we approach student improvement and intervention? What if we had the same passion about our personal health that we have about students’ learning?

How to Begin 

12 Tips for a Successful First Year

Dear New Teacher,

Summer is coming to an end, and soon you will be walking into your first classroom. You are probably excited, nervous, and maybe a little naive about the year ahead. Try not to worry. I have been in your spot twice in my 21 years of teaching. The first time I was 23 years old, fresh out of college, and starting a job as a high school English teacher. That year was my hardest year of teaching thus far, but I also made great friends and great memories. My first year in the classroom taught me so much about the teaching profession, kids, and myself.

If you’re searching for something to pack in your bag for some lunchtime or after-school inspiration, check out these must-reads! Whether you’re a teacher, administrator, or just a lover of good books, these texts will engage you and help you power through the school year:

As the educational technology industry has grown over the past 15 years, certain investors have become well-known for their contributions to ed-tech startups. We’ve compiled a list of the most notable investors active in this sector right now. The first three on the list, NewSchools Venture Fund, 500 Startups, and LearnCapital, are known as the biggest investors in ed-tech entrepreneurs, but all seven are worth watching. As the leading venture capitalists and investors in education, their current decisions set future trends and help to drive development across the educational technology landscape. What they invest in today will shape the classrooms for schools, teachers, and students tomorrow. Take a look at this quick overview of the financial giants behind much of the tech in schools today, and learn why they do what they do.

What the Boxlight Team Learned at ISTE

Our team has returned from this year’s ISTE Conference & Expo in the Mile High City. The event, as always, provided plenty of great opportunities to exchange ideas and information with educators, students, and journalists about all things related to education technology and technology implementation strategies.

We’ve asked our team members to share their most significant observations from ISTE 2016. So, whether or not you made it to Denver, you can gain some valuable information from the largest educational technology trade show in North America.

But before we get down to business, we want to celebrate a milestone: the company’s first conference as Boxlight and Mimio combined! In addition, we are pleased to have won Tech & Learning’s ISTE Best in Show Award for our P12 laser interactive touch projectors.

Finals are over and, hopefully, you had a chance to unwind during the Memorial Day weekend. So, are you rested and ready for the 2016 ISTE Conference & Expo? This annual event, the biggest ed-tech conference in the United States, is just around the corner: June 26-29.

For 2016, the conference and expo are being held in the “Mile High City” – Denver, CO – and we’ve compiled a short list of conference and city attractions that you won’t want to miss. To enjoy the full experience of ISTE 2016, consider doing the following:

Have you noticed how fast the K-12 educational landscape is changing? There are new laws, new research, and new approaches (derived from the new laws and research). And then there are the new tools to support those new approaches. It can all be a lot to stay on top of. The good news is that professional associations can help you to keep up. In our last post, we looked at five interesting professional associations for teachers. This time around, we look at five options for administrators.

Have you noticed how rapidly the K-12 educational landscape is changing? There are new laws, new research, and new approaches (derived from the new laws and research). And then there are the new tools to support those new approaches. It can all be a little overwhelming.

The good news is that professional associations can help you to keep up, move further along your career path, and even influence those laws. Sometimes just reading an association’s blog post or other available material can give you the information you need. With other organizations, you may want to become a full-fledged member to gain the maximum benefit.

Our list of the 10 most interesting educational associations out there is divided into two categories: one for teachers and one for administrators. In this post, Part I, we’ll tackle associations for teachers. Check out the list below and see which ones are right for you!

Simon Sinek once said, “Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.” As we thought about trying to articulate what attributes comprise a dynamo school leader, it began to feel a little like trying to eat bouillabaisse with a fork. Education is not an exact science: the qualities that are needed in teaching personnel will vary somewhat, depending on the specific objectives and needs of a school. But after hearing from some leading educators and doing some research into the topic, we came up with the following top characteristics of a strong school leader. These characteristics are generally the ones that diligent administrators will seek when looking for new teachers, and the ones that they will try to develop and improve in the veteran teaching force. 

The Mimio team has settled back in after FETC (January 12-15) in Orlando, Florida, and TCEA (February 6-10) in Austin, Texas. As always, both events were fun and informative. Here are some of the highlights and trends we noted at these two industry events.