When I started teaching—and before I had my own children—I often referred to my students as “my kids” or “my kiddos.” I truly felt connected with them, and did my best to guide them onto their successes during the school year. When I became a mother for the first time, my equilibrium shifted. No longer were my students the sole focus of my day, and I slowly learned to prioritize my tasks. I needed to use my time more efficiently and with greater intention in order to arrive home and be completely present with my own children.

The door to the future is through education. We have a shared dream to create a better future for our students, providing them with the best education now so they will have the best opportunities to succeed in college and their subsequent careers when they are older.

Teaching is a hard job. Even if you aren’t a teacher—heck, even if you don’t have kids—you would probably agree that teaching is tough. Teachers are on their feet most of the day, delivering lessons while blocking out eye rolls, yawns, nose-picking, kids leaning back in their chairs, excessive talking, students playing on “hidden” devices, bodily noises, and more. Why do we do it? It’s certainly not for the money or accolades. Yet, nothing quite compares to the feeling of a good day of teaching when things go right, kids respond, and you feel like you’ve gotten through to your students. 

Over the past few years, EdTech investment reached all-time highs as funds poured in through both the public and private sectors. In fact, education technology companies saw growth of over 503% in investment through 2010 to 2014, according to a CBS Insights report. In 2015, deal activity to EdTech startups reached an all-time high, as startups raked in $3.1 billion in 491 deals.

With the education market currently valued at $4.4 trillion per year, there is huge potential for companies looking to disrupt an industry and deliver new ways for students around the world to learn the skills needed for their future careers. And with EdTech poised to capture a great deal of investment in 2017 and become the biggest and most profitable digitized sector yet, a number of companies have emerged to capitalize on this opportunity and offer groundbreaking new products.

It’s not always easy keeping up with all the online tools, websites, blogs, and classroom resources that are available to us as educators. We often spend time searching online for the best fit for our classroom needs—sometimes not getting the results we anticipated. Here is a list of highly recommended educational resources to support teaching and learning:

We are only about 25% of the way through the year, but there has already been a number of exciting books published in the world of education. From scholarly books to practical guides and straight-talking classroom help to intellectual political thought, there is something new to be found for every type of teacher leader.

We know how mind-numbing it can be to search and apply for grants and funding for your classroom. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to get gadgets into your classroom without actually taking money out of your own pocket. We decided to make it a little bit easier by showing you some opportunities that you can take advantage of. Here is a short list of ways to receive funding for technology in your classroom:

The Boxlight Mimio team has settled back into their daily routines after FETC (January 24–27) in Orlando, Florida and TCEA (February 6–10) in Austin, Texas. As always, both events were exciting and enlightening, and reminded us how our tech-savvy educators know they must stay on top of education trends in order to learn how teaching and learning can best benefit from technology’s near-constant changes.

Bob Dylan’s lyrics, “The times, they are a-changin’,” have never been more relevant as educators face new mandates for preparing students for the future. And what’s more, I think the single biggest trend for this year can be summed up in just a few letters—AR/VR—and maybe one word: makerspaces.

It’s time to get ready for one of the “must-attend” events for innovative educators: TCEA Annual Convention and Exposition. Held in Austin, Texas from February 6–10, this yearly convention brings together campus- and district-level educators (administrators, teachers, tech directors, media specialists, etc.) to explore educational technology integration and best practices that enhance productivity and build engaging teaching methods. Plus, the event offers stellar networking opportunities!