As educators, we know how easy it is for students to say they understand a concept and are ready to move on. However, this is not always the case, so consider using formative assessment to determine what should happen next in your classroom.

The purpose of formative assessment is to gather feedback from your students in order to determine what your students have learned and help you decide on the upcoming instructional measures. Good formative assessment can provide immediate feedback and will impact how and what is being taught. In planning for formative assessment, ask yourself some questions such as: What is essential for my students to know or be able to do after my lesson? How might I assess that? How will the data change my teaching? We live in a digital age, and technology is a great tool for formatively assessing students in a way that makes the process more interesting for them.

As we turn the calendar, we have a new year full of possibilities. Even with all these possibilities, we also 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 2017, 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!

We thought it might be interesting to step back before we jump into a new year and see what numbers and statistics are indicating about various aspects of K-12 education. There’s no lack of resources in which to gather intelligence on the current state of everything K-12 from the National Assessment of Educational Progress—the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas to State Education Reform results.

But by no means do the numbers tell the entire story. Share your thoughts below on what these resources and reports mean to you!

It’s hard to believe the year is coming to a close. 2016 was a year with exciting new product launches, collaborative learning events, and the merger of Boxlight and Mimio, and we are poised and ready for great success in the coming year.

In order to embrace the new, we have to first reflect on the old. Each year, we ask ourselves questions such as:

1. What did we accomplish? (Including a list of our wins and achievements.)
2. What were the most significant events of the past year?
3. For what are we particularly grateful?

You’re practically swimming in “must-try” tool lists right now—we know. That’s why we created this unique one for you. These tools can be used in almost every classroom, from kindergarten to high school, and teach students important skills that they’ll need in our modern world, including coding, creativity, and kindness.  

More and more educators are finding that Chrome extensions are a useful classroom tool. We detailed our must-have extensions for students in a previous post, but these tools can be just as handy for teachers. Teachers can use extensions with students and on student devices, but can also use them on their own to help them operate more efficiently as a teacher. Chrome extensions function in a variety of ways—some change functionality within the Chrome browser, some create access to different websites, and others allow students and teachers to use Google applications in different ways.

With the increased popularity of Google Classroom, many teachers are finding Chrome extensions to be useful classroom tools. These extensions function in a variety of ways—some change functionality within the Chrome browser, some create access to different websites, and others allow students to use Google applications in different ways.

The challenge in every classroom is to keep each student moving steadily toward proficiency in his or her learning. We have all witnessed how personalized learning—with the teacher, alone, or in small groups—can meet this challenge, but I think we can also agree that some learning is best accomplished with everyone working together.

We all have our favorite go-to sources for professional information—those specific education technology magazines, in-the-know influential bloggers, or even “hottest of the hot” social media sites. Each has their own unique take on the latest teaching trends and methodologies across all subject areas and instructional levels. They may review new products and services for everything from literacy to professional development. Or, they may publish the latest research studies on everything from the social-emotional factors influencing student learning to whether devices are engaging students effectively. All, in one way or another, can help us do what we do in our particular corner of the education world.