As summer begins to wind down and the first week of school approaches, we often find ourselves losing sleep thinking about all of the things we need to do to get organized. Before that first week approaches, here are 18 steps to organize yourself with technology:

Navigating the EdTech industry can often be an overwhelming task. As an educator, you have the responsibility to bring the right technologies into your classroom to help improve your students’ learning experiences. With all the available options, it can be hard to decide what the best approach is for your students. Here at Boxlight, we want to make it simple for educators to implement EdTech in their schools.

That’s why we have assembled this comprehensive list of educator guides that will help you bring educational technology into your school:

Over the past several years, K-12 education has started to shift away from delivering technology that keeps the show running behind the scenes. Instead, there has been a fresh emphasis on main stage performances—engaging learners in innovative ways to improve student outcomes.

With new education technology becoming more accessible to streamline communication between teachers and their administration, it's important to stay up to date with what's available. The use of SMS texting is great for sending out quick messages—and keeping educators informed at all times. Teachers can use SMS technology to collaborate on lesson plans, organize events, and share information with colleagues. With most text messages being read within a few minutes, it's the fastest way to reach out and communicate.

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:

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.

This title may be a little misleading—perhaps it should be “student social media tools I have never heard of.” Some of these sites are more prominent, more familiar, and have more subscribers than others. All of them fit into a category of networking or social sites that students in your school are probably using. Beyond Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, here are a few that you need to know about:

Professional development can mean a variety of things to educators and can be provided to us in numerous ways. This might include attending yearly conferences, participating in district meetings and workshops, taking online courses or webinars, or connecting with other educators through social media. Have you ever considered “do it yourself” professional development through the means of blogging? Blogging provides opportunities to connect with other educators, improve your professional practice, and personalize your professional development with relevant and specific content to meet your educational needs.

10 Ways to Use Social Media

We live in the age of social media. It keeps us connected to our friends and families, our communities, and even the world. As educators, we need to take advantage of everything this tool has to offer, using educational connections and resources to better not only ourselves, but our students as well. So how can we best use this mighty tool?