Many people think that teaching is an easy job, but if you’re a teacher, you know this isn’t the case. In fact, a 2018 Gallup poll showed that 46% of teachers said they experience a high level of daily stress. With so many things to do to ensure the school day runs smoothly—from grading papers to preparing lessons and finding engaging content—it can be hard to keep up with all of the other important aspects of your life.

That’s why we’ve compiled this list of seven apps and services to help simplify your life as you work around all of the other important things you have to do as a teacher:

The semester is about halfway done for most of you, which means you’re probably well into preparing your students for their end-of-semester assessments and projects before they’re distracted by the winter holidays. We know this can be exhausting, and you deserve a break––even if it’s just for the duration of this blog post.

As we inch closer to 2020, we can look back at the significant strides and innovations in educational technology and the ways EdTech has redefined traditional education in the first two decades of the 21st century. Technology has become an integral part of the everyday learning process, with students, teachers, parents, and administrators all using important devices and software each day to increase efficiency and improve learning outcomes.

As a busy teacher, it can be hard to find the time to sit down and read teaching blogs, articles, or books for motivation and professional development. Luckily, we live in the golden age of the podcast, making it possible to listen to this same motivational and educational content while you’re doing something else, like commuting to school, organizing your classroom, or making dinner at home.

Because podcasts are easy to record and publish, there’s an extremely rich market of content to choose from. Weeding through all this content can take time, but we’ve done the research for you and found 10 inspiring and interesting podcasts with great reviews and ratings. All of the podcasts on this list are rated 4.5 stars or higher on Apple podcasts, so you know they’ll have great content!

Industry Influencers Leading the Way

As we enter a new school year, we thought it would be interesting to look at the change-makers leading the way in EdTech this year. Previously, we created a comprehensive list of the top 20 influencers in education technology, and earlier this year, we shared 10 more industry leaders. The EdTech industry is constantly growing and changing, so today we're sharing five more innovative influencers making active change to shape education for the future.

We know that if students can’t clearly see a lesson, they can’t be expected to retain the information. But did you know the same is true of hearing? Clear audio is essential to learning, but hearing loss, temporary impairment from an illness, and common classroom sounds can all get in the way of student learning.

View our new infographic to learn more about the role of hearing in the learning process:

As educators, we know how important STEM learning is to ensure our students succeed not just in the classroom, but out in the real world as well. Students need to develop the critical skills that will prepare them for life beyond the classroom as tomorrow’s engineers and innovators.

Modern Robotics merged with Boxlight earlier this year, enabling us to introduce the Mimio MyBot educational robotics system. This system was conceived and developed to fulfill a need in robotics and coding in the classroom without the added complexity common in most systems. The MyBot system helps students engage in learning experiences, preparing them in emerging STEM fields including software, robotics, and technology.

Like many school districts, Washington’s Monroe School District was suffering with technology and equipment that was anywhere from eight to 12 years old in a world where anything older than four is considered a dinosaur. “We had all sorts of different equipment across 376 instructional spaces,” says Rachelle Butz, executive director of digital learning and infrastructure for the district. “It was problematic from a learning standpoint because teachers won’t use technology if they can't trust it to be reliable when they are delivering lessons.”

Summer vacation is a great time for educators to get some much-needed rest and relaxation after a busy school year and intense testing season. However, getting too relaxed can make for a rough transition into the next school year. To take full advantage of your well-deserved free time, it’s important to fill your summer with productive, fun, and fulfilling activities that will leave you refreshed and ready to dive into another great year come fall.

On May 3, we celebrated the fourth Boxlight STEM Day (#BLSTEM) in conjunction with TAG-Ed’s Georgia STEM Day (#GASTEMDay). Students around Georgia, as well as several locations in Latin America, participated in lessons conducted with the Boxlight Labdisc. STEM Day is a hands-on, inquiry-based learning event designed to help students discover critical STEM skills and understand how STEM disciplines apply to the world around them. Lessons ranged in topics from heart rate and light absorbance to Newton’s second law.