Every April is Move More month, created by the American Heart Association to motivate people to increase their activity and improve their health. Physical activity benefits more than the body’s health; studies have shown that physical activity also improves attention, mood, and reasoning skills. For example, increased activity has shown to improve concentration and sharpen memory. How?

With almost a year of considerable use of education technology, including web-enabled devices, large-screen interactive panel displays, video conferencing software, learning management systems, and web cameras, the need to keep students safe is greater. At the beginning of the school year, most districts made sure parents and students signed some type of Acceptable Use Agreement for online learning and digital resources to ensure a safe learning environment. What are general safety reminders and expectations teachers and parents need to make sure are followed?

April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day, a day that recognizes the rights of those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). What is ASD? It is a developmental disorder that can cause people to behave, communicate, interact, and learn in different ways than most others. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov), in 2016 there were 1 in 54 eight-year-old children identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the United States.* What does this mean for classrooms across the country? Teachers need to be prepared to teach students with ASD, using a variety of strategies and tools including educational technology. Read some tips for supporting your students with ASD in the classroom.

We are at the mid-year mark (Spring Break…woohoo!) and it’s time to really look at how students are progressing. With the challenges of school closures, it is important to know how much students have been able to retain and identify the learning goals that still need to be met. This knowledge can lead to personalized instruction that is tailored to each student, meeting their academic needs, strengths, and interests. Not sure where to begin? Here are some quick tips for increasing personalized learning:

March 18^th is Global Recycling Day and this year’s theme is ‘Recycling Heroes’ to recognize those who demonstrate the critical role that recycling plays. This includes what these recycling heroes do to help keep the environment clean and balanced. By recycling, we help decrease the need for collecting and processing non-renewable resources like coal and oil, and raw materials like trees. All these activities contribute to the pollution of our air and water, as well as increase greenhouse gas emissions thus affecting the climate. Recycling saves energy and reduces the hazardous effects of greenhouse gases such as the continued rise of global temperatures, melting ice caps, and the increased danger of wildfires. Really, we all could be recycling heroes by the actions we take. Here are activities to try with your class, even in a hybrid learning environment:

Engaging students and keeping them interested in what they’re learning is among the list of things teachers are perpetually working at improving. Each school year brings a different group of young minds with abilities, experiences, and levels of confidence. With many schools facilitating instruction within hybrid learning and remote learning environments, teachers are faced with the added challenge of engaging students who are spending an increased chunk of time in front of a screen without in-person interaction. Inquiry-based learning strategies can prove to be just what is needed for students to become excited about what their learning, while also giving teachers a clearer picture of how and what their students are understanding.

To celebrate the opening of the Boxlight Virtual Classroom, we have a special promotion combining the virtual classroom experience and multi-award winning MimioConnect® Blended Learning Platform. For any school team (minimum of four educators) that schedules a virtual learning session within our Virtual Classroom, the entire school will gain access to MimioConnect! The Get Connected, Stay Connected promotion is only for the month of March and a maximum of 30 schools will be chosen so register ASAP!

Dr. Don Gemeinhardt joined the Boxlight family late last year as Director of Strategic Funding. He is a grant and proposal subject matter expert who has worked with various companies involved with education, compliance training, and student, faculty, and police officer development. His role at Boxlight is focused on helping schools and districts identify funding opportunities for education technology, STEM solutions, and professional development.

Teachers are busy searching for and creating collaborative, interactive lessons that will motivate and engage their learners. But time is essential, and teachers need an easy-to-use software that can help them build dynamic activities and lessons in a matter of minutes. The software should be compatible with any of a variety of education technology hardware such as document cameras, interactive flat panel displays, projectors, and interactive whiteboards. When looking for teacher-friendly software that can be customized for a variety of learning situations, make sure these four features are included:

Have you hit your rhythm with lesson planning, teaching, meeting with students, and grading assignments? Are your students excited each time they walk in the classroom or turn on their web cameras for remote learning? Do you wake up each morning with so much energy that the cup of coffee you pour is really unnecessary? While there may be moments of ‘Yes’, it can also be ‘Sometimes’, and ‘I wish’; regardless, your work and efforts to make learning an enjoyable and active learning experience is appreciated.