The classroom is ever-changing. As time and technology slowly tweaks the way today’s students learn and adapt to new information, the best teachers are the ones who think outside of the box.

Innovative educators constantly adapt old learning strategies and lesson plans into something modern students can learn from and grow.

Educational technology is a great way that you can spice up your classroom, but it is not the only way. We found 10 things that innovative teachers do that fuel their student’s success.

1. Prioritize what is most important to your student’s future.

Innovation requires a level of honesty with yourself, especially on your goals and what is realistically possible. If you prioritize teaching the skills and lessons that will be the best for your students, you’ll worry less about trying to get everything into your lesson plans and focus more on the topics your students are more invested in.

2. Teach your students to find reliable sources.

The old school library has become outdated. Now, knowledge and information are at your students’ fingertips with search engines. Learn the ins and outs of online searches and teach your students how to effectively find reliable, useful resources during their online sources.

3. Know what tech and apps are out there – and what they are best used for

New educational apps can be exciting. But make sure that the time it takes to learn a whole new app and system is worth the end result. Avoid using new apps just because they are new and look cool. Make sure that your students learn something throughout the whole process from start to finish.

4. Be flexible but keep your high expectations

Students like a challenge. When a task is too easy, they will grow bored and start tuning you out. Having high expectations for your students’ abilities lets you keep them constantly challenging themselves to grow. But avoid the trap of becoming inflexible. Bend where you need to, and only as far as you need to.

5. Don’t let restrictive standards be an excuse for less engaging lesson plans.

Rules are rules but standards can be more like guidelines for your lesson plans. Avoid creating lesson plans limited by administrative standards. Take those initial guidelines and use them as your starting point in your lesson planning. Look at your topics from all angles to find ways you can branch off from the normal lessons and create a plan that will continue to engage your students.

6. Don’t be afraid of failure.

Ultimately, innovation is about failure. Educators, as well as students, learn more from failing than they do from always getting things right the first time. Innovators take risks, and when something doesn’t work as expected, they tweak their plans and lessons as they go along. Don’t be so afraid that a lesson has a chance to not go as planned that you refuse to try something new. Your students are worth the risk.

The classroom is ever-changing. As time and technology slowly tweaks the way today’s students learn and adapt to new information, the best teachers are the ones who think outside of the box.

Innovative educators constantly adapt old learning strategies and lesson plans into something modern students can learn from and grow.

Educational technology is a great way that you can spice up your classroom, but it is not the only way. We found 10 things that innovative teachers do that fuel their student’s success.

1. Prioritize what is most important to your student’s future.

Innovation requires a level of honesty with yourself, especially on your goals and what is realistically possible. If you prioritize teaching the skills and lessons that will be the best for your students, you’ll worry less about trying to get everything into your lesson plans and focus more on the topics your students are more invested in.

2. Teach your students to find reliable sources.

The old school library has become outdated. Now, knowledge and information are at your students’ fingertips with search engines. Learn the ins and outs of online searches and teach your students how to effectively find reliable, useful resources during their online sources.

3. Know what tech and apps are out there – and what they are best used for

New educational apps can be exciting. But make sure that the time it takes to learn a whole new app and system is worth the end result. Avoid using new apps just because they are new and look cool. Make sure that your students learn something throughout the whole process from start to finish.

4. Be flexible but keep your high expectations

Students like a challenge. When a task is too easy, they will grow bored and start tuning you out. Having high expectations for your students’ abilities lets you keep them constantly challenging themselves to grow. But avoid the trap of becoming inflexible. Bend where you need to, and only as far as you need to.

5. Don’t let restrictive standards be an excuse for less engaging lesson plans.

Rules are rules but standards can be more like guidelines for your lesson plans. Avoid creating lesson plans limited by administrative standards. Take those initial guidelines and use them as your starting point in your lesson planning. Look at your topics from all angles to find ways you can branch off from the normal lessons and create a plan that will continue to engage your students.

6. Don’t be afraid of failure.

Ultimately, innovation is about failure. Educators, as well as students, learn more from failing than they do from always getting things right the first time. Innovators take risks, and when something doesn’t work as expected, they tweak their plans and lessons as they go along. Don’t be so afraid that a lesson has a chance to not go as planned that you refuse to try something new. Your students are worth the risk.

Small business owners face lots of everyday obstacles in order to compete in today’s market.  As technology grows and expands into deeper integration with business, small business owners meet new challenges that technology continues to produce.

But no need to throw in the towel yet. We’ve compiled a few of the biggest problems technology can cause for a small business, and how to overcome them.

Problem: Lack of Information Technology Knowledge/Help

New technology may seem complex and confusing. Many small business owners have little experience with technology and can easily feel overwhelmed trying to sort through all of their options and going down a list of what items may be necessary to install to get their business up and running.

Solution: Use Search Engines to Your Advantage

While researching your options takes time, search engines like Google and Bing are your best and cheapest alternative to hiring an IT company to handle setting everything up for you. With a few moments of research using appropriate keywords, you can easily find the answers to any questions or issues you might have or run into.

Problem: Unable to Scale IT Needs as the Company Grows

After your business takes off, your website or internal storage may no longer be sufficient to handle your needs. As you hire new hands, you may not have the right services available to add new email addresses for your employees or email storage left.

Solution: Prepare Ahead of Time

Plan ahead as best as you can. If you only need 3 email addresses right now, but your service provider offers a choice to more, choose more. Choose a website provider whose servers can handle a lot of visitors at once and shows a willingness to adopt new website tricks. Planning and preparing for your business’ success is not just a good mindset to stay in, but a good technology strategy.

Problem: Training New Employees on Your Technology

If your CRM, email, or internal databases use a confusing, or not as user-friendly system or interface, it can be hard to get new employees up to speed quickly. Instead of taking care of other business matters, small business owners might end up spending more time than they’d like answering technology questions.

Solution: Collect and Record All How-To Information

In your research, make sure that you evaluate how helpful and useful a product’s support system is. The more helpful a product’s support is, the easier it will be to turn to them for advanced help. Keep a collection of all help, support and how-to information you might have been provided

Problem: High Cost of Technology

Technology is expensive. All the small costs add up over time, and most technology needed to keep your business running require monthly or yearly subscriptions. If your software or hardware is proprietary, it can limit your ability to find cheaper alternative solutions.

Solution: Research and Invest Wisely

Research is once again your friend. Before you put money down, be sure to check on how effective a product is or that it will not cause more headaches than it will fix. Shopping around also can help you find the harder to find at first glance, but more affordable, alternative. Be wary to not buy everything you think might be helpful or just looks impressive. If cost is a concern, invest only in what is most important to your business’ long term goals.