Ed tech educators are pros at integrating the power of technology and connectivity into learning and teaching, but there's likely still room to apply a few new tools and tricks to improve everyday life.

1. Use it so they don't lose it: At the next open house, post your contact information on a QR code so parents have no excuse for not finding you on their smartphones when they need to communicate.
   
2. Don't email parents and colleagues. They won't read long messages. Instead, load Audioboom and record your messages to share from a link.
   
3. Step away from the email yourself. If you start your day reading email, stop that nasty habit today. It's the best way to give away your control on the whole day. Instead, batch process those suckers between classes or other trapped timeslots. This way, you set the priorities on which to do at a glance. Scary? Rely on an app like Sanebox to sort these messages before you even see them.
   
4. Don't look for news. It's a waste of time. In today's connected world, if it's important, it will find you.
   
5. Make it fun for students to smart off. Or show off. Or check off. Rely on sites like ReciteThis.com and Smore.com to help your students make inspirational quotation posters or fun flyers that don't look like the average creative writing app, but the results can be the same.