Rural Otterville, Missouri has a new business in town, and its location may surprise you! November's VariQuest Super School belongs to a district with a K-12 student population of about 250. The high school's Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter encourages and fosters student leadership by using VariQuest Visual Learning Tools to teach business skills. Otterville High School FBLA Chapter: Meeting School Needs & Engaging the Community

The Maker Movement is, we admit, a buzz-worthy phrase, but it is a movement that has the power to truly transform education and learning. After President Obama hosted the first ever White House Maker Faire this summer, more schools are working to implement maker spaces in their own halls.

"The best way to learn is to teach.” As Robert Slavin puts it, this is “the secret behind cooperative learning.” So, what is cooperative learning? It is a form of classroom group work that educators deem extremely effective. Instead of competitive or independent goals in group work, cooperative learning emphasizes working together.

Synonyms and antonyms are a vital part of a student's understanding of figurative language, and of words' relationships to each other. Learning the basics of synonyms and antonyms will give students the ability to express themselves more clearly, expand their vocabulary, and add emphasis to their speech and writing.

What comes to mind when someone speaks of Career and Technical Education? What connotations does that phrase hold in the education world? Are students eager to enroll CTE programs, or do they hesitate, wondering if CTE will help with college readiness? Enter the new players in Career and Technical Education, those who understand the rapidly evolving and complicated choices students will face, and the equally evolving and complicated industries they will enter. Enter high-quality CTE.

VariQuest's blog is open to educators across the country who are interested in sharing their ideas, stories and opinions with our network of teachers, administrators and more. If you have something you would like to share, please let us know! Email your ideas to variquest@variquest.com Charlie Brown’s teacher in the Peanuts comic strip is always represented with the phrase “Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah.” Even when Charlie answers, her retort is still the same. For many years we had a “sit-and-get” environment, teacher speak/student listen, drill and kill, skills-based learning for the knowledge and comprehension of the learning. Meeting the goal of 60% student engagement in the classroom for Common Core seems daunting, and many teachers are fearful of the Common Core approach. I am a teacher of the 70’s and 80’s. We taught the learning by embedding the skills and comprehension into the instruction through: Concept development Problem-based learning activities and simulations Inquiry method using Junior Great Books Requiring students to explain and demonstrate understanding of the critical details of what was learned Puzzles that made students analyze the features of the project to formulate the correct responses Show don’t tell method Taxonomy levels of learning

Students perform better when they feel like they are a part of a classroom and school community. Use culturally responsive practices to create a learning community where all students are engaged.

When you teach Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, high school students aren't exactly sitting on the edge of their chairs. In fact, they can be downright bored and frustrated.

The start of the new school year is a busy time for us here at Varitronics! While we work to make sure our VariQuest Visual Learning Tools are getting educators off to the start of their new year, we took a moment to reflect on our favorite memories from the first days of school.

There's nothing liike the anticipation of Homecoming Week! How does your school celebrate Homecoming Spirit Week? Do students dress for a different theme every day? Are there class competitions in addition to athletic competitions? One way to get everyone in the spirit is to transform the hallways! School staff and student groups can help make homecoming enjoyable for everyone this year by facilitating school-wide visuals.