We're moving towards holiday break, and we don't need to tell you that it has been one crazy year. Whether your students are heading home for their break early in distance learning, or they're only apart from the classroom for the holiday, send them off with a "Flat Stanley"-like cutout of their favorite teacher (that's you!) and a fun assignment to document your (their) experiences while you're in two different places! With social-emotional support at the top of every educator's mind during a trying year, what better way to remind your students you're always with them, than a small cutout take-along of yourself!

It's well known among educators that in the learning pyramid, students learn a small percentage of what they see, hear, and do - but they learn the most from teaching others. In this activity to practice math skills, students in grades 1-8 will put together their own game - helping them learn during its creation, and when the game is carried out, they're teaching others how to follow by the rules they designed!

2020 is almost behind us, and the holidays are looking different this year. But one thing that will not change is the spirit of giving - and we'd like to give back to you. In a year of in-person, distance, and hybrid learning, you've adapted your teaching in a thousand different ways. Thanks to technology, our world has gone on - but children still require hands-on activities to grow their minds, and our VariQuest team, many of whom are former educators, truly believes in the VariQuest Suite whether learning is occurring virtually or in the classroom. So we turn to you - our nation's best educators, to find out more about how you are, or would, use the VariQuest Suite of Tools and Content - when students are learning from home - and in exchange we're giving away lamination tools to protect your materials and make them "sanitize-able"!

Introducing a new learning concept with students may feel like a daunting task - with the uncertainty of the coming weeks top-of-mind. In the year that keeps us on our toes, we can still rely on those teaching strategies that are tried-and-true for classroom instruction, but quickly adapt them for distance learning when we have the right tools. The Y-Chart is one of them. The concept of a Y-Chart is likely not new to you, but thinking of ideas on how to make this group discussion concept work in a hybrid or distance learning environment, might be. We've again partnered with Cathy Henry from Free Word Work and The Curriculum Corner to put together some tips and activities that you can use, especially for distance learning.

As educators scramble to plan for hybrid learning models in the upcoming holiday season, one subject on their minds, especially in the earlier grades, is math. Kits with tools for counting, multiplication tables, and reference reminders are being assembled both for classroom use, where teachers are attempting to prevent shared resources, and as a take-home resource to send with students during distance learning. Because children learn best when they can explore via hands-on activities and collaboration, these kits prove essential whether we're able to be in-person and sanitizing frequently, or when virtual support is the best we can do. By assembling individual toolkits, you will be able to provide students with resources they need to explore math concepts with necessary help. We have partnered with Cathy Henry from Free Word Work and The Curriculum Corner, to bring you this guide for creating your own math toolkits!

Putting together lesson plans is no easy task. Putting together lesson plans that students will need to complete at home due to virtual or hybrid learning is even harder. And putting together take-home lesson plans for distance learning to help students with a special need like English Language Learners (ELL) might be the hardest of all. As we navigate our 2020 holiday season where many educators are having to adapt and plan for the upcoming inevitable, you may be trying to gather all the tools you can, to create an arsenal of activities that accomplish your curriculum - but can be done from home. We've partnered with Cathy Henry from Free Word Work and The Curriculum Corner to put together some lesson plans and activities that you can use, especially for distance learning.

Some schools have set up classroom calming corners, places where students can be taken for a brief period of time to relax and decompress from over stimulating activity or frustrating tasks. At VariQuest, we offer the Cutout Maker 1800, a reliable and effective digital die cutting machine that may be used by teachers to help students learn in a visual manner through the production of shapes, letters, numbers, bulletin board items, and manipulatives that are automatically cut. These items and others may be used in calming corners to help students relax and learn at a slower pace for a period of time.

There's so much to learn from this worldwide pandemic. And the questions multiply faster than the answers. One of the more prominent topics, is how to keep ourselves and others healthy and safe, when disease-spreading is at risk. Mask-wearing and social distancing were concepts we hadn't considered even one year ago, and now they are commonplace. We're all doing our best to help young people understand these strange new "norms." When learning must go on and education isn't confined to the classroom, educators may be searching for creative ways to help students understand the WHY behind our current precautions. And you may also be looking for ways to reinforce these precautions within your school buildings.

In a year seemingly ruled by "Murphy's Law" - you're looking at supplies for your school that you've never had to before. And when you think about using precious funding dollars on tools you'll need during a time of a global pandemic, you might also wish they'll have longevity in use for the years of (hopefully) normalcy to come. Safe school elements you might be looking at would include capabilities to make posters, floor markers, personal protection and property labels, wipe-clean surfaces, and cleaning supplies - but how do you translate this need for now, with your needs for learning - both distance and in-person? Let's take a look at 3 "now and then" solutions for your school that will be a great fit whether you're navigating a pandemic, or not.

With the return of students to classrooms during this pandemic, 2020 has provided a robust amount of talking points and learning opportunities surrounding important topics such as race, inclusivity, safety and mental health. So how do you equip your teachers to address these topics with their students? How do you empower them to build substantial understanding and empathy towards their fellow classmates, neighbors and community members?