VariQuest Blog

Distance Learning Social-Emotional Support: Flat Teacher

Written by VariQuest Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Suite | Wed, Dec 09, 2020 @ 08:13 PM

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!

You will need:

If you have the VariQuest Cold Laminator 2510 and Cutout Maker 1800, you'll laminate your construction paper first (and if you don't, you will laminate your construction paper at the end) and cut your "people" shapes. Then you'll print stickers of your smiling face on your VariQuest Motiva 400, or if you don't have the Motiva, cut from printed photos and affix them securely to your person shapes. It's that easy!

Distribute the "Flat Teachers" to your students along with fun and easy instructions on what to do with them. Some ideas:

  1. Have students take pictures of how Flat Teacher accompanied them in their holiday traditions - to explain to the class what holidays they celebrate at this time of year, and the things they decorate or do with their families to honor them!
  2. Have students write a story (in the third person) about something Flat Teacher did during winter break. Did Flat Teacher go sledding down a hill and do a flip? Was Flat Teacher helping bake cookies in the kitchen and sneaking extra chocolate chips? Did Flat Teacher go for a walk, where he/she chased a rabbit?
  3. Have students cut out pictures, or draw pictures to make a collage poster of things they learned alongside their Flat Teacher during distance learning - with Flat Teacher glued in the middle. (The VariQuest Perfecta STP Poster Design System is a great tool to create a template for this in the VariQuest Design Software!)
Or of course, the Flat Teacher can just be a fun companion to take home and accompany students at what might feel like a lonely time.

Want to learn more about how the VariQuest Suite could help with projects like this one, to save time and enhance learning whether students are in or out of the classroom? Schedule a no-obligation demonstration of our tools today!