CARES, ESSER, HEERF, GEER....is your head spinning with letters? With additional funding for education to assist with planning in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic, there's a lot to process in terms of what is meant for which purpose, and we're here to help. Below you'll find some explanations, links, and a downloadable resource to help guide you through the COVID Funding for Education "jungle" and offer some suggestions on investments that align with the funding to enhance learning and safety today, tomorrow, and beyond!

At the close of a year, we talk a lot about new year's resolutions - and how we want to better ourselves in the "fresh start" of a new orbit around the sun. But after the 2020 we had, it feels more important to look ahead to the possibilities of the future and frame "betterment" in a new light - in the form of hopes, dreams, and visions for what could be.

This wintertime at school looks stranger than it ever has and it is vital that students and school staff feel safe when coming into the classroom. At VariQuest, we’ve stood with educators via our Visual & Kinesthetic Learning Suite to help schools all across the country address the needs of the whole child through blended learning and differentiated instruction. Our visual machine learning tools have helped students feel supported throughout the years and in this ever-changing, tumultuous time, these tools are here to help make the transition back to school as smooth as possible.

There's no doubt about it, most of us are spending more time at home these days. And when we spend lots of time at home, we tend to have more time to think. This year, there has been a lot to think about. We wouldn't be able to teach history in our classroom if no one had documented it, and because no two experiences are alike, it is a valuable exercise to encourage our students to document their own experiences at 2020's end.

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.