Kindness. Fairness. Respect. Self-Discipline. Courage. Perseverance. Responsibility. Cooperation. Trustworthiness. Integrity. Far beyond the reaches of science, math, and reading, our students are learning so much more with educators' help - understanding their feelings, working with others, and building confidence to take on the challenges that life will face them with. As teachers are often the first source of adult guidance outside the home, we owe it to our students to equip them with as many tools as possible to not only understand the solar system, but also their role as a fellow human in our great big world. What should we do if we see someone take something that doesn't belong to them? What should we do if we see a friend who is sad? How do we work with our peers to build a tall tower? What if someone tells us a secret they ask us not to share?

We're talking a lot about virtual needs and resources these days, but what about needs for those who NEED to be in-person? We at VariQuest are corresponding (from a distance, of course) with friends and family who are on the front lines of fighting this pandemic in healthcare facilities, and a common need at these places was around mitigating confusion via signage. People showing up to schools and hospitals need to know where they can and should go, to get the essential food pick-up and emergency care they need. And we thought - we can help with that!

Integrity: to act according to what's right and wrong regardless of who knows. Going beyond knowing what's right and wrong, integrity encompasses many personality traits including honesty, fairness, responsibility, reliability, and others in our social-emotional learning unit series, all rolled into one. But how do you teach students to do the right thing, especially when no one is looking? What if you saw a friend cheat on a test? What if you broke something at a store? What if your teacher needs to leave the room? Learning about integrity within its context in a student's great big world and facilitating discussion around "what ifs" helps grow understanding about how it affects not only themselves, but also those around them.

As most teachers these days grew up themselves in a school system without the option of virtual learning, our nation's current school shutdown environment - lasting more than 1-2 "snow days" - is brand new territory. And because we as a nation are coming together virtually in a time of social distancing, there are tons of resources available online at free or minimal cost to ensure every student has the proper access to continue their learning in these strange times. Because many of you and your students are trying to only leave home for essentials, we've put together some ideas for real, educational places you can explore online, and still learn about the great big world:

To our VariQuest Community - With the current state of affairs in our world, I wanted to take the time to express that our thoughts are with those affected by the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic. We, like the schools that we serve, take health and safety very seriously, and are taking all necessary precautions for both our customers and employees to ensure the wellbeing of our entire VariQuest family, while maintaining exemplary customer service and support. As we continue to follow the CDC and WHO recommendations for our employees, We know that the safety of students and staff is your top priority, and outside visitors coming into the school can be a concern - especially right now. I felt it important to reiterate the options our technology-centric world affords us, to ensure that everyone feels comfortable navigating through this unprecedented time.

At VariQuest, we offer many tools and resources to help you enhance the learning environment in your classroom. Our interactive learning tools for teachers and students are highly effective for helping children flourish in the classroom and increase in their knowledge and comprehension of different subjects. With the latest trends in classroom technology, teachers are turning more to interactive methods of teaching, and using the various tools that make this way of relating information, data, concepts, and ideas possible. Educators have numerous opportunities to present information in a fun and engaging way through interactive learning.

Trustworthiness: deserving of trust, confidence, or reliability. As babies, our first experiences with trust come from our caregivers - in trusting that they'll feed us when we're hungry, clean us when we're dirty, and rock us to sleep when we're tired. As we grow, trust evolves even more into continuity and reliability in becoming comfortable with those around us - and as we learn about the great big world, we learn to look for honesty, integrity, and compassion from a trustworthy person. But recognizing trustworthiness is more than knowing that we shouldn't approach a stranger offering free candy. It's about students recognizing and developing trustworthy traits within themselves, to know what that means in others.

We're coming up to the month of March, where [we hope] spring is springing and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) celebrates Music in our Schools Month. Jennie Nichols, music teacher to 650 K-5 elementary students at Covington-Harper Elementary School in Virginia, has a busy March every year, as they celebrate the month's distinction. In 2019, Ms. Nichols was putting on six grade-level concerts in just one week, and she thought, wouldn't it be great to recognize all the students' hard work and document the days with a fun photo booth?

At VariQuest, we help educators and students alike in the quest for effective teaching and learning by supplying easy-to-use and highly effective visual and teaching aids. As you review our selection of academic tools that are able to help you transform your classroom, you will find excellent solutions for helping teachers teach and students learn more effectively. These tools create effective teaching aids such as visual posters, presentation templates, and more.

Cooperation: to work together in a positive way towards a common goal or purpose. From "circle time" to "group projects" and beyond, cooperation is a prevalent theme throughout all age levels of daycare, schooling, and the professional world. And cooperation can't operate alone - it requires some of our earlier social-emotional lessons to be taught first, as it incorporates kindness, fairness, respect, and so much more. Beginning in preschools where you're helping your friends, teaching cooperation (or teamwork) is a great way to motivate the class to work together and help them understand why that's important. But cooperation isn't just in the classroom - it's important to teach students to apply what they've learned in this lesson within their families, their activities, and their places in the world.