In digitally-equipped, interactive 21st century classrooms, reinforcement tools are still necessary. Tools like interactive whiteboards create a great, dynamic tool to use during lessons, but cannot reinforce key concepts on a daily basis. Visual reinforcements like anchor charts are necessary to classroom environment in order for students to continue learning once the board is turned off. However, this decision does not need to be an either-or decision. Interactive white boards and tangible posters and manipulatives can complement each other--here's how teachers can incorporate both learning tools into their classroom:

We asked one of our favorite guest bloggers, Julia Cremin, to share her reflections as a teacher on summer break. This is the second in her three-part "Summer Break" series. Read Part I here.

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

We asked one of our favorite guest bloggers, Julia Cremin, to share her reflections as a teacher on summer break. This is the first of her three-part "Summer Break" series.

We were thrilled to be an Editor's Choice for TechFaster's preview of this year's ISTE conference. Ashley Allen, a staff writer for TechFaster, spoke to our Director of Marketing and New Product Development, Nina Swienton mid June. Check it out! You can see the original article here.

The National Association of Elementary School Principals's (NAESP) annual conference is just around the corner! This is such an incredible conference due in some ways to the organization's committent to best practices in schools. As they put it, "When it comes to defining the future of elementary school education, it only happens here." There are eight focus areas this year, four of which are topics we are passionate about and often cover in our blog and which visuals and visual learning can play a vital role. If you are attending the conference, perhaps these will give you some food for thought on the way to Nashville! We've also listed a few presentations in each category that we have been eyeing.

We just got back from ISTE 2014—what an experience! After a tech-ridden weekend, we took time to reflect on how we support traditional classroom learning methods—methods that have remained into the 21st century. That’s when we started thinking about manipulatives. Manipulatives don’t have to be just building blocks or cubes—anything a visual-kinesthetic learner can physically or visually manipulate on his or her own that aids their learning process is a manipulative worth exploring.

In the most recent issue of NAESP’s Communicator, a report from the National Panel of New Principals disclosed statistics from new principals regarding parent involvement and engagement. They found that “most new principals have clearly defined goals for engagement.”