HAPPY BIRTHDAY WORLD! While we know every day is Earth Day, on April 22nd, we honor and celebrate this place we call home by demonstrating support to protect, respect and care for our planet. Founded in 1970, and celebrated by more than a billion people, Earth Day is a day to teach us about environmental issues and show partnership in making our world a happier, healthier place to live—giving Mother Earth the best birthday gift ever! This year's theme is, Invest in our planet, an all-encompassing movement to not only protect our planet, but also protect and preserve our health, our families and our livelihoods. To serve this mission we are all called upon, and as educators, that includes helping our students discover ways in which they can take personal action to help. After all, the future of our planet rests in their precious little hands.

Spring has recently sprung, which means some very important events are fast approaching! We want to make sure you are equipped with the tools you need to make preparations a breeze, which is why we are providing VariQuest® customers with a collection of all-new customizable templates for the upcoming prom and graduation seasons! Whether you need graduation banners, prom posters or personalized invitations, we’ve got you covered with all that and more in our Engage Every Learner® 2022 Prom & Graduation Expansion Pack!

Self-Awareness: the ability to see yourself clearly. How do others see me? How do I see myself? How are my actions being interpreted? Are my actions in line with the person I want to be perceived as? What are my strengths and weaknesses? How can I use those to make a positive impact? As children ask these questions to cultivate an understanding of how their choices, emotions, and actions affect the world around them, it is important we as educators help guide them in exercises to enhance their self-awareness, and of course, make learning about it fun! In this bonus installment of our social-emotional learning unit series, we spark discussion among students about what it means to be self-aware.

There are plenty of reasons and ways to recognize students. Doing so promotes self-confidence, determination, a positive attitude, and overall social-emotional wellbeing! In the age of cell phones, social media influencers, and YouTube stars, the word "selfie" has become commonly used in our vocabularies, and the concept is foreign to no one. Alongside displaying student artwork in your school hallways and classrooms, allow students to showcase work they're especially proud of, and infuse parental involvement in a modern way with this fun and easy selfie station in your classroom!

Traveling from classroom to classroom, assisting students, completing necessary documentation, and on top of their vital instruction and planning, these are the challenges that middle and high school special education teachers face every day. Creating schedules to meet varying needs and keeping well-organized notes and records is of the utmost importance, to avoid becoming overwhelmed. We've joined with Cathy Henry, founder and partner of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work and with a Master's Degree in Special Education, to bring you this toolkit complete with printable charts, posters, handouts, and more to assist you in organizing and managing your important workload.

If you are interested in purchasing a digital die-cutting machine, you may be wondering how to select the best option for your needs. Die-cutting machines are exceptional tools for everyone from crafters to professional businesses, to teachers and students. Below, we provide some key tips for choosing the optimum digital die cut machine for your applications. At VariQuest, we offer the Cutout Maker 1800, a high quality die-cutting machine ideal for the classroom.

We tend to think of visual cues as supportive tools for students with special needs or for English language learners, but sets of visual prompts can also be helpful to students outside of these groups, and especially important for classroom management. This concept might relate to a direction in the classroom, a recognition of desired behavior, or a redirection.

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, has been celebrated for thousands of years. It is one of the most important holidays widely celebrated in many Asian countries and territories including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Thailand. Usually falling between January 21st and February 20th, this year's start of the Chinese New Year will occur on Tuesday, February 1st, and is the Year of the Tiger. The celebration lasts for about 15 days. Gung Hay Fat Choy is a common Chinese New Year’s greeting in Chinese Cantonese, which means “wishing you great happiness and prosperity.” On Chinese New Year, the themes of happiness, wealth, longevity, luck and good fortune are celebrated. Some of the traditional celebrations include family gatherings, visiting friends and relatives (baai nin), exchanging “lucky money” contained in red envelopes (lai see), decorating homes with paper decorations and scrolls, lion dances, and fireworks. Chinese New Year is a special holiday to celebrate with your class while teaching them others’ cultures and comparing them to American traditions. We have put together a collection of fun, hands-on and Common Core-aligned lessons and activities, classroom decorations, and craft projects for you to explore and enjoy with your class, and I want to share them with you!

We're used to seeing them everywhere now - not just as lines on a basketball court for gym class, but where to stand for social distancing and which direction to walk down a hallway. Vinyl floor markers, which are great tools for health and safety, can also be used for sensory paths, athletic activities, and room organization, making them a useful activity in classrooms, hallways, and school buildings to increase student engagement and "get out the wiggles" while learning.

VariQuest® is your source for the various tools and ideas you need to improve the classroom experience for teachers and students. We offer an exceptional array of learning tools and devices including learning tools for visual learners you can combine with your curriculum to transform the way your students are taught and how they learn.