Education Resources Blog

According to Neil Fleming's popular "VARK" model of learning types/styles, there are 4 main learning styles - including visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. Other models list additional types including social, logical, solitary, musical, and combinations of any of these. Visual learners comprehend concepts best when there are visual aids to complement learning. Examples of this could include graphs, symbols, depictions, or otherwise. It's why we decorate our classrooms with vibrant anchor charts, conceptual reminders, and graphic examples! And because neurodivergent students typically learn better with visuals rather than relying on verbal, special education classrooms can benefit greatly from supplemental learning materials that complement teaching a wide range of concepts.

The following is a guest blog from our favorite expert on Whole Brain Teaching & Learning, Dr. Melissa Hughes. Some of you may know that I started my career in a 4th grade classroom. What many people may not know is that my journey to understand how the brain works and how to make it work better started there. It would have been really helpful for me to know as a teacher what I know now about those factors that impact memory, focus, concentration, creativity. While all students have the same pieces and parts between their ears, each is unique in strengths, challenges, learning preferences, and ability.

Color is believed to be the most important visual experience to human beings. More specifically, significant research has been conducted in recent years exploring the function of color as a powerful channel to cognition and memory. Marketers have known for years how effective color can be with brand recognition and attitudes consumers form about products and companies. For example, a 2004 marketing study found that color increases brand recognition and influences purchasing decisions by up to 80%.

Wish you could scan your completed graphic organizer and easily email it to the class? Want to enlarge your students’ pencil artwork to display in the hallway? Looking to connect with parents as they walk in the entrance with a colorful welcome banner? Do all that and then some with a cool brand new tool made just for schools—VariQuest® Perfecta™ 3600STP! WHAT IS PERFECTA 3600STP? VariQuest has extended the Perfecta product line with an industrious printer (without the industrious size). We’re introducing the only scan-to-print full color printing system that exists to support and improve school-wide communication. Whether you’re differentiating instruction via colorful infographics, promoting district-wide initiatives through engaging posters, or boosting school pride with spirited banners, you can send the right message to the right audience with ease. Perfecta 3600STP has a fully-integrated scanner, allowing users the ability to both shrink and enlarge scanned pieces ranging from 6" to 36" wide. Maximize your value by adding the optional VariQuest Design Center, a touch-enabled workstation storing thousands of education-based templates and graphics, making poster-designing a cinch.

"The one-room schoolhouse was a place where a single educator faced the daily challenge of teaching to meet the needs of all students. Learner characteristics like age, cultural background, cognitive ability, and physical challenges did not separate students into different spaces and different places. The teacher negotiated all of these variables within a single room." (source)

The National Association for Elementary School Principals (NAESP)'s annual conference kicks off in two weeks in Long Beach, CA (June 30-July 2). Each year the conference, designed for educators on the "front lines," challenges leaders to think, what's next? Attendees can choose their conference focus from several tracks:

If you've been keeping up on education trends lately, chances are you’re familiar with the recent emphasis on doing, creating, crafting, constructing, designing, building…essentially, making! From using laser cutters to building a house of LEGO® bricks, the goal is to make. The importance of this multidisciplinary hands-on learning has been sweeping the nation, one makerspace at a time.

EdSurge recently published an opinion article titled: "Where Edtech is Failing Special Education." Kara Brooks-Odom, a teacher of 16 years, outlines her experiences with the education technology industry in how it meets, or, in this case, doesn't meet, the needs of her students and her classroom.

The education community has an increasingly diverse and vocal channel for discussing best practices, teaching and learning styles, and other hot topics and buzz words. These concepts can quickly become muddled and confusing if not properly defined and discussed. For example, differentiated, individualized, and personalized learning sound like they could be synonymous and interchangeable. However, there are clear distinctions between them. Let's start with differentiated instruction and personalized learning:

One of the cornerstones of teaching ELL students is vocabulary. Vocabulary is not only vital to reading,writing, speaking, and listening, but also to understanding broader concepts and making connections between subjects. The introduction of these new words and phrases are usually well received by students, but difficulties can arise in terms of retention. We recently attended the national Title I conference in Salt Lake City, and noticed that a number of sessios focused on engaging students, and specifically sessions on engaging ELL students to help them retain content. Joanne Billingsly, in her presentation "Making Content Sticky," outlined ways to build academic vocabulary and increase retention among ELL students: "The availability of color illustrations and teaching diagrams that support student understanding and retention of new words."