Students perform better when they feel like they are a part of a classroom and school community. Use culturally responsive practices to create a learning community where all students are engaged.

There's nothing liike the anticipation of Homecoming Week! How does your school celebrate Homecoming Spirit Week? Do students dress for a different theme every day? Are there class competitions in addition to athletic competitions? One way to get everyone in the spirit is to transform the hallways! School staff and student groups can help make homecoming enjoyable for everyone this year by facilitating school-wide visuals.

This post serves as an introduction to our newest series on the Maker Movement and it's impact and implications in education. Watch for more blog posts on the topic and a white paper in the coming weeks.

Mission: 
To build a better life for our students by creating an environment of high academic achievement while preserving Hmong culture and literacy. 
Vision:
To close the achievement gap and be recognized as one of the top ten charter schools in Minnesota.

Parent-teacher communication is vital to the success of any student, and it is important to begin those relationships early in the year. As a teacher, making yourself accessible and easy to get into contact with is a great gesture to parents.

Wondering how to integrate anchor charts and traditional classroom visuals with tablets, classroom computers, and interactive whiteboards? We created an interactive PDF (only 8 pages long) that details ways to integrate anchor charts into the technology-equipped classroom. Here's a sample of the sections included:

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 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.

Visuals are a great way to differentiate instruction for students of all learning abilities, especially students with disabilities. We recently came across a super useful and creative website, The Autism Helper, which offers a blog with plenty of classroom tips, personal testimonials, printables, and lesson ideas from Sasha Long. The article below (all text and images) is a March 18th blog post titled "Using Anchor Charts in an Autism Classroom." There are plenty of other great posts like this one on the website, as well as posted on The Autism Helper's Pinterest account! The anchor charts shown and suggested could easily be made and customized using our Poster Maker or Perfecta.