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!

Developing a Growth Mindset isn't easy - but that's what makes it important. There are talents you're born with, talents you develop, and talents that aren't yours...yet. Research shows that your mindset is what drives your abilities to achieve goals and accomplishments, so when we suggest that a student's strengths lie 'elsewhere' - we're actually doing them a disservice to divert their dedication in another direction. To develop a growth mindset, we must first understand ourselves, and what strengths we have that help us achieve success in all endeavors. To help students realize these things, we can point them in the direction of looking at goals they've already achieved, milestones they've reached, tools and resources available to them, and asking for input from those around them. Enter this fabulous printable take-home activity created with ideas from Dr. Melissa Hughes, expert on whole brain teaching and learning: My Growth Mindset Year Journal.

Gratitude: to show appreciation for. It's easier to focus on the bad, but to develop a strong growth mindset, we must help our students focus on the good. Going beyond saying thank you to others, gratitude is being thankful for all that we are blessed with, and is shown through acts of kindness, cooperation, and embrace. In this bonus installment of our social-emotional learning unit series, we spark discussion among students about what it means to develop a grateful heart.

We used to think of a healthy person as someone who focused on a well-balanced diet and regular exercise. But as more and more research has been done on the subject of health, we as a society have moved to a more wholistic discussion - focusing on health of not just the body, but also the mind and soul. And at no point has this ever been truer than through the rollercoaster of the last couple years. In the same vein, we used to think of a school as a place where students came to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic. And while educators have always been social-emotional supports and adult role models for their students outside the home, schools have also changed with the times to incorporate a more whole-child-based focus, supporting not just the minds and bodies of our students, but focusing on emotional support as well. As social-emotional learning is powerful for forming strong, confident members of our society for the future, we at VariQuest are constantly coming up with new ways to support our educators in strengthening their social-emotional support curriculum. Here are a few resources that might help in your classroom and school building:

We paint our walls, choose our belongings, and get dressed every day based on color. With an immense gift as a species to see the world through vibrant tones, it has been researched and frequently discussed that color can have mood-boosting, mind-stimulating, and sensory-calming effects on humans. And of course, our classrooms for our students are no different. Outside of the colors we use in our environment and in our learning materials, the act of coloring can also have incredible effects on the brain's ability to focus and learn, thus supporting our students' social-emotional wellbeing. Reduced anxiety, focused mindfulness, and kinesthetic busy-ness are all positive effects of this easy and do-anywhere activity. We've rounded up some of our best coloring downloads and resources for learning, for calming, and just for fun.

For organization, for health, for safety, or for sanity - labels make a huge difference. In the classroom, labels are needed now more than ever - to keep track of constantly changing schedules, student belongings, personal protection equipment (PPE) supplies, and the list goes on. With capabilities for user-friendly customization, class list uploads, and creative template options, the VariQuest® Design Software, complete with our educator-influenced Engage Every Learner® Content, makes creation easy on the VariQuest Motiva® 400 Specialty Printing System. See how easy it is:

Teachers and families across the country have been under immense stress approaching a different kind of instruction over the last year and a half, and worrying about how it has affected our students. While focusing on health and safety is always a top priority, as students return to the classroom this year, we may need to broaden that focus and prepare them with an accelerated learning approach. But as educators, we are not only concerned about academics, but also about mental health, and to ensure students flourish upon their return, it is important we look at the whole child. In this 14-lesson plan eBook, created in partnership with Cathy Henry of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work, we've put together a variety of lessons and activities for K-12 students, including those in special education classrooms, to work towards project-based, student-driven learning designed to help combat the academic impact of lost instructional time.

It's no secret that we're all dealing with a lot right now. Between anxiety about health & safety, isolation, and inequity, it has obviously been a rough couple years. And as students return to learning in this back-to-school season, there's no question that we all need to focus some efforts on supporting mental health. We've rounded up some of our best free resources and downloads, to help you re-engage learners with movement, calming activities, breathing exercises, and behavior management techniques, to help your students when "overwhelmed" is an understatement.

Educators know that having strong behavior management skills can be as important, or even more important, as the ability to teach content. We want to help children modify detrimental behaviors, but we also don’t want any of our actions to result in a child feeling shamed or demeaned. This can be a challenge! Because we've all had a challenging past few months, and feelings of embarrassment won’t help children improve their behavior, we've partnered with Cathy Henry of The Curriculum Corner and Free Word Work to put together some ideas to help you work on actions and reactions with your students on a more personal level. These are ideas to help students learn and grow and meet goals, making them proud of their positive results!