Education Resources Blog

by Cathy Henry, Guest Blogger Special education teachers have an important job working to help students reach their full potential. They work tirelessly to find ways to help students navigate the general education classroom and to build life skills. While the job is never easy, it has grown to include even more obstacles and responsibilities during the time of COVID. Trainings offered to help during this time along with new tools for teachers and students are growing. However, finding the time to master these can be a challenge with the very full schedule teachers already have. Today I am sharing five quick tips, plus a downloadable guide with templates and ideas, designed to help you navigate the challenges of teaching special education via a virtual or hybrid model.

You put lots of time and effort into the materials you create for classroom activities and discussion. Wouldn't it be great to use them over and over again, while maintaining cleanliness and sanitization standards?

At VariQuest, we are your source for the tools and resources you need to enhance your ability to teach students in your classroom. The goal of interactive learning is to increase the attention and retention of students, increasing their overall knowledge and comprehension in various subjects. One device that can help teachers convey important knowledge to students in the classroom is the cold lamination machine.

CARES, ESSER, HEERF, GEER....is your head spinning with letters? With additional funding for education to assist with planning in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic, there's a lot to process in terms of what is meant for which purpose, and we're here to help. Below you'll find some explanations, links, and a downloadable resource to help guide you through the COVID Funding for Education "jungle" and offer some suggestions on investments that align with the funding to enhance learning and safety today, tomorrow, and beyond!

We're moving towards holiday break, and we don't need to tell you that it has been one crazy year. Whether your students are heading home for their break early in distance learning, or they're only apart from the classroom for the holiday, send them off with a "Flat Stanley"-like cutout of their favorite teacher (that's you!) and a fun assignment to document your (their) experiences while you're in two different places! With social-emotional support at the top of every educator's mind during a trying year, what better way to remind your students you're always with them, than a small cutout take-along of yourself!

You've got a big job to do. And like always, we want to help. You're preparing for a new kind of year. You might be welcoming students back to your school building with brand new safety precautions, continuing distance learning for the foreseeable future, or a hybrid of the two - but your teachers, students, and staff will need new resources to adapt to the changing times. And so, we pledged to give you new content - for education on virus prevention, directional crowd control, and social-emotional wellbeing - on TOP of tons of new pieces for traditional and virtual instruction! We've delivered. Exclusively for the VariQuest 8.0 Software, this content update is packed with over 2,500 NEW and revised templates, cutouts, graphics, fonts, and collections - bringing our grand total to over 22,000 content options for our nation's best educators to create with. And it's FREE for our customers!

As adults, we imagine relaxing activities in the context of going to take a walk surrounded by quiet and nature, or soaking in a bubble bath with soft music and candles. We seek calm in a place of our own, free from distractions and unwanted noise.   For many students, school is a safe and familiar place where there are established routines and food is a guarantee. And unfortunately, we know there are students whose homes are sometimes not any of those things. So while we as educators make every effort to mentor and support our students in a safe environment in every way possible, we must also consider how to create personal spaces for when the world becomes too overwhelming. On top of all of this, we're in the midst of a global pandemic. Enter the Calming Corner.

At VariQuest, we offer a number of different resources and tools to help you improve the ability of students to learn in the classroom. The interactive learning tools for kids and teachers we offer are exceptional for enhancing the classroom experience and improving comprehension and overall knowledge for students in various subjects. One of the tools teachers can use to help students gain important knowledge in the classroom is the cold lamination machine.

It's hard to describe this school year without using the words unprecedented, unexpected, chaotic, and strange. There just aren't the right words for the emotions you and your students are feeling about losing their "previously normal" routines. As this school year begins to wind down, there are some things you can still do to celebrate their achievements and remind them that the role models surrounding them with love and support are there for them, even in times of social distancing.

At VariQuest, we offer many tools and resources to help you enhance the learning environment in your classroom. Our interactive learning tools for teachers and students are highly effective for helping children flourish in the classroom and increase in their knowledge and comprehension of different subjects. With the latest trends in classroom technology, teachers are turning more to interactive methods of teaching, and using the various tools that make this way of relating information, data, concepts, and ideas possible. Educators have numerous opportunities to present information in a fun and engaging way through interactive learning.