April is Mathematics Awareness Month! This year's theme is "Math Drives Careers." Math can be an engaging and intuitive subject for some students, but often it is a dry subject for others. These students ask, "When will I use this in real life?" One way to answer that question and engage learners is to demonstrate that math is all around us.

"The trouble with Women’s History Month—with all these special months—is that they encourage people to think that problems have been solved. The female heroes of yesterday are acknowledged, the debt paid and the slate wiped clean." -Maureen Costello, "The Trouble with Women's History Month" Use this quote and the resources below to discuss the past, present, and future of women's history in the context of Women's History Month.

March is Women's History Month! While the month is half over, there is still plenty of time to engage students of all ages in the history, struggles, and triumphs of women. Below is a brief, customizable lesson using images from Smithville Elementary Library's public blog. Images of notable women in history paired with one actionable word provide groundwork for biographical research and discussion leading into the contemporary.

While poster sessions may seem reserved for post-secondary and professional conferences, high school students can benefit from the opportunity to present their research and projects in such a succinct way. These events allow students to "get their feet in the water" and work on communication skills by presenting their research in a condensed "elevator speech" format rather than a full-scale presentation.

In this lesson for grades 9-12, students will analyze the impact of physical and cultural geographies on China’s development. First, download the PDF for each of the Chinese Dynasty maps from the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s “The Art of Asia” website. Use the Perfecta 2400 to print each PDF at poster-size. Print multiple copies of a current map of China and surrounding countries for individual student use. Display the Chinese Dynasty map posters around the room for student exploration.

Looking for resources for the 2020 Chinese New Year? Check out our blog post here. The Chinese New Year falls on February 19, 2015. In this lesson, students will read about Chinese New Year traditions, compare them to American traditions, then celebrate by practicing one of the Chinese New Year traditions.

Rural Otterville, Missouri has a new business in town, and its location may surprise you! November's VariQuest Super School belongs to a district with a K-12 student population of about 250. The high school's Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter encourages and fosters student leadership by using VariQuest Visual Learning Tools to teach business skills. Otterville High School FBLA Chapter: Meeting School Needs & Engaging the Community

With Election Day around the corner, now is the time to get students involved in how the election process works and informed about why it is important for them to be voting citizens.

This week We Are Teachers released this cool and seasonal poster--"The Bones of a Good Essay." Here's what they had to say:

You like us, you really like us! Maybe we should work on a different acceptance speech... We are humbly honored to announce that VariQuest Visual Learning Tools and the VariQuest Perfecta 2400 wide format printing design system has been named a winner of the 2014-2015 eSchool News Readers' Choice Award! Here's part of the official August 1 press release: