Education Resources Blog

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.

In the spring of 2019, we made a big commitment to our customers. We promised LOTS of new and revised content and we're happy to report - we've delivered. Just in time for back-to-school! We are thrilled to announce that our VariQuest® Design Center Software v8.0 is now available for download - packed with over 900 NEW templates, cutouts, graphics, fonts, and collections - bringing our grand total to over 19,000 content options for our nation's best educators to create with. And it's FREE for our customers!

Title I funds can pay for almost anything that strengthens instruction for students who need extra academic support, from additional staff and tutoring to instructional materials, technology, professional development, and family engagement. The key is that every purchase has to add to what the school already provides and connect to a documented student need. According to the U.S. Department of Education website, the Title I Grant program is meant to provide funding to disadvantaged Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) to improve their academic achievement. The most common of these, Title I - Part A, "...provides financial assistance to LEAs and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards." Key takeaways Title I, Part A funds extra instruction, staff, materials, technology, and family engagement for students in schools with high numbers or percentages of children from low-income families. What the money can pay for depends on the program type: schoolwide programs can upgrade the whole school, while targeted assistance programs serve students identified as needing extra help. Classroom tools such as poster printers and die-cut machines can qualify when they're tied to a documented academic need and add to core instruction rather than replace it. What is Title I funding, and what can it be used for? Title I funding is federal money that the U.S. Department of Education provides, through states, to school districts and schools with high numbers or percentages of children from low-income families. The Department's Title I, Part A program page describes it as support for extra instruction in reading and mathematics, as well as special preschool, after-school, and summer programs. As these funds are meant to improve instruction and provide additional academic support and learning opportunities, they are often allocated towards reading or mathematics curriculum, supplemental programs to reinforce and extend the regular school curriculum, or additional staff members to lead and teach the students. The Department's guidance on schoolwide programs gives examples in each of these areas: Instructional staff: Schools can fund additional staff, including instructional coaches who provide school-based professional development. Supplemental instruction and tutoring: Funds can pay for after-school tutoring and increased learning time for students who need more support. Instructional materials and technology: Schools can improve the quality of instructional materials and buy devices and software students use to access digital learning materials. Professional development: Training helps teachers and staff strengthen instruction for the students Title I serves. Parent and family engagement: Activities that increase family and community engagement help families support learning at home. Schoolwide vs. targeted assistance programs How a school can spend its Title I funds depends on which of two program models it runs. Your school improvement plan or your district's Title I coordinator can tell you which one applies. Schoolwide program: Under ESSA, a school where at least 40 percent of children are from low-income families can run a schoolwide program, and a school below that line can operate one with a waiver from its state. Schoolwide programs are designed to upgrade the entire educational program, so purchases can serve every student in the building. Targeted assistance program: Schools that don't run a schoolwide program use Title I funds for children who are failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet challenging academic standards. Purchases need to serve those identified students. Title I allowable expenses and what's not allowed The rule that shapes nearly every Title I purchase is "supplement, not supplant." Federal law says Title I funds can only add to the money a school would otherwise receive from state and local sources, not replace it. In practice, that means Title I can't cover costs that state and local funds would pay for anyway. Federal cost rules also require every expense to be necessary and reasonable, and they don't allow entertainment or social activities unless those costs have a specific program purpose. Typically allowable Typically not allowable Extra reading and math instruction, tutoring, and increased learning time Core instruction that state and local funds would otherwise pay for Instructional materials and technology tied to a documented student need Purchases that aren't necessary or reasonable for the Title I program Professional development for staff who serve Title I students Entertainment or social activities without a specific program purpose Parent and family engagement activities Services for students with disabilities and English learners that must be paid for with non-federal funds Rules vary by state and district, so confirm allowability with your district Title I coordinator before you place an order.

"Class, what is the Order of Operations?" My energetic class of fifth graders shouted out loud, "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally!" What? Who is Aunt Sally? When students initially learn how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, they are taught to perform those skills using two numbers and one operation. As they progress to the next levels, they begin to see numerical expressions with more than one operation and word problems that involve multiple steps. Introduce your students to the Order of Operations - and help them memorize the "PEMDAS" or "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" acronym as early as third grade. Putting this memory into practice can be more of a challenge - so we've come up with some tips and a fun lesson plan activity for your students to drive the concept home!

3D Printing is a relatively new concept in education curriculum - but it engages all kinds of learners, and instills real-world critical thinking and innovative problem-solving 21st century skills. Seems to be a no-brainer for an educator looking to breathe new life into a STEM curriculum. At Holly Grove Elementary School in Holly Springs, North Carolina, Ms. Jennifer Starkey, a technology teacher, has been thrilled to watch her students design, create, and learn when the VariQuest Trifecta™ 800 3D Printer brings their ideas to life - which has made her classroom the most popular in the school. With over 1,100 students in grades K-6, including some Pre-K and special education students, Ms. Starkey needed a solution to engage every learner. Starting with her 2nd, 4th, and 5th graders, who are fully immersed in the 3D printing hands-on learning tasks, the classroom has turned out some pretty amazing projects as they Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Improve, and Share (The Engingeering Design Cycle). It's easy to see how 3D Printing is benefiting education at Holly Grove...

We used to call it hands-on learning. Before high-tech classrooms, learning labs, and makerspaces, kids would build and create and make things using buttons, bottle caps, popsicle sticks, and glue. The focus was on exploration, discovery, creativity, and problem-solving. There was no clear distinction between the arts, engineering, science, and math. Kids were making things, expressing their creativity, and they were learning how things worked. The current buzzword is experiential learning, but the concept has been around for over 100 years. Dr. Maria Montessori would be thrilled to see the future of education rooted in her research. The movement of “making” brings engineering, science, technology, art and design together and overlaps those instructional principles with the natural inclinations of children the power of learning by doing.

"If you build it they will come"- Field of Dreams, 1989. Dan Hurley, Director of Discovery Charter School in Inver Grove Heights, MN had the same dream in 2014, although not for a baseball diamond in his field, but rather a school to embrace a multidisciplinary curriculum with an emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). His vision was to prepare K-8 students for life-long learning, collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving. Just over one year ago his dream became a reality, and now over 200 students are engaged in an environment that values creativity, diversity, and multiculturalism. With Dan's vision a partnership also ensued with VariQuest and Trifecta™ 800 3D Printer, and STEM Fuse, a leader in K12 digital curriculum. Dan knew in order to fulfill his dream he needed to build his 'Dream Team'.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of 2D art, it was the age of 3D models. Okay, maybe this story doesn't share the poetic eloquence of Dickens' silver-tongue-take on the French Revolution, but it is indeed a tale of a girl's goal being fulfilled by her grit, her moxie, and Trifecta™ 800 3D Printer.

I remember how fascinated I was by Morse code when I first heard about it as a young fry. I can only imagine the proverbial lightbulb (well, probably a candle at that time) that went off in Samuel Morse’s mind as he came up with the idea for nonverbally telecommunicating with others. No offense Sam, but boy, finger tapping conversations have come a long way.