VARconnection

Invest in Yourself: 8 Tips for Language Learning

Teaching strategies from language assistance programs and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs to dual or bilingual education programs seek to build English language proficiency. But even if you’re not an ESL or bilingual teacher, you can accelerate English-language learning too. Growing your language skills in Spanish or another language can help you bridge … Continue reading →

Hilarious Holiday Memes for Teachers

Sometimes you need a little bit of humor to get through your day. Enjoy a laugh or two with these holiday teacher memes that we find amusing. Source: We are Teachers Source: Board Teachers Source: Someecards #Truth Source: MemeGenerator.net Enjoying too much holiday cheer Source: California Casualty What’s your go-to resource to manage teacher life? … Continue reading →

Making the Grade: Preparing Students for Spring Assessments

Spring testing is fast approaching. Over the past year, schools nationwide have been implementing evidenced-based initiatives to accelerate post-pandemic learning. Policymakers will use these upcoming state assessments to qualify the effectiveness of these initiatives, making spring assessments feel even more like high stakes testing than ever before. As a teacher, you might already be feeling … Continue reading →

Reimagining Modern Libraries: Using VR to Boost Teen Health

What do you think of when you think of a modern library? Features of modern libraries include library bookmobiles, WI-FI connectivity, device rental, makerspaces, and digital lending. Even before the pandemic, the rise of digital books and resources sparked a debate over whether physical libraries were obsolete. While it’s true that those libraries that best … Continue reading →

Teach Your Students How to Cite Sources Faster

Developing well-rounded thinkers should be a goal teachers have when teaching K-12 writing. Students today have more online resources available to parse that the research writing process is more complicated than ever. With newer forms of media, including blog posts, tweets, and podcasts, finding, analyzing, and determining reliable sources from unreliable ones and then organizing … Continue reading →

Tricks to Help Students Beat Writer’s Block

Creative writing can build better English and Language Arts skills, but creative writing is a different beast. If students are uncertain how to start writing, they’ll face what all writers, even professional writers, dread – writer’s block. Here are six activities to inspire their writing. When reading a book, poem, short story, or other lesson, … Continue reading →

How to Use Assistive Tech to Unleash Creative Writing

Writer’s block may not be the biggest writing challenge students need to overcome. For some students, writing mechanics, including handwriting, typing, or grammar, are hindering students from expressing their creative ideas. When you think of ways to help students become better writers, assistive tech probably doesn’t make it on your list, but it should. Assistive … Continue reading →

Teach K12 Novel Writing: Where to Start

November is National Novel Writing month, making it the perfect time to teach a unit on creative writing. Fictional narrative is unique from academic writing, leaving students confused about how to approach creative writing. Check out this infographic for tips and inspiration to help your students write their best draft yet. Infographic text: Free-flow writing … Continue reading →

Explore the Future of K-12 Esports: Competitive Coding

Esports has gained recognition as a legitimate growth opportunity for students since 2018 when the National Federation of State Highschool Associations deemed Esports an official sport (NEA.org). Many competitions are open to students, and several colleges offer Esports scholarships. Now there is another branch in Esports growing in popularity: competitive coding. The mainstream gamification of … Continue reading →

Bookmark these K-12 Coding Competitions

Bookmark these 2023 STEM competitions that can help students build their leadership, team building, and coding skills in the new year. Looking for more reasons to sign them up? Check out our post on “6 Benefits of Robotics Competitions.” STEM Competitions 1. Wonder Workshop’s Wonder League Robotics Competition (WLRC) Your students can compete with students … Continue reading →