Thursday, August 23, 2007

Getting Started

This year is dedicated to making life for my elementary colleagues a bit easier when they consider teaching science. If you've gotten here from the eLeMeNTS website, you already know that. If you are surfing blogs and know an elementary teacher, pass the word along that a forum is available for discussing science for kids. If you have ideas about what students K-5 need to know, share them here. If you have ideas for lessons, curricula, or rants about the system of teachig science, let us know.
I've been teaching for more htan 25 years, mostly in science. Most of my early time was spent with HS and MS students who had serious holes in their understanding of the natural and physical world. It wasn't until I reached the elementary crowd that I realized how important laying a good foundation is to future science insight or understanding. I also quickly realized that my elementary colleagues were overwhelmed by the breadth of curriculum they had to master, overlain with the wet blanket of testing and NCLB. I'm hoping to tap into some of the incredible wisdom of those who have been teaching young scientists for as many or more years than I have. Thank you to those of you who choose to share that wisdom!

Whiteash

BTW: the white ash is the tree of knowledge in Norse mythology, also known as Yggdrisil!