Hello World

I've wanted to do this blog for a long time but just haven't gotten my act together until now. I've been tutoring professionally for about a year now. Occasionally, something really cool would happen. A student would say something profound or I'd find a new way of explaining something. I would come home and think, "I really wish I had someone to share this with." Now I have a new job that involves curriculum development and classroom teaching for elementary school students, so it seemed like a good time to get this thing started. I'm so excited to have a place to share my education experiences in the classroom and out. I'll try to share things that are happening with this program and my "tutees" as well as cool articles and resources I find along the way.

I can't remember exactly where, but in the process of moving around grant application files around as I began my new job I came across a comment that questioned whether science outreach to elementary school students was a "waste of time". I also came across an article published by NSTA about a survey that tested elementary students' science beliefs. There were a few shockers.

76% of survey takers believed that "Most animals we know do not depend on plants."
Only 61% believed that "Humans are animals."
Only 43% believed that "Insects are animals."

I guess getting some more quality science into elementary school classrooms couldn't hurt.