Like "Where's Waldo", the hidden word lives for what it is.

I originally started this blog so that I could focus on the art and pedagological "moments" of teaching. Then I got re-routed to http://www.sciencewithmrshunt.tumblr.com/ because our elementary school is evolving technologically. This is all both interesting as a sociologically experiment and as a personal-evolution vehicle. As teachers I think we have to be careful about making assumptions about what learning is. We exist as macro-facilitators in the unique petris dishes of our classrooms. [Please do not reveal to my English teachers that I just wrote that sentence!!!!] My point is that we are involved in the daily "primordial ooze" of learning and we cannot take for granted that the learners always know that the process could take seconds or years. Some learners give up very easily if they do not get instant gratification while others take humble nourishment from knowing that today they brought their sharpened pencils, homework, textbooks, and lunch all at the same time to the places where these things needed to be. A smile, a thumbs-up, and a collective "we can do this together if we try" can mean a lot.

I'm trying to teach science to 241 kids, grades 2-8. This is my first year to do this but my 12th year of teaching. I sometimes go to work feeling both ectstatic and terrified because beyond the state and national standards, the hidden agendas, the cultural webs, I do not yet know if I have helped the students who may depend on me as well as the students who need to be liberated from my ancient and possibly obsolete ways of thinking. Your comments on my conundrum are welcome...otherwise, teach on.