I am a retired teacher who has spent nearly 40 years in the classroom teaching life and earth science to all levels of students from upper elementary to junior high to high school and even college.
My teaching style might best be described as inquiry-oriented and driven by investigative questioning techniques. My philosophy as a science educator may be described in only three words--Ask, don't tell.
I have won numerous state and national awards for innovative curriculum but I will not bore you with the details as most such awards rely on self-nomination. Much more important and useful to me were the various summer fellowships I managed to secure during my tenure that broadened my horizons and made me a much better teacher. Thanks to those awards I was able to do things like spend the entire summer at the Savannah River Ecology Lab or a month at Princeton as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. I was also honored to attend various national and regional conventions as a Teaching Partner with Carolina Biological Supply Co. As such, I have presented professional development workshops all over this country to teachers at all levels.
I hold a B.S. degree and a Masters of Education degree from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Continuing education beyond those degrees has resulted in nearly enough hours for a PhD.
Even though I had the district and state-mandated textbooks in my classroom, they never came off the shelf. I have always written every aspect of the various science curriculums I have taught myself. I have had numerous supplemental science curriculum materials published ranging from a book on microbes and animals to a series of books on critical thinking. Currently, I just finished a college level textbook and lab manual on introductory zoology for a large commercial publisher. You may not have the time or the inclination to do that amount of writing for your science classes so lean on me and the products I will soon be offering here. Rest assured that any and all of my products are standards-based, inquiry-oriented, and field-tested. Furthermore, each product comes with detailed teacher support. Please contact me with questions as there is nothing I like better professionally than talking shop.