I'm have returned from working in Panama City, Panama. I am trying to rebuild my science material all over again. I work as a 7th grade science teacher for one general education class and one special needs. I also, am responsible for the middle school math RtI process.

I am an early childhood educator for Minneapolis Early Childhood Family Education.We have begun offering a Preschool STEM class. Parents and their preschoolers come for 2 hours once/wk. The format of ECFE is 1 hour of parent-child interaction, and 1 hour of parent education time. We are in the formative stages of developing the STEM model to fit our program. The BLOCKS research is looking at the same questions that I have about introducing STEM concepts to preschool children, while maintaining age appropriate expectations. I have recently begun an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Early Childhood Education, and I have been trying to combine my interest in STEM at the preschool level for my work, and research topics for the educational research class that I am currently taking.

I am a PhD candidate and graduate assistant in the College of Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. I have extensive experience in secondary science education having worked as both a teacher and an instructional coach. I have a BA in English and Environmental Science from the University of Notre Dame, a MA in English from the University of Notre Dame Australia, and a MAT from Webster University. My dissertation research is within the “Science Literacy through Science Journalism” project, looking specifically at the project’s influence on teacher development and classroom practice. I am particularly interested in improving science literacy, integrating writing into science classrooms, and developing successful professional development programs for teachers.