I have added a number of teachers to the Middle School Science Discussion Forum's mailing list: Some are new teachers and some are just new to the forum. We now have about 100 educators on the list, and I just want to remind everyone of the purpose of the forum and how it works.

1. You received this e-mail to let you know that a message has been posted to the forum. You can respond to the message ("Hey Mike, enough reminders about the purpose of the forum already!") by clicking on (or copy & paste) the link below which will take you to the forum and a list of messages, including this one. Click on the message, and at the bottom of that screen is a "Contribute an answer" button. Follow the directions.

2. The forum is designed (as the name suggests!) as a place for science teachers to share information and support each other. If you "post a new message" you can be sure of getting a timely response, at least from me and, I hope, other teachers who are on the forum's mailing list.

3. Browse through the existing list of questions and messages to get an idea of the kinds of questions that have been asked already. Post a new message for the fun of it -- start an argument!

Lastly, I am only one science facilitator and I work with 9 middle schools and over 100 science teachers, many of whom work in near isolation from other science teachers because of scheduling and physical distances. A lot of people have commented recently on the value of networking with other science teachers at workshops and events like the training on Friday at CCNY. The Middle School Science Discussion Forum is just another way of making that kind of contact with each other.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Science Facilitator...

PS...if you haven't already, visit my instructional log

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic=Instructional%20Logs

-- Michael Gatton (mg143@aol.com), October 22, 2001