Inquiry with Explore Science | Teacher Testimonial

Speaker: Kim L., 2nd Grade Teacher, CT

Tell us about your experience with Explore Science!

Kim L.: Right now, our K-4 elementary students are all using this periodical. It is an amazing way to tie in what you’re doing in science. It’s got a great literacy component to go with it. It’s NGSS-aligned as well, so it goes perfectly with your NGSS curriculum.

We also love how it’s a way to work outside of a science notebook, in that the science weekly gives you additional charts and graphs and things for the kids to work on.

It’s also a great opportunity to encourage discourse among students, and it also has some great ideas for investigations for the kids to do. As I said, we use it in my 2nd-grade classroom, and we absolutely love how it connects directly with what we’re doing in science, so I highly recommend it.

Kim has dedicated nearly a quarter of a century to teaching in Windham Public Schools in Connecticut, where she has taken on numerous leadership roles, including team leader, mentor, and interventionist.

Her love for science and expertise in science instruction have granted her many professional opportunities. In 2011, she was invited to help develop a standards-based science curriculum for a new STEM Academy, which she continues to help update every year. Kim also dedicates her summers to facilitating professional development for new science teachers to ensure that every teacher starts their first year on a great foot.

One of Kim’s highest priorities in science instruction is promoting inquiry and student-driven learning. And one of her favorite things about Studies Weekly Explore Science is how it encourages discourse and discussions among students and gives them opportunities for hands-on discovery. Kim loves anything that helps her create unique learning experiences for her students, and makes school fun. 

Kim’s love for her students is palpable! Her greatest joys in teaching come from the excitement and wonder her students express when they make discoveries. She especially loves hearing from parents about students who go home and teach their families all about science. 

“The students continue to be my ‘why’. I feel that being in the classroom with my little ones is my calling and is where I belong,” she says.

Kim’s advice to fellow educators is to use their support networks.

“I would tell any teacher, new, old, returning, to not be afraid to ask questions, ask for guidance, ask for help, and don’t be afraid to fail and try again. Teamwork, brainstorming, and peer support play a key role in ensuring that our teachers and students can be successful.”