My name is Joe Porter.  I was born and raised in Cedar Falls Iowa where I attended the U. of Northern Iowa. I received a K-8 B.A. in Education.  I completed my Masters in Technology from Lesley College in the use of Macintosh computers for education. Ironically, that summer my district replaced all Apple computers with PC's and I had learn something completely new to make them work!

This is my 34st year of teaching. About half that time was spent as a 5th grade teacher so, as a 6th grade teacher, I know how hard that transition from elementary to middle school can be.   I began with 4 years in Kansas, took a year break to pursue other interests in Virginia, then returned to teaching in Colorado.  This is my 16th year in Texas and I am still not used to the heat!

I feel privileged to be your child's science teacher.  Some goals that I have set forth for your science student are as follows:

-  Questioning why something has occurred and forming an hypothesis and investigation (experiment) to explain/test the occurrence.

-  Understanding the importance for safety in science labs.

-  Learning to work appropriately with other student scientists in a partner or lab group setting.

-  Keeping a science notebook organized, along with other materials for class.

-  Growing as a student into a more independent thinker and worker

-  To have fun with science, remembering that safety is always the first consideration.