Science Blues

In my three years teaching third grade I have purchased materials with which to engage in science activities. With the exception of studying sound, I have never used those materials in large crates, which hold very little scietific value for kids. However it has been broght to my attention that, because I am the science curriculum adoption committee representitive for our school, I "can sort through these materials to find what is missing" so that the principal reorder that which is missing.
Now, I was not aware that any teacher in our grade still uses these materials because, since my arrival at the school, there have only been complaints regarding a lack of materials. When a certain teacher starts looking around, she noticed that there are some materials missing. Obviously she knows what should be in there and has used these materials before so she would be the best person to figure out what is missing, especially since she is so interested in using them immmediately. Anyway it comes down to her being a very negative person and the fact that she complains about nearly everything there is to complain about. I do not want to help her even simply because she once said, "If the district is not going to supply it, I am not going to teach it." There might be many of you out there who feel the same and that is your God-given right. But I do not want to help you either. As teachers we owe it to our pupils not to complain about them and to do our best to teach using whatever measures we can. Teachers can certainly find pleasure in their district purchasing materials on a regular basis but we cannot expect these purchases to happen just because we want them to.
Today my teaching partner and I are finishing up a study of rocks. To be honest we have only spent about two hours total with the kids on rocks but we have covered the grade three requirements on the subject. Our pupils have been very interested and have enjoyed this unit. Perhaps the kids will be sad that the unit is complete but the requirements are few and there is no need to go much deeper than we have. They have looked at many books, had a lesson, sorted, and written about how they did their sorting or what they based the sorting on.
Next we will move on to maps. Kids love working with maps, as do I. Too bad I have not been able to order a bunch of atlases for my class. There are some that I would prefer to order but Scholastic has not made them available through the use of points.
My class has improved greatly since the beginning of school. Yes, they have all come a long way. Such improvement will continue if I am disciplined enough to ignore the calling out and demand the raising of hands, the pushing in of chairs and completion of work. Otherwise life is going to be very difficult for these kids. There are some not doing their writing or reading each night and this needs to be put to a stop somehow.