We are EleSTEMary, a small group of elementary teacher leaders, who share our unique experiences, knowledge, & instructional strategies in elementary STEM through monthly workshops.

We tell the story about how the Noyce Master Teacher Fellowship program at the University of Rochester supported teachers in their growth as agents of change.  Growing as teacher leaders, each fellow focused on their instructional practice and expanded their sphere of influence to positively influence their classrooms, schools, and districts.

William O'Brien kicks off this month's theme, "Leading without Leaving the Classroom," with a blog post that describes his own journey as a classroom mathematics teacher and his thoughts on the upcoming expert panel and facilitated discussion. He invites all members to take an active part in sharing their experiences by commenting on this blog post.

Facilitators: Jay Labov and Margo Murphy
Panelists: Claudia Walker, Jose Rivas, Julie Olsen, and Barnett Berry

In this facilitated discussion starting December 5th, we will discuss the challenges and opportunities that exist for teachers who want to stay in the classroom to work directly with students but also want to continue developing professionally as a STEM teacher leader. If you were unable to attend the online Expert Panel, you can view it here: https://stemtlnet.org/theme/december2019-expert-panel

In this blog post, Brian Drayton provides a synthesis of this month's theme "Leading Without Leaving the Classroom," that highlights the challenges discussed by experienced teacher-leaders and other educators who participated in this month's discussion and expert panel.