I love the escape rooms and problems based learning. Be the change you wish you see! "contagious energy" --LOVE that! So true. I will definitely check out your links on PBL and share with my colleagues. 

Good Morning 

This is a truly a strategic and engaging  plan in getting the buy-in and promoting STEM. I will be using some of the great activities shared. Looking forward to taking the challenge and sparking the next STEM leaders.

This is truly an amazing STEM program.  I especially liked how you involved other organizations like Civil Air Patrol to offer aviation.  Your students are very lucky to have you lead the way!

Your enthusiasm is contagious and that s exactly what we need for the profession. Keep share your love and passion science!

Theme days sound like so much fun!  Students look like they are enjoying themselves.

I really loved watching your video. Your energy and enthusiasm is on point and you talk about how to really immerse elementary school teachers in STEM to raise their confidence and advocate for it in their classrooms and schools. Keep up the great work especially around those PBL activities and combining those with a demo of STEM careers. 

Love your story but even more you have a natural gift for leadership.  I love how you built the vision of elementary STEM programming both systemically and practically.  Video was totally engaging.  You seem to be in a very sweet spot right now where you have a lot of buy-in.    Did the fact that you were a science coach seems like there was support to build this programming. I am wondering how do you think changes in administration could impact your work both positively and negatively?

I love your story and enthusiasm, Jenn! Your story is so relatable, as I have worked with many elementary educators who do not see themselves as STEM "experts" and therefore do not feel confident teaching STEM. And I agree, approaching STEM through other teaching methods, such as project-based learning and through escape rooms, has helped inspire curiosity and increase enthusiasm!

Our district also incorporates curiosity and STEM in the library through makerspace. Do have any experience with libraries and makerspaces? I wonder, how can they also help support STEM teaching and learning?

Your vision and inspiration for the teachers you work with is wonderful.  Your passion is clear and I am sure that is why teachers follow your lead to become STEM leaders in their schools and district.  Well done!

Hi Jenn:

This is the good work you do everyday. So important that we model to students what is possible and also the exciting opportunities in becoming a future STEM leader.  As always glad to know you and work with you here in MA.

I love the Aviation STEM Day and bringing a police officer in to do a fingerprinting workshop with students. These are great ideas!

It sounds like you really have found ways to encourage student learning. Do you ever have them develop/design escape rooms?

In the first moments you defined an ideal student, one that memorizes everything.  But the student is missing the how and the why and the application.  

STEM so nicely puts the mathematics within the how and the why.

Hi Jenn!

This is fantastic!  I loved your video and admire ALL that you were able to get include.  I love the Escape Room ideas, and I am always looking for new challenges to share with my students.  I am working with students as young as 3 years old, and I have the older students help to spark their curiosity and capture what they are seeing and wondering about.  I am not far from you, right in Southern NH.  It would be wonderful to collaborate!

Thank you for the inspiring video! I love the idea of theme days. I prefer to incorporate the core subjects on themes to bridge the concepts. It would be great if all middle and high schools worked together to teach the theme concept applying to STEM. Maybe in the future, we can see that. It would be great if we have more STEM Learning training. Good Job!        :) Diana

Jenn, 

You are AMAZING!  We both had mothers for teachers and they both assumed we would follow in their footsteps and they were correct! One difference though is my Mom taught second grade and I can tell you I never once ever heard her talk about science and my k-16 experience certainly didn't have any STEM highlights. In fact just the opposite.

I was introduced to inquiry science in the early 1990's and that it was when my transformation began. At that point I took it upon ms=yself to figure out how I was going to become a better teacher of science.

I heard many correlations between your stories and my time in a classsroom. You mentioned hot air balloons, We made hot air balloon out of tissue paper, straws and string. We launched them and then went for a hot air balloon ride. 

Structure and function reminds of Buildingto Learn, Learning to Build where we started building with Legos and and Knex and finished with a one room log cabin  outside our classoom built by students, parents and the community. 

Your teachers are so lucky to have you. You are an inspiration not only to them but just imagine the number of students you are influencing. Your enthusiasm doesn't stop at your classroom door. It is contagious  and permeates through so many of your colleagues and to their students.  

I am humbled and thankful to be your colleague  and to have the opportunity to learn from such a distiguished STEM soul as yourself. We need to clone you. 

Thank you for what you do everyday for learners of all ages!

Kathy