Jill Puchacz and thoughts on Full Moon and Attention Spans

So this is what I have noticed... Please keep in mind I am not a scientist and there is no real proof other than my observations of my small group of students.

My kids lose it around a full moon.  Its almost as if my voice doesn't exist and they forget that when they are in school it means that they have to accomplish things. I am a very loud and animated person, very difficult to ignore or tune out, but I feel like they manage it!  I have tried writing the assignments and topics on the board, handing out a list of things to accomplish as well as stating it 3 or 4 different times... and I still get blank stares as if I am either a mute or speaking a whole different language.

I wonder if other teachers have the same experiences as me.  Any thoughts on how to make this a little more workable?

Jill Puchacz and The icing on the cake

So as some of you may know me on a personal level, you may know that I work with students who some may feel are a 'difficult' group.  I find them to be some of the most amazing people I have ever met.  Their perseverance and positive attitudes (most of the time), are contagious.  I love my job and find myself to be one of the 'lucky ones'. 

Some may say that just that in itself is a reward, which it is... but truthfully it gets better than that.  I am a pretty high energy and positive person as is, but what happened on Sunday just makes me so happy.  Let me tell you a little bit about how great my students are.

I will start with Friday.  Typically Fridays are one of the most trying days as its the end of the week, my students are usually a mix of excited/anxious for the next two days away from school.  My last period especially has a high amount of energy as they are my largest class and there have some pretty funny personalities in there as well.  As the period was drawing to a close I mentioned to them that I was running in the Shamrock Shuffle on Sunday morning before the citys Saint Patricks Day Parade.  They all thought it was especially funny when I told them that I would be wearing a tutu and some pretty awesome shamrock jewelry.  So I put the offer out there for them to come early to the parade and watch me run, promising them that they would not really be able to miss me as I would be looking particularly green. The response was a bunch of 'yeah rights' and 'good luck Ms. P', but not a single 'sure Ill be there'.  Even if I had heard that as a response, I probably would have assumed that there would be no follow through because, who actually wants to see their teacher when they aren't in school?

I went through my weekend and woke up Sunday morning and got on all my Irish gear, I was looking pretty fantastic to be fair! Met up with my friends and off to Elm Street we went.  As we were standing around waiting for the race to begin, I saw a familiar face scowering the crowd, and to my surprise it was a student of mine walking around with a couple of his friends.  I didn't think much of it but said 'Hello' as he walked past and when he realized it was me he get a huge smile but then tried to play it cool.  I was so happy to see one of my students but didn't read much more into it, as the race was about to begin. 

The airhorn sounded and we all took off on our two mile journey and there wasn't much going though my head past the fact that it was really windy and I would have been okay still snuggled up in my bed as I was freezing!  As the race continued and I drew closer to the finish line I began to pick up the pace, and out of the corner of my eye something grabbed my attention so I looked to my left, and sure enough there was my student waiting at the finish line cheering me on lounder than anyone there.  I waved at him and of course had a huge smile on my face as I was honored to have a student there cheering me on. After I crossed the finish line I wasn't able to find him which was a bit of a bummer and I am still looking forward to seeing him in school today to say Thank You.

The reward was not so much that I had someone cheering me on, but that a student took time out of his weekend to come and cheer on his goofball teacher at a race.  I don't think that he knew how much that meant to me, and honestly I don't know if I can put the right words together to express it either, but I can say that something like that makes all of the late nights and early mornings a little bit more worth it.

A cool speech I came across... "What do I make?"

A couple days ago my mother sent me this incredible e-mail.  It was of a principles speech at a graduation.

I thought I would share it because it made me smile and it also made me happy to see something that makes sense about what a teacher really gets 'paid'. 
I also LOVE the part that talks about how keyboarding isn't everything and writing is so important. The timing of me reading this couldn't have come at a more appropriate time!

Hope you enjoy!

From A School Principal's speech at a

graduation...

He said

"Doctor wants his child to become a doctor.........

Engineer wants his child to become engineer......

Businessman wants his ward to become CEO.....

BUT a teacher also wants his child to become one of them..!!!!

Nobody wants to become a teacher BY CHOICE" ....Very sad but that's the

truth.....!!!

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.

One man, a CEO, decided

to explain the problem with education. He argued,

"What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life

was to become a teacher?"

To stress his point he said to another guest;

"You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Teacher Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied,

"You want to know what I make?

(She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't

make them sit for 5 min. without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make?

(She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table)

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them how to write and then I make them write.

Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math.

They use their God given brain, not the man made calculator.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need

to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they

were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life

( Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money

isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because

they are ignorant. You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN ALL YOUR LIVES,EDUCATING KIDS AND

PREPARING THEM TO BECOME CEO's ,AND DOCTORS AND

ENGINEERS..........

What do you make Mr. CEO?

His jaw dropped; he went silent.

 http://agogodavid.com/2012/04/from-a-school-principals-speech-at-a-graduation/

Always up to learn: Using Daybooks: Jill Puchacz and talking on paper

Always up to learn: Using Daybooks: Jill Puchacz and talking on paper: I started using daybooks in my classroom and I have had a mix of responses, some students love using them and other say they would rather us...

Using Daybooks: Jill Puchacz and talking on paper

I started using daybooks in my classroom and I have had a mix of responses, some students love using them and other say they would rather use a lap top or text their thoughts on their phone.  Even though I understand that using a paper and pencil is archaic to them, I find it important and almost freeing to leave the phone or computer behind for a few minutes a day and just write.

I wonder how I could get kids more excited to use paper.  I model it for them and show them how I write and that its okay to be messy and spell incorrectly.  They have such a hard time writing for the sake of writing because they were never taught that.  How do I teach them that writing isn't only for when you need to pass in  a paper for class, but as a way to organize your thoughts and sometimes find out thoughts that you didn't know you had?

This goes back to a post I made a while ago about being a digital native or a digital immigrant.  How do we express the wonder of using paper?


Jill Puchacz