Being Miss P

I love being a teacher and I love the students I work with.  Yesterday, I had stayed a bit late catching up on some paperwork and while I was leaving, the tennis team was practicing and from the court I heard "Hey Miss P!  Have a great night!".  The kicker is that the student isn't even in any of my classes or on my robotics team.  She is interested in being in my program for next year but I haven't really worked with her at all. 

Recently, there were two new students that moved to my school from another school in the district and there has been some tough transitions for them as being new in a high school is tough. One of the first days, one of the students came into my classroom and sat down and told me that she was not going to do anything that I asked her to do. She would throw fits every time I would tell her that either she did the work or she gets a zero for the day AND I call home to Mom.  Being consistent can be hard because there are some days you just want to say... "Fine! Have it your way! UGH", but being consistent is the only way to make things work as a teacher.  Now, every time I am out for a conference or have a meeting and am not in school for whatever reason, I get an e-mail from her telling me that she misses me and she wishes I was back.  This melts my heart a bit as you can imagine and I always try to make sure I celebrate the 'small stuff' because that is what teaching is all about.  Don't get me wrong, this does NOT happen all the time and, most students enjoy the 'vacation' of having me be out of school every once in a while for a conference, but it makes me so happy to know that my class is important to some of my students.

There are moments that make me want to pull my hair out, but those are far less frequent than the moments that make me exhale pure happiness when I realize how lucky I am to be doing what I love so very much.  I wonder how I got so lucky to be where I am.  I know that I have worked really hard, but so many people who have also worked hard are not nearly as happy as I am with my career choice.  What this all made me realize is that, I really love being Miss P.

My philosophy on teaching.

Education is more than what happens in a school, it happens everywhere and as a teacher, it is my job to filter and direct the appropriate information in the right order to each individual student.  Teaching is like being an air traffic controller at LAX, there are some things that stay the same day to day, but mostly, everything is different. You never know where your students are coming from and what happened right before they got to your classroom, but it is your job to make sure they safely arrive at their educational destination.  Recognizing that there is a difference between students within a mainstream classroom, those who have special needs and those who are gifted, each student gets the same thrill out of solving a new problem for the first time or finally grasping a difficult concept, and I believe that it is my job to ensure that every student is given the tools and support to receive that thrill of learning. I teach to ensure that all students get to enjoy learning something new.  

I never ‘learned’ like other students in my class, I was always too busy chatting or being distracted because sitting still in a class was incredibly boring and for me it never helped me learn.  I am much more of a ‘movement’ type of person and being told to sit and write down facts and figures or copy over spelling words ten times, never seemed like a great use of my time.  As a teacher, I think it is important to include students in the style of their learning.  Making sure it is not just sitting or listening.  In my class we build things, we create the posters that go up on the wall, we discuss how the topics we learn about could impact and help us in the future and in the real world.

Classroom management is very important in my room, there is a very consistent structure; each day as the students walk in, they grab their sign in sheet, go to their desk and write the class agenda down so they are all aware of the topics to be covered in class. There is also a journal topic or quote of the day for them to write down and respond to, this topic usually aligns closely to the agenda and this allows the students to get into the mode for the class.  I have had great success with this and know it works because my students show up every day and our conversations grow and their opinions change through the year based on the topics we cover.

The main facet of my teaching style, is that I am never afraid to look silly, there is nothing short of singing and dancing in my class to try to drive points home.  There is always music in my classroom as well as student made wall decor.  I believe that students need constant reminders of what they can do and where they want to be.  In my room I have a board that changes each quarter, the students write their dreams, inspirational quotes, goals or any positive things that have happened in their life.  This allows students to take ownership of the classroom while having a constant visual reminder of what they want out of life.  Teaching is not a career but a life choice. When I tell people that I am a teacher, I am unsure that they understand that I am not just explaining what I do for my ‘day job’ but what I am from head to toe, inside and out.

Jill Puchacz; I just want to DANCE!

I am a super high energy teacher who LOVES to always be moving.  I can't really grasp the idea of making students sit still while they are learning and I especially can't understand why anyone would EVER want to have a QUIET classroom.  I know I know I know, WHAT IS THIS WOMAN THINKING!  I really hope that other educators can relate, understand or better yet agree, that students don't always learn in a quiet environment.
I would like my classroom to sound like a very large and busy bee hive.  Lots of discussion collaboration.  It would be silly for me think that I am the only person that they can learn from.  When you have 30 students in your classroom, you have 30 extra teachers.  Who better to explain a concept than someone who just learned it?!  I love the sound of busy bees, ones who are bringing pollen back to help create honey!  Sharing ideas with each other will only create better and bigger ideas.  If we don't teach our students how to collaborate with each other... how are they going to survive in the future when they need to work in a job where there is constant collaboration?
We need to teach students how to work together successfully.  When I say that I want all the students talking and buzzing around, it does not mean I am going to just let them loose!  There are guidelines to teach and classroom management to work on.  I don't believe that students are going to come in to my room knowing exactly what I am going to be expecting of them, and that is where collaboration will come in.  As a teacher I really shouldn't know exactly what I expect from every one of my students until I get to know them and they get to know me! PLUS I can't expect anything from my students until they trust me, until they know that there is a safe place for them to be themselves and to ask questions and make mistakes.
Now you may be asking.... how will she create that environment?  Well simply by being me!  I will make mistakes and let them all know I made a mistake and that it is OK.  I will trust my students and show them what it means to be able to trust someone.  I will ask lots of questions and not ever make a student feel as if their question isn't important.  Now with that being said, will I ever mess up and not live up to all of my goals and standards? Yes. I will probably mess up and be ashamed of how I handled a situation.  I might fail.  I might stay up all night long racking my brain on how to fix what I might have done the day before, or even how can I get one more student to understand the lesson we are working on.  I might not be able to fix what I did wrong, but I can make sure I don't do it again. In short I will learn to dance like a teacher.  I will boogie up and down and sing different songs and use different lyrics but overall I might dance a little or a lot, I might dance all night long trying to get the steps 'just right'.  Maybe its a dance I have already 'perfected' so I sleep like a baby... only to find that the dance doesn't quite work and I have to make a whole new one up off the top of my head.  Luckily I really like to dance.  I really like to look silly and make people smile and realize that there isn't any mistake that they can make that will make them look sillier than I do.  And in that... there is comfort and trust and a really safe place.  At least I think so.

Jill Puchacz; 'The Call'

So a few nights ago I was laying in bed when I got a text from the teacher that I did a Long Term Substitute position for last year asking if I could talk.  I was pretty tired and it was super late so I asked if it was important and she said, "No, just give me a call tomorrow."
So the next day it was about 830 in the morning when I got a call.  I was going to wait until 9 to call her as I just figured that would be a good time, but she had different plans I guess.  The call went something like this... "I got a job and I was wondering if you already got a teaching job as well, because if not I am going to let the ladies in the office know that you are available if you are interested."  My response internally and externally were two very different things.  I am pretty sure I was cool calm and collected and responded with a, "Congratulations! And, No I don't yet have a job.  I would be very interested in the job."   Inside I think I sounded a little bit like a balloon when you are letting the air out and you pinch and stretch the neck at the same time... that high pitched squealing sound. 

So for right now that is all... I am really a teacher now with my own classroom, mailbox, parking spot, and roster!

The Over-Under of it all

Becoming a classroom teacher has been a roller coaster ride for me.  It all started about 18 years ago... I was in Fourth grade and my teacher had a 'Be a teacher for a Day' event planned.  All of the students in the class voted to chose who would be the teacher for one whole day... and they chose me.  I remember being so excited and I couldn't imagine what I would teach everyone but I knew that the options were endless.  I decided I was going to teach a lesson using "The Lion King" as my guide.  I was going to have the class watch the movie and then talk about all the different animals in the movie and what 'The Circle of Life' was.  It was amazing and from that day on I knew I wanted to teach.  As they years passed, there were other interests that started to form for me, like culinary, biology, the ocean etc. etc. and I decided that I should go to school for Marine Biology.  I thought it would be, that I would become a trainer for animals like Killer whales and work in Florida at SeaWorld and everything would be incredible.  What I didn't really know, was that Marine Biology is really quite boring to learn about.  It is not that fun and it involved being in a lab and even worse... being quiet for hours at a time. I came out of the womb talking, I talk in my sleep, and honestly I talk sometimes without knowing I am actually talking.  So the whole Marine Biology thing... just didn't quite work out for me. 
I took some time off from school after that thinking, I can totally make a ton of money painting houses.... yeah that also was very short lived and I quickly began realizing how much I missed being in a classroom and how much I really enjoy teaching.  See, to this point I had also been teaching swimming lessons for a few years and it kept my teaching passion alive. So I decided that I would check out the local community college and take a couple courses and possibly get my Associates in Education.  About a month later, I was starting classes and realized how much I loved learning about teaching.  See, I come from a family of educators.  My mother is a Guidance Counselor, my Aunt is an Occupational Therapist and my cousin is an Autism Teacher.  So I guess education is in my blood.
After working towards my Associates, I transferred to another local College to finish my Bachelors.  I was side tracked by how much fun History is (Yes I know... very nerdy of me) and ended up changing my major to European History.  This was right before the economy took an even worse nose dive.  So upon graduating there were no jobs anywhere, I was actually turned away from a fast food restaurant because they couldn't hire any more people.  During the two summers before this point I had gotten a  summer job working at an Outdoor Education facility where I got to work with all age groups doing incredible things.  I did ropes courses, team building, leadership training, hiking, kayaking.... I got some pretty significant experience and thought that the mix of all of my education and experience would surely land me a great job. Nope.
This is when I started to consider the Peace Corps, and AmeriCorps.  I ended up applying and being 'hired' by AmeriCorps (hired is in quotes because if you know anything about AmeriCorps, you know we don't really get 'paid').  My position was working with a mobile food pantry locally where I got to work with many large companies and organizations to recruit and train volunteers to help pack and deliver food to home-bound elderly in the greater metro area.  It was an amazing experience and I was lucky enough that when my one year term with AmeriCorps was over, one of the companies I had been working with so closely, hired me into their company immediately.  I thought... FINALLY!  Things are all going to work out!.... and then I was working a desk job, where I was seated for 8 hours a day and being chained to a desk isn't really an attractive thought for a person like me, so I decided to start going back to school for a Graduate degree in Education.  I knew after my first course that I had been foolish to not pursue this more aggressively earlier, but I thought, "Hey I am 26 and I know what I want to do... I'm actually ahead of a lot of people".  So as I continue my Grad degree I stop working at the 'desk job' and begin actively searching for teaching jobs.  I have me SOE, which is a Statement of Eligibility, for the state saying that given my education and experience, any school can hire me before I actually finish and get my teaching certificate.  I thought that this was truly the light at the end of the tunnel.... well that was almost 2 years ago now and I am still not anywhere closer to a job. 
As you can imagine, I have applied for at least a few jobs and been on a couple interviews, I have even been offered a couple of jobs, but they didn't seem like the right 'fit' for me.... I did work for a few months with a program working with students who are deemed to be 'High Risk'  for dropping out, which was AMAZING and I loved every single day of it, but that was a temporary position and came to an end.  I am almost done with a dual Masters in Education, I have 11 years of experience teaching swimming, 3 of which I was a director, I have been Nannying for 5 years, I have 3 years outdoor education experience, I taught English in a foreign country, and I have been subbing in public schools for a year. I LOVE TEACHING.  I have energy for days and will do everything include sing and dance for students if it means it will make a difference in their learning.  I am versed in the Common Core State Standards, I can write a Behavior Analysis, an IEP with benchmarks, and a Behavior Continuum.  I could write you a lesson plan that would blow your mind and I can differentiate instruction as easily as I live and breathe.  I have never wanted anything more than I want to be in a classroom.  I am not your ordinary run of the mill person and I know that I will make a really great teacher, I know I need to wait until I find the job that I know is meant for me and all my incredible energy.  I just wish that job was here now!

Becoming a Real Teacher??

My high energy and passion for teaching has led me to where I am today and that is an imaginative, effective teacher that has a lot of experience to offer.  I have always thought of myself as a different kind of teacher.  I believe that connecting with each student is the most important part about teaching.  They need to know that they are valued and important to a classroom before they will feel safe enough to learn.

I know that every student that walks through my door will be different than the next, and I not only look forward to it, but my role as a teacher relies on it.  Working with any group of children there will be a wide range of abilities and  it is important to understand that every student comes into the classroom with different understandings and different experiences.  Using student pairing and group work can allow for students of different levels to fine tune their skills by helping other who are not yet there.  Being able to have  students play an active role in the instruction is not only helpful to the teacher but can have a positive long lasting impact students by allowing them to be proactive and take on leadership roles.

I have a passion for working with youth and find it greatly rewarding. I have been a Youth Specialist Long Term Substitute working for New Hampshire Jobs for Americas Graduates, where I created highly differentiated lesson plans that meet the needs of a highly diverse group of High School Students.  As a member of the Adjunct Conference Staff for Boston University Sargent Center I worked with multiple age ranges and this work provided me with valuable experience working with individuals having diverse learning styles and physical needs. I also spent time over in the Dominican Republic teaching English to 5^th grade classrooms and seeing that even though I was not nearly as fluent as they were, I was able to communicate in other ways to help them understand.  Being a teacher means changing gears as often as you need to make sure that every student is able to understand the concepts you are teaching, and when I see a student finally ‘get it’, it makes every challenge along the way worth it. 

With all this being said, I am still not a 'Real' Teacher.  I sometimes wonder if I am going about this all the right way.  I am imaginative and super high energy and I love being able to teach and learn, but I can't seem to get my foot in the door to save my life.  Are there any 'Real' teachers out there with any advice on what to do?

Let me tell you a story about a cool guy I know.

So this entry will be a little bit less about education and much more about family.  I do believe that family though is a huge part of how we learn.

Let me tell you about my Uncle Tommy.  He is the youngest son of Patty and John Puchacz and younger brother to my father John. He is also one of the funniest men I have ever met.  He can make you laugh so hard you cry about something that doesnt really even make sense.  He has this amazing aura around him that makes you just want to sit and talk to him.  He has lived a really cool life to this point and has some amazing stories to tell.  My uncle Tommy has jumped out of an airplane more times that I can imagine and has lived more places than I know. Yet with all of his amazing stories that he can tell, he is always so ready to listen and learn from everyone else.  He doesn't have arrogance about him even with all that he knows, he has grace and a big smile.

I was a flower girl in his wedding along with my sister and I remember even at the age of 4, I knew he was a really cool guy.  I hadn't seen my uncle in about a decade until a couple years ago when he came up a few times one summer to help my father with a new property that he had bought.  It needed some serious work and my uncle being the amazing carpenter that he is, was able to do incredible things to help out my dad.  Being able to see my uncle Tommy flooded back all the memories of my childhood when he came to visit with his daughters, my cousins, and helped my dad with tapping the maple trees and making maple syrup in our back yard.  I also remember one time him picking me up from my Swim team practice in his jeep.  It was the kind with canvas sides and I had never been in something like that before,  Driving down the high way doing like 65, it sounded like the sides were going to blow in and I was going to get swept away.  That was when I knew he really was the coolest man around!

A couple weeks ago, he came to visit because he had recently gotten news that there was something wrong and that there was a chance he had cancer.  He wanted to come up and visit with my dad and go fishing up north. Seeing my uncle Tommy made me smile not only because I love spending time with him, but because I could see how happy my father was to see and spend time with him.  My dad is a great man with a huge soft spot for his family, like any other dad I guess. They had an amazing time and Tom flew back down to North Carolina to meet with his doctors and get the prognosis.  As you can probably imagine, it wasn't that great.  He was diagnosed with Stage III Lung Cancer and was told he has a 15% chance of beating this.  Now if any of you know me, when I see 15 percent, that means that there is a really BIG fighting chance, but unfortunately that fighting chance comes with a huge medical bill.  I am hoping that you can all take the time to visit the link below and either pass on the link or donate to help us help him!  ANYTHING will help!  I would love for you all to one day be able to meet the amazing man I call Uncle Tommy and hopefully with your help you will!

Thanks again in advance!


Please Donate and help out my Uncle Tommy!