December 2006
The Simple Joys in Life

 
Whether this means talking to your friends every day, presenting in front of your class and doing an excellent job, or reading outside in the wonderful Canisius quad on a sunny day, every day at Canisius is an adventure. However, sometimes the adventures stems outside the walls of Canisius College. This leads me to the point of my journal for this month and call me lame but it’s about teaching and how cute kids in 7th grade can be!

In the beginning of the semester, I had serious doubts about whether I wanted to still pursue education after I received my bachelor's and considered going into Student Affairs for my master's. Now let me back up and just tell you that in my last 8 years, I have always known that I wanted to teach. I love the subject of history, it fascinates me immensely and I want to share that enthusiasm and charisma that I have for history with other people, preferably students because I have the power of molding their minds.

Now to present day, I was scared that I was questioning what I’ve wanted to do for almost half of my life. I was going to have to do 50 hours of observation in the classroom, teach to a group of students that I barely know, and create my first unit plan. Looking at the syllabus on that first day, I was nervous and panicking about the rest of my life. This is my senior year and what I’m doing now is what I’m going to be doing for the rest of the life! Pretty nerve racking when you reach your senior year and it becomes a reality.

Having fun at Semi-Formal with my date, Allyson Matlock

However, once I actually went into my classroom and saw all the students and how supportive my cooperating teacher was with me, I loved every second of it. I was placed at a local middle school in a 7th grade classroom. The students were very warm with me, even with me being as a stranger in their classroom. During my last week there, a few students during her study hall kept on coming up to me asking me what my favorite color was, where I liked to hang out, what I liked to do for fun, etc. At the end of the class, the students presented me with a poster that said “Mr. Puccio Rocks” and had everything that I told them were my favorite things decorated in between the words. It was awesome, I loved it, and it is currently hanging up on my wall in my room.
Helping paint at Canisius Community Day,
sponsored by Campus Ministry

So then I actually taught my lesson all day on a Friday and several of my teacher’s students went up to her afterwards and told them that her student teacher did a great job! Also, when I went to the class for my final visit, the class that I was mostly observing, clapped as I walked into the classroom, read a short speech about how thankful they were to have me and wished me luck for the future, and gave me a gift basket full of nice goodies. It really made me feel special and it is an experience that I will never forget.

So boys and girls, the moral of this month’s journal entry is that not all young students are bad! The students that I came into contact with were wonderful and I’m going to miss them all dearly. If you are reading this and going into education, it may be tough and you might question whether you still want to pursue a career in education but once you see the smiles from the student’s faces that they really understand you and like you, it is all worth it. Trust me, even if they are only 7th graders! Well, that’s all I have. Until next time voyagers!

Dan's December 2003 Journal
Dan's January 2004 Journal
Dan's February 2004 Journal
Dan's March 2004 Journal
Dan's April 2004 Journal
Dan's May 2004 Journal
Dan's June 2004 Journal
Dan's September 2004 Journal
Dan's October 2004 Journal
Dan's November 2004 Journal
Dan's January 2005 Journal
Dan's February 2005 Journal
Dan's April 2005 Journal
Dan's October 2005 Journal
Dan's February 2006 Journal
Dan's September 2006 Journal
Dan's November 2006 Jounal