Lessons Learned from the Bunny Teacher: May 2019

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

"If you have nothing in life but a good friend, you're rich." Michelle Kwan

North Allegheny is a large school district north of downtown Pittsburgh, comprised of 12 schools, 8500 students, 672 teachers, and 1141 employees. My friend Joe Bullick worked at North Allegheny for 46 years, and he knew all of them.

This week, Joe Bullick died at the age of 87. Joe truly embodied all of North Allegheny. He began as a custodian and worked his way up to become supervisor of the entire district custodial staff. He coached varsity girls golf (taking my position when I moved to boys golf), girls softball, and bowling. Joe began a scholarship program years ago, which is still going strong. Joe loved the local area, and he had a huge collection of memorabilia related to the growth of the communities that comprise the North Allegheny School District. He tirelessly moved his collection from building to building, giving endless presentations to groups, until a few years ago, when the museum got its own building, using Joe Bullick's collection as the basis of its curated pieces. (see link at bottom of article for more about the museum)

Although Joe had no formal education beyond high school, he wrote and published two books. Joe was devoted to his church, St. Alphonsus, and he wrote a book about the priests and history of that church. Additionally, Joe wrote an autobiographical account about being torn between his real mother and his foster parents, as he grew up during the Great Depression and learned many of life's difficult lessons. The book is called Put a Tent Over the Circus. He also wrote a "Town Crier" column for a local magazine to keep the interest in the region's history alive. Joe was a true living historian

Joe never missed the opportunity to support a colleague or friend. I can attest to this personally - when my husband died, Joe was there for me, with his broad shoulders to cry on and lean on. Throughout the years, as other colleagues fell into fragile and precarious health, Joe was the one person to be counted on to visit them when no one else did. He was one of the most loyal and giving people I have ever known.

Joe was kind and hardworking, with values that never wavered. When his former neighbors were ill, he was there every day, taking them food and picking up their medicine. He lived a life of service for all of his 87 years. Joe had so many friends because he truly knew how to be a friend.

I cannot think of a single name of anyone in our town who could possible fill Joe's shoes. There are none like him, and there never will be. I know this: all of Joe's friends are better people because we knew him. In fact, I think Joe Bullick was one of the richest men I have ever known; not in money, but in friendships and love and taking delight and interest in the world around him. Joe truly was one of a kind.

I am also rich, along with thousands of others, because we knew Joe Bullick as our friend. Thank you, Joe, for sharing your hard work, your smile, your humor, your dedication, your devotion, your faith, and your love with so many in our community. Your friendship made all of us millionaires.

Joe's autobiography:
https://www.amazon.com/Circus-Bullick-Kissel-Jennifer-Paperback/dp/B011DB4ZQ4

Article about the Town of McCandless Museum, founded by Joe Bullick
https://www.townofmccandless.org/mccandless-northern-allegheny-heritage-center/about/pages/about-joe-bullick-and-collection

Joe's obituary is not long enough to do him justice!
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/postgazette/obituary.aspx?n=joseph-bullick&pid=193003670&fhid=9725

As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions.
Rittman Publishing, LLC ®

Please invite Grady Gets Glasses (and me) into your school. if you are not in the Pittsburgh area, we do virtual field trips with a group called Field Trip Zoom. www.Fieldtripzoom.com GRADY GETS GLASSES was the winner of Best New Children's Book 2016 and 2018 (new edition) from The Authors' Zone.Grady also won a 2018 prestigious Moonbeam Award for Best Children's Book with Merchandise.

Visit Dede's webpage for complete details on her award-winning book, STUDENT TEACHING: THE INSIDE SCOOP FROM A MASTER TEACHER. Many colleges have made the book required reading. Signed copies are available www.dederittman.com Dede is also a national speaker on The Three C's for Classroom success: Confidence, communication, and Creativity; Avoiding Teacher burnout; and many other inspirational topics.

I LOVE writing. And I love writing children's books- my newest passion. Although it will be a ton of work, I am looking forward to selling my books. Since I was a secondary teacher, I know that I have much to learn about elementary students, and I will have to follow my own advice and be my genuine self. However, I also know that I am passionate about helping kids who have to wear glasses, and that GRADY GETS GLASSES sends a positive message. I am willing to work hard and do all the things that also made me a successful teacher for 37 years. I remain inspired!

Elementary teachers in Western Pennsylvania and beyond - I am willing to come into your classroom in person or as a virtual field trip through a group called Field Trip Zoom. Check them out! http://www.fieldtripzoom.com/

Teacher friends- let me know if you want me to read GRADY GETS GLASSES at your school. I am willing to come in to discuss the creative writing process, why writing is important, and personal fulfillment through writing, along with reading my book. I would appreciate the exposure, and I would make signed copies available for purchase in your classrooms following the reading. Please email me at dederittman@gmail.com The website www.gradygetsglasses.com now has plush Grady bunnies for sale!
Please like Dede's new page Grady Gets Glasses for updates about her children's book. https://www.facebook.com/gradygetsglasses?ref=hl

Connect with Dede!

Twitter @dederittman
Periscope @dederittman
Facebook Dede Faltot Rittman or Rittman Rules
LinkedIn Dede Rittman
Google + Dede Rittman
Tumblr The Bunny Teacher
Instagram dede_rittman and Gradygetsglasses
Pinterest Rittman Publishing, LLC ®

Thursday, May 23, 2019

"Great teachers focus not on compliance, but on connections and relationships." PJ Caposey

With the impending close of the school year, even though I am no longer in the classroom, I worry about kids. After my 37 years of teaching, I know that contrary to popular opinion, many kids dread being at home for the long summer vacation. Some are in abusive situations, others are food deficient; some have relationship issues with parents or siblings, and others are expected to be full time babysitters. I am certain of one thing from all my years of teaching, and that is that many kids come from dysfunctional homes.

I also worry about summer break because kids who need teacher support to sound off, to reflect, to discuss, and to strategize ways of dealing with life suddenly lose that support. Sometimes we forget that for many kids, school is their "safe" space, where they are loved, accepted, recognized, validated, and fed. In my generation (I am 66), family life was not the same as they are now. Back then, moms stayed home and dads worked, and the families ate meals together, which promoted better family relationships. In today's fast-paced world. the family dinner has become a rare commodity, and kids are pushed to grow up more quickly. Pressures of social media add to the pain and anguish of growing up.(I am glad I grew up when I did.)

Reflecting on these thoughts, I have been reading lots of articles about the growing rates of depression and suicide, especially in girls 10 to 14. Most of the articles point to social media as an influence, but I am going to guess that the problem is lack of real relationships. Kids rarely talk to each other - they text. The same can be said for parents and kids. With no sit-down family dinners and no evenings on the front porch, like my generation remembers so well, parent child relationships are not as "in sync" as they used to be.

Teachers know that in order to truly be successful, they must have relationships with their students, and summer vacation interrupts that connection. I am hoping that with social media and cell phones, teachers can continue to be available to their kids, if needed. The suicide rates are truly alarming. I know that teachers work so hard during the school year, but allowing kids to reach out during the summer could save a life.

Here is a link about the increased suicide rate for young girls.
http://time.com/5550803/depression-suicide-rates-youth/

As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions.
Rittman Publishing, LLC ®

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

"The best way to demotivate and lose top performers is by rewarding mediocrity." Jameson St. Claire

Enoe Alvarez on LinkedIn

I was in the classroom for 37 years, and for 35 of those years, I taught at North Allegheny, one of the best school districts in both Pennsylvania and the United States. Academic competition was keen, and many of our students gained entry to top 10 universities and went on to great careers Students worked hard to win recognition, and the quest to achieve the status of senior class speakers was extremely competitive. Our school district creates and continues to sustain a culture of excellence, and they also continue to recognize excellence in the classroom, in sports, and in all aspects of Education. North Allegheny continues to prepare students for the competition they will face in the real world, and students benefit from the competition.

I was quite perplexed when I heard that a school district in Ohio has decided not to recognize any student as a valedictorian or salutatorian in the coming school year. The reason? Concerns about student mental health, including depression, anxiety, and suicide.

Although I recognize the importance of mental health and stress, I believe the school district is actually hurting the students by removing the competition. Losing and winning small battles through the school years helps students to learn to deal appropriately with bigger disappointments in later life, and how to win with grace and humility. In the current culture of "everyone gets a trophy", students need to learn that they are not going to be rewarded for participation, and that competition will become a way of life - in college, in the job search, and in maintaining and advancing in the work world. This should be a lesson learned while in school, but with no stress/no competition values, that lesson is going to be exponentially more shocking when it happens in college or an employment situation. I really believe that removing academic competition in school is doing a huge disservice to the students. When students face true competition, my fear is they will fail and fold, since they will have no real life experience with the inability to make the grade. I believe in encouraging and recognizing EXCELLENCE, not rewarding mediocrity. Kids need to understand failure in order to understand success.

"The best way to demotivate and lose top performers is by rewarding mediocrity." Jameson St. Claire

If you have not heard about Mason High School, here are two links to the story.

https://abcnews4.com/news/nation-world/no-more-valedictorians-at-ohio-high-school-because-of-student-mental-health-concerns

https://www.foxnews.com/us/ohio-high-school-removes-valedictorian-salutatorian

As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions.
Rittman Publishing, LLC ®

Friday, May 10, 2019

"A child's first teacher is its mother." Peng Liyuan

Growing older has made me reflect on so many people in my life, and I know that in many ways, I have become my mother. I never thought it would happen, but now that I recognize that I have, I feel nostalgic, grateful, and loved. My mother loved her children with such abundance! We never felt unloved or neglected; she unselfishly made us the center of her universe and taught us so many lessons for life.

My mother was so patient with us - teaching us to tie a bow over and over, flashing the math cards at us until we memorized the multiplication tables, ironing my dress for the second time before we left for church, because I was rough housing with my brothers. She listened to our childhood squabbles and fears, sometimes offering advice, and sometimes asking, "What do YOU think you should do?" My mother was a woman who possessed tremendous empathy, and she taught all of us to look at every issue from the other person's point of view, and to recognize that not everyone was as blessed as we were. Mom taught us to be respectful of all others, modeling the behavior and telling why and how we should apologize if we were disrespectful toward one another. As children, when we visited any home, we sat on the floor and were not permitted to touch anything in the home, because it was not ours, so we learned great lessons of how to respect the property and space of others.

All of these lessons of patience and respect and good manners and being kind to others may seem old-fashioned today, yet these very rules are the making of a polite society. As a teacher, I passed all of my mother's lessons to my students, and for some students, they were lessons never experienced before. I freely showed my feelings of empathy and caring with my students, just as my mother taught me, and that lesson served me well in the classroom. Students knew that I truly cared for them, and they could share their feelings, and I would help them to "figure things out" and make good choices. Very often, I used my mother's question, "What do YOU think you should do?"

My mother was real and genuine, and she put on no airs or pretense. She smiled broadly and cried easily, wearing her beautiful and loving heart on her sleeve for all to see. She always thought of the other person before she thought of herself, and she was kind to everyone she met. My brothers and I were so lucky to have her as our mother. Her beautiful lessons about how to live life will endure, through her children and her grandchildren.

Happy Mother's Day in Heaven, Mom. We miss you every day, and we are so grateful that you were our beautiful mother.

As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions.
Rittman Publishing, LLC ®

Thursday, May 2, 2019

"A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning." Brad Henry

UniqueTeachingResources.com

I loved being in the high school classroom for 37 years, and during the two years of visits to elementary schools to present my children's book, GRADY GETS GLASSES, sometimes I see truly inspiring teachers who make me wish I could have also been an elementary school teacher.

That happened on Friday, April 26, when I presented at the Brandywine Wallace Elementary School. I met Mrs. Betty North, second grade teacher, in person, and experienced being a part of her class project involving my children's book. What a great teaching idea!

I met Betty's class during a virtual field trip BE AN AUTHOR! that I was presenting for Streamable Learning. Betty ordered the book and the Grady toy bunny, and she created a fun lesson to get her students reading and writing, but she made the assignment so much fun, that it doesn't feel like work.

Betty created a diary notebook for Grady. to write in after he spends time with each child at home. Grady MUST have a bedtime story read aloud every night, and students are also invited to share Grady's activities along with pictures of his visits. When Grady returns to the classroom, the student must present what Grady wrote in his diary, along with a short but succinct book report on the chosen bedtime story.

Book cover above, and Grady writing in "his" diary below

This assignment is pure genius. The kids are learning point of view, honing their reading and writing skills, being creative with Grady's activities, and learning the responsibilities of being a team member, all while having fun! When I was visiting, Mrs. North assigned the Grady diary to me for my overnight stay, and I was delighted to be a part of the project and present to the students the next day. I was surprised by the creativity involved in this assignment - Grady met goats, and attended a Taekwondo class! He ate exotic foods and tried daring tricks with his hosts, like climbing a rope and meeting a giant St. Bernard. Grady gets to experience each child's personal and diverse home life, and when all of these experiences are presented to the class, personal horizons are broadened, with tolerance and inclusion as marvelous by-products. I am very impressed with Mrs. North and her class.

Teachers make such a huge impact on the lives of children, and their hard work should be recognized. I am applauding the efforts of Mrs. North and her beautiful, fun, and organized class, where learning is paramount, along with empathy and caring. "A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning." Brad Henry

Grady meets Mrs. North's dog, Shasta