Who Am I?

Welcome to Blogush, my home on the internet.  I am Paul Bogush, not Paul Blogush, and as of the 2016 school year I am a middle school makerpsace teacher at Dag Middle School in Wallingford, CT.   Before that, I was a social studies teacher for 26 years.  25 years in 8th grade, and 1 year at an alternative highs school. I want my kids to achieve things that they did not know were previously possible in a classroom that is a safe place for them to be themselves.  I realize that kids will be who I am, and not who I want them to be, and so together we will imagine, create, innovate, be kind, be gentle, and smile. I believe that we can put a dent in this world and make it better.  And that is what we will do.

You can also find me at http://twitter.com/paulbogush and at paulbogush1@gmail.com or just google me!

But maybe the best answer to Who Am I? comes from one of my students which can be found right here

I am looking forward to my new role as the the lead maker in a makerspace that encourages kids to wonder and become radically curious and make things that they thought were previously impossible. The time they spend in the middle school maker space will prepare them for their future high school capstone project…and for tomorrow. Kids do not want to be taught, they want to be inspired by someone they would want to be more like, not someone who tells who they should be. As lead maker it is my job to not just plan and teach, but to learn with them and share what I produce along side them. I am not just their makerspace teacher, but someone who models tinkering, play, and explores new ideas that have no borders. Someone who makes, creates, hacks, dreams, inspires, and most importantly, when the world tells them to give up on creating their dream, someone who will lean in and whisper “try it one more time.” Their time in the makerspace will give them an experience from which they will use to build what they will become and what they believe is possible.

There are two paths to success, being like everyone else or being like no one else. Guess which one we will pick?

What you learn in the process of making things that you care about sinks much deeper, with the roots go deeper into the subsoil of the brain than what anyone can tell you.       –Seymour Papert

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