Julia Puckett earned the DPS Blue Ribbon in Reading, Writing and Intervention for her outstanding dedication to the students at Columbine Elementary. Julia’s students improved their Colorado Measures of Academic Success English Language Arts (CMAS ELA) growth by 73% over the course of the 2024-25 school year.
What grade do you teach and how long have you been teaching?
I teach fifth grade Literacy and this is my tenth year in education. I’ve taught third, fourth and fifth grade in the past.
How do you strive to impact students’ learning experiences?
Something I appreciate about teaching as a career is that there are so many opportunities for reflection and improvement. It is a true practice where you can always learn more, seek out research on best practices, use data to inform how you need to adapt lessons and use feedback from students in many ways to reflect on how you are doing as a teacher. I strive to create a classroom environment where students really find what makes them curious about the world and are able to ask questions and seek answers about their curiosities. I strive to create a learning environment where students aren’t afraid to try something and make mistakes. I also believe that interpersonal relationships are crucial for learning to take place. We practice strong communication and collaboration skills to learn from one another and to deepen our understanding of what we are learning.
How do you define student success?
Whew! Student success to me is about students feeling a strong sense of ownership of their learning and their growth as learners. I want students to understand their diverse strengths when it comes to their learning as well as the specific areas that they may struggle with. I want students to set goals for themselves and feel motivated by the growth they are making. Student success is also about students feeling confident in their decision making when it comes to academic tasks. It’s confidence in them utilizing the tools they have to complete a task, the background knowledge they can rely on to support their understanding, and the questions they can ask about their work and their learning. Student success is about creating a classroom environment where students see the value of what they are learning and are able to communicate how it connects to their lives and our world.
What three things are your secrets to student success? Can you give an example?
Ohhh, wow that’s a tough question and it’s hard to confidently say I have secrets for student success. I think one of my strengths is the relationships I build with students. I love getting to know what makes each student thrive and I try to find ways to connect personally with each individual student. This looks like getting to know what they do on the weekends by finding times to ask them about it, or spending time listening to them share.
The other day I had a student who was really struggling with stamina and staying focused so I used a sand timer and said after five minutes of work, you get this one-minute sand timer to share whatever you want with me! We did this about four times until they finished the assignment and it was really sweet to hear that all they wanted to talk with me about was their family and family tree.
I also rely a lot on humor with students and trying to make them laugh by embarrassing myself or being “cringey” as they would say. I think this helps students see me as someone they can let their guard down around and it allows space for students to be more of their authentic selves because they surely won’t look as goofy as me! Sometimes I’ll tell them I learned a dance on TikTok and want to try it out for them and then I’ll make up the most ridiculous dorky choreography or sometimes I’ll sing directions in an opera voice or British accent.
I also hope and believe that students can feel how much I actually care about their learning. I make a point to regularly express that their learning is a partnership. It’s not one of us doing it alone. We have to work together to meet their goals and that I will do whatever it takes to help them succeed.
What advice do you have for fellow educators who want to help their students grow and thrive?
Lean into what brings you joy about the profession and try to stay focused on that when it inevitably gets challenging. Be authentic to who you are and let your students see the real you to strengthen your relationships with them. Keep adapting your practice and receiving feedback in different forms — don’t let your teaching get stagnant. Adjust, try new things and let your students' enthusiasm and data guide you.
This year, we are launching a new campaign where we replace the word “Public” in Denver Public Schools with five empowering adjectives — Passionate, Personalized, Powerful, Prestigious and Proud — to highlight what makes DPS amazing. Which one resonates with you the most and why?
Proud. That sticks out to me most because I think of the pride I feel in being a DPS alum myself. I feel proud to be a product of diverse schools and proud to serve in the same community. I also feel proud of my students. I can think of each student who has met a learning goal for themselves and the smile on their face the moment they realized they met the goal. The students who wanted to call home right away to tell their parents a score they received on a diagnostic test or who couldn’t wait for student-led conferences to show their parents how much they write now. Proud sticks out to me because that's how I want students to feel about themselves.