Apple of Their Eyes

I was honored last week.  I received the "Apple of Our Eyes" award from the Dean's Office.  This apple was delivered during class and was inscribed with the following words....

To:  Mrs. Tamburrino
From:  The Dean's Office

"You are the apple of our eyes! Thanks for making our lives easier!"

This award is presented to teachers who do the right thing when it matters most.  I have had so many students make poor choices this year and land themselves in ISSP (in school suspension) or ATOSS (alternative to out-of-school suspension).  While they are "doing their time" so to speak, I must provide additional work for them.  I am a chorus teacher.  When a student misses my class, there is no way they can make up rehearsal time missed.  I operate "in the moment" and chorus is a participatory experience.  With chorus students, I have to be a bit creative with the work I provide for them to do. With World Music, it's a bit easier, but the numbers of students who are assigned to ISSP are triple those of my chorus students.

What the Dean's office appreciates most about me is that I place student work in a folder with the student name, their assigned date for ISSP/ATOSS, the class period they are assigned to me, and several assignments to keep them busy while there.  If it is an assignment for a grade, I make a note of that on the folder so that the work is returned to me for grading purposes.  This procedure eases the workload on the Dean's secretary and she is grateful.  She does not have to search through her records on each student to locate this information.  It is the least that I can do to ease her burden. She is doing the job of three people this year and it is my gift to her.

It would be nice if my students would make better choices and stay out of trouble so that neither the Dean's secretary nor myself would have to go through this process on an almost-daily basis, but that is not our reality.  It warms my heart to know that what I am doing on my end is a blessing to them on their end.

Thanks for the recognition, Mrs. Chisolm and Mrs. Charvat!! 

I appreciate it!!

Until next time...