Being Appreciated

It's always nice to be recognized or appreciated.

Or district's previous superintendent was a firm believer in the 3 R's--relevance, rigor, and relationships. These were his watchwords. Our school has an AVID program, and even though that superintendent is gone now, the seniors' AVID teachers thought it would be nice for the students to identify those teachers they've had (if any) who exemplified the 3 R's. The students then wrote letters to these teachers, knowing the letters would be given to the teachers.

I got a few.

What surprised me, and another teacher I spoke to, was the students from whom we received letters. We both got them from students we never would have guessed, which is a reward in itself.

Without going into any more detail, it's a thoughtful exercise for the teachers to come up with, and a thoughtful thing for the students to do. It feels good.