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This is Jessie Dorsey’s first year at Robinson and teaching American Sign Language (ASL) and this is the most enjoyable thing she’s ever done.
Dorsey has been teaching for three weeks and has fallen in love with teaching and the engagement her student’s giver her.
“I was [basically] adopted by the Spanish Teachers…[and] the students here at Robinson are exceptionally motivated and intelligent,” Dorsey said.
Her number one rule being participation, she loves seeing her students progressing in ASL. Dorsey has an array of events, classroom activities or actual events like competitions, etc., that she provides for her students to participate in and spread ASL.
While she may be new to RHS, she is not new to education. Prior to becoming an ASL teacher, she was a financial aid counselor at Hillsborough Community College (HCC), University of South Florida (USF) and Saint Leo University. She also attends rehearsals every afternoon being a stage production manager for USF (University of South Florida) in theatre shows across Tampa Bay.
As a teacher, Dorsey has her hands full with an array of hobbies and jobs outside of her classroom. In the spring, she will be graduating from Saint Leo University with her Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Prior to this, Dorsey earned her bachelor’s at University of South Florida in Theater and her Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Educational Leadership from Saint Leo University. During her down time, she enjoys gaming playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, Overwatch and a variety of board games.
For the future, Dorsey has many plans to immerse her students in ASL and give them experience using it in the real world.
“I plan to make class time fun and engaging for my students including field trips, sport events and the star-spangled banner,” Dorsey said. “My goal for my students is to get them more confident in themselves. I can see engagement fluency in ASL but confidence in my students will make them most successful.”
