December
15, 2006
To Whom It May Concern:
I
am delighted to write this letter of recommendation for Jill Snedden. Jill is currently
completing her third
year of service to the school as an ESL instructor. During this time, Jill has constantly demonstrated a strong
commitment to her students, to the instructional program, and to our school.
As
a teacher, Jill displays solid expertise in a multitude of instructional
areas. She establishes and
maintains a high level of student engagement during her lessons. As a strong advocate
of cooperative
learning, Jill frequently structures activities that require students to
interact with each other to accomplish a task and to use each other as initial
sources of feedback for such areas as editing, problem solving, and
brainstorming alternative ideas.
What
I find especially impressive about Jill’s instructional program is her ability
to differentiate instruction to support multiple levels of needs. She often has non-speakers,
limited
English users, and strong English users, who are about to exit the ESL program,
in the same class. She is able to
meet their instructional needs by modifying work expectations and using a
variety of material so that each student feels successful and productive. She does all this
in an atmosphere of
support and safety accentuated by laughter, friendly bantering, and
constructive energy.
What
I appreciate about Jill is her willingness to grow as an instructor. She recently obtained
her MA from
Endicott College. And even though she already is quite competent, she is eager
to discuss new strategies and get feedback from administration and her peers
about how she is teaching and how well her students are learning. It needs to be
stated that Jill and the
two other instructors in the ESL department collaborate at a high level. They are constantly
talking about
instructional material, student needs, and upcoming lessons. The three of them
are frequently the
last ones to leave campus, working late into the evening hours.
Jill
strives to make frequent connections with the school’s established curriculum
and has developed sheltered reading, writing, and social studies classes for
ESL middle school students which allow them to have similar learning
experiences to ones their peers are receiving.
Outside
the classroom, Jill is involved with a variety of projects. She is involved
with the Middle School
advisory program and serves as a Middle School house team supervisor. She has sponsored
several after school
activities such as a cooking club and a sign language activity. She is currently
serving as the
yearbook staff’s proofreader because of her strong writing skills. Such a
variety of actions demonstrates Jill’s commitment and willingness to help the
school and its students.
In closing, Jill demonstrates strong to exceptional
performance in the numerous areas that encompass the profession of
teaching. I am confident
that Jill would bring these same characteristics to your school setting and I
have no hesitation in recommending this outstanding teacher to you. I encourage you
to contact me if you
need additional information about this dedicated educator and wonderful
individual.
Sincerely,
Mark Baker, DCS Elementary
Principal 2004 – 2006
