Caster 932 29th Street West Des Moines, IA 50265 515-225-2016 cjeanjerry@aol.com November 4, 2014 To Whom It May Concern:
Re: Ellen Calder
It is a pleasure to write a letter of recommendation for Ellen. I am her student teaching
supervisor at Drake University. Prior to working with student teachers, I was a special education supervisor and then principal in the Des Moines Schools. Among other things, my responsibilities involved supervising the early childhood special education program for the Des Moines Schools and later Head Start classrooms in my building. Ellen is more than half way through her student teaching. She has completed a preschool placement at Crestview Elementary School in the West Des Moines Schools. In that setting she worked with four year old children attending school in the morning or afternoon. Each of the two groups had students enrolled based on an ELL status, special education status, or, on a paid basis. She demonstrated excellent skills with both groups. The teacher was a skilled and experienced teacher with Head Start and special education experience. She was the special education teacher and was responsible for IEPs, behavior plans and special education paperwork. Ellen had the chance to be involved in all of these things. Both the am and pm groups had at least one student with serious behavior problems and Ellens experience made her an asset in designing and implementing behavior programs. Ellens second placement has been in a kindergarten classroom in the Des Moines Schools. In that setting she is working with a skilled teacher and is experiencing a great deal of success. Having just completed the mid-term evaluation, she meets all standards and is already exemplary for some of them. By the end of the semester she will be exemplary in many more of the standards. She is that skilled. I enjoy seeing Ellen work with children. She displays enthusiasm along with clear focus on what she wants to accomplish. Her past experiences has given her a level of confidence in working with children seldom seen in student teachers. At the same time, I have seen a professional maturity that also exceeds what I generally see in student teachers. This has permitted her to work well with the teachers and the teacher associates in her student teaching. It is clear that she loves being in a classroom with children. Having supervised programs for young children, Ellen is a person that I would hire. She is selfdirected, skilled and works well with others. Great attributes for a beginning teacher! Please feel free to contact me if you have questions. Sincerely, Jerry A. Caster Jerry A. Caster, Supervisor of Student Teaching Drake University
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