UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE

BERKELEY DAVIS IRVINE LOS ANGELES MERCED RIVERSIDE SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SANTA BARBARA SANTA CRUZ

School of Education 3200 Education

Irvine, CA 92697-5500
evelyy1@uci.edu
(617) 840-6555

March 17, 2017

Dear Hiring Personnel,

It is my privilege to write a letter of recommendation on behalf of Haejin Park. As her student

teaching supervisor, I have had the pleasure of observing Haejin in her field placement for the past
two months. Presently, Haejin is placed in a 2nd grade classroom in the Santa Ana Unified School
District, where 88% of the student population at the school are identified as socioeconomically
disadvantaged, 49% are English Learners, 26% of the students in grades 3-6 met or exceeded
standard on the 2015-16 CAASPP in ELA, and 20% met or exceeded standard in math.

Haejin is an exceptional individual who has an innate ability to see classroom teaching as a whole
while attending to the minute details of each lesson. She adeptly uses a variety of whole class, small
group, paired, and individual instructional strategies to engage the students in learning activities that
are challenging, engaging, and relevant. The thoughtfulness of her lesson planning, the gentle yet
firm way in which she interacts with the students, and her eagerness to reflect, learn, and grow are
all qualities that make her stand out among her peers. In particular, I am impressed by how Haejin
uses the Socratic method to probe the students more deeply and to draw a response from even the
most reluctant of students. Rather than quickly moving past the student or calling on a friend,
Haejin strategically scaffolds her prompts so that every student feels successful in the learning
process.

In addition to her thoughtful lesson planning and instructional pedagogy, Haejin also has excellent
classroom management skills. She has a calm and gentle presence in the classroom, and she
establishes a classroom environment that is safe and positive. She is quick to adapt to the unexpected
and she has an uncanny ability to handle multiple tasks with extraordinary patience and ease.

Haejin impresses me as an individual who is a self-initiator, a hard worker, and a reflective individual.
She works well independently as well as collaboratively. I am confident that Haejin will be an invaluable
asset to your school. Her passion and work ethics are worthy of the highest commendation. If I can
answer any specific questions regarding Haejins candidacy, please feel free to call me at 617-840-6555.

Sincerely,

Evelyn Young, Ph.D.

Lecturer, Multiple Subject MAT Program
Supervisor of Teacher Education