Letters

I currently have copies of two letters of recommendation, written by my student teacher supervisor and my cooperating teacher.

To Whom It May Concern: Letter of recommendation for Rachel Johnson

I have had the privilege of knowing Rachel Johnson as her immediate student teacher supervisor at the University of Hartford, The Hartt School.

During the spring semester of 2008, Rachel was assigned to two different and educationally motivating student teaching placements. For the first placement she was assigned to a strong elementary vocal program instructing classes in grades K-5 and later assigned to Martin Kellogg Middle School, Newington CT, instructing students of varied sized vocal ensembles for the second placement.

During my observations, I was aware of the many innovative and exciting attributes in teaching styles not commonly found in teacher candidates. Ms. Johnson’s instructional strategies constantly varied as she chose appropriate materials for graded abilities, while communicating and monitoring student expectations, goals, and understanding. Rachel is most effective in classroom management techniques varying teaching strategies while giving clear and focused instructions to her students. She consistently demonstrated and maximized student instruction time and adapted daily lesson plans as needed. It is evident that student behavioral expectations and presentation of subject matter is paramount for this vivacious educator.

Ms Johnson exhibits excellent musical skills while modeling, conducting and communicating music concepts clearly. She constantly provides a positive learning environment and maintains an affirmative role model for her students. It is worthy to mention that Rachel demonstrates emotional and mature judgment as she engages in daily self reflection and willingly accepts recommendations from her immediate supervisors.

It is with great enthusiasm that I recommend Rachel Johnson to you as a prospective music education candidate for your consideration. She is a worthy and deserving candidate.

Sincerely yours,

Salvatore Cicciarella
University of Hartford
The Hartt School

To Whom it May Concern,

I am writing this letter of recommendation in support of Rachel Johnson, who graduated with a degree in Music Education from the Hartt School in May of 2008. Rachel student taught with me at Martin Kellogg Middle School in Newington, Connecticut, a town which borders two urban areas, Hartford and New Britain. This placement allowed her to experience working with a diverse group of fifth through eighth graders. By the end of her assignment at Kellogg, Rachel was the primary teacher for all of the general music, keyboard, and guitar classes, and was directing choral rehearsals for two of the six choirs.

Rachel was very responsible and conscientious. She worked hard to master the guitar and keyboard skills, choral selections, and other curriculum materials needed for our classes. Her lesson plans were detailed, and she took care to plan each lesson within the context of the unit as a whole. She was always open to input from me and her supervisor concerning ways to improve and fine tune her classroom strategies and methods, and would incorporate our suggestions in subsequent lessons. Rachel was able to develop a good rapport with our students. They could feel that she honestly liked them and wanted them to succeed.

During her time at Kellogg, our choirs were involved in a humanitarian project to raise money for schools in Africa. Rachel’s graphic design skills added to the professional look of our CD jacket, posters, and program. Even though she was officially done with her student teaching assignment the first week in May, Rachel stayed on and worked with the classes and choirs through their concert on May 29, when she culminated her time with us by directing the Chamber Singers in their performance. Her dedication to her pupils was above and beyond that of any other student teacher I have worked with.

I am confident that Rachel will become a fine teacher. She possesses the desire, intelligence, and work ethic to succeed at whatever she chooses to do. She also has a realistic and analytical mindset that allows her to reflect on situations and discover ways to make them better for everyone involved. She is willing and eager to do whatever needs to be done to build a successful program.

Please feel free to contact me with any further questions at cjdrosier [at] aol [dot] com

Cynthia S. DesRosier
Choral Director
Martin Kellogg Middle School
Newington, Ct. 06111