April 21, 2016

To Whom It May Concern,

Stephanie Ohtola has been a student teacher in my seventh and eighth grade Social
Studies classes for her Clinical Practice (student teaching) and I have been consistently
impressed with her abilities. During this time, she has been in charge of three classes of World
History and one class of American History. The classes taught included nearly 100 students of
diverse backgrounds and learning abilities. Throughout her teaching experience, I had the
opportunity to observe her teaching on a daily basis with access to all of her lesson and unit plans
and assessments. I am extremely impressed by Ms. Ohtolas hard work and the amount of time
and thought is put into each one of her lessons.
Ms. Ohtola took complete charge and fulfilled all the responsibilities for the previously
mentioned classes. During this time she created and implemented daily lesson plans that were
in alignment with the greater curriculum of the Diocese of Cleveland, the State of Ohio, and the
National Council for the Social Studies. She continually adapted her lesson plans, expectations,
and assessments to meet the diverse needs of the learners within the classroom. Stephanies
flexible teaching style allowed her to respond quickly and effectively to any and all classroom
challenges. Ms. Ohtolas hard work and dedication to her craft and to her students allowed her
to develop accommodations, activities, and assessments that yielded consistent student success
in the classroom. She has a particular gift for working with students that require individualized
lesson plans and she has enjoyed success in this area, helping these students improve their
performance and class participation greatly.
Ms. Ohtolas extensive knowledge of Social Studies enabled her to develop highly
organized and engaging unit and lesson plans. Notes, activities, homework, tests, quizzes, and
projects were all integrated into a unified whole designed to maximize learning. Ms. Ohtola
excelled at the inclusion of technology into her daily lessons. Her assessments were varied and
challenging, always reflective of what had been taught and learned in the classroom. Higher level
thinking skills and problem solving abilities were developed regularly through classwork,
homework, projects, and assessments.
Ms. Ohtola worked diligently and successfully to create and sustain a classroom
environment that was open, vibrate, inclusive, and exciting. She is able to maintain an attentive,
courteous, and motivated classroom without the use of punishment. She instead relies on positive
and negative reinforcement and intrinsic rewards to correct, guide, and focus her students. Ms.
Ohtola was always approachable and cultivated a relationship based on mutual respect with all
of her students. Her communications with parents were always polite, positive, and supportive.
She worked collaboratively and constructively with teachers, administrators, and support staff
throughout the school. In particular, she was especially successful in collaborating with the
Special Education teachers to develop accommodations for students with disabilities. In addition,
she always conducted herself with the utmost professionalism in her speech, dress, and actions.
I find that Ms. Ohtola is an excellent candidate for employment in the area of 7-12 Social
Studies. She is an extremely bright young woman and I was impressed by her knowledge,
professionalism, adaptability, dedication, and enthusiasm. I recommend her highly and without
reservation.
Sincerely,
Jeff Mickol
7th/8th Grade Social Studies Teacher
Gesu School
jmickol@gesu.com