Dr. Jerry A.

Caster
932 29th Street
West Des Moines, IA 50265
515-225-2016
cjeanjerry@aol.com
March 24, 2015
To Whom It May Concern:

Re: Melinda McBratney

It is a pleasure to write a letter of recommendation for Lindy. I am her student teaching

supervisor at Drake University. Prior to working with student teachers at Drake, I was a special
education supervisor and also the principal of two special schools serving disabled students in
the Des Moines Schools.

Lindy completed her first student teaching placement at Valley Southwoods in West Des
Moines, Iowa. It is a ninth grade school in the West Des Moines District. She is beginning her
second placement in a high school program in the Waukee Schools, another district in the Des
Moines area.

The Valley Southwoods placement permitted Lindy to work with ninth grade special education
students in both co-teaching settings and pull-out classes devoted to skills training. She was an
active part of one of the ninth grade teams (science, social studies, math language arts, special
education) that planned, coordinated and delivered instruction to students assigned to that
team. Lindys role was to provide support to students in their general education classes and
also to see that the IEP goals were accomplished. Lindys role varied as she worked in the
different general education classes from individual support to students during class to working
with groups of students. She also developed organizers for her IEP students and, in some cases,
the general education teachers adopted what she designed for use with all students.

The skills classes provided the chance to review or re-teach content introduced in the general
education classes and also to work on special education goals. This was also the time that
progress monitoring was conducted. In this setting I saw instruction that Lindy had designed to
help students understand content being covered in the general education classrooms. Lindy
demonstrated excellent skills in planning instruction that engaged her students, effectively
used technology and improved student understanding. I was very impressed with her ability to
do all of those important things. She really showed a great sense for instructional design and
delivery.

Im very impressed with Lindy and she is only half way through student teaching. She has a
great work ethic and understanding of students and instruction. I think she will be a great asset
in any middle or high school. Youll enjoy meeting her.

Please feel free to contact me if you have questions.
Sincerely,
Jerry A. Caster
Jerry A. Caster, Drake University, Supervisor of Student Teaching