February 25, 2019

To Whom It May Concern:

I am Kelly Flynn and I am the UC Student Teacher Supervisor. I am writing a recommendation for Stacie Vorhees who is
a student teacher in second grade at Loveland Primary School. Stacie has been at her placement the whole year and has
developed a strong professional relationship with her mentor, Jamie Meyer and the staff at Loveland Primary. During
the month of August, Stacie was at school every day for two weeks to observe and gather information on how to set up
a classroom, how to build relationships and routines with her new students and helped assess beginning skill levels.
During the months of September-December, Stacie was at school two days a week and taught one lesson a week along
with supporting her mentor teacher with small group instruction and other teacher tasks. Starting in January, Stacie was
there every day and will finish the end of April completing student teaching assignments which include 5 solo weeks of
teaching. Stacie works in a diverse classroom that allows her to interact with several students with IEP goals. She has
shown strong growth in differentiation as she has adapted activities to maintain an inclusive classroom setting and
success for individuals that have IEP goals. I was quite impressed with the way she adapted assessments for these
students when needed because her adaptations reflect knowledge of the child’s disability.

Through my observations and interactions with Stacie, I would recommend her for a job in your district. Two of Stacie’s
strengths are her organizational skills and planning lessons that meet the needs of her students. Stacie researches
engaging activities which has included games, cooperative group activities on non-fiction book features and anchor
charts that show students’ thinking skills and prior knowledge of the topic. Stacie has always been strong at showing
initiative and quickly became involved in small group support in Math and Reading. Stacie’s objectives are measurable,
reflect her knowledge of the standards and she articulates her objectives several times within most lessons. Procedures
show scaffold steps that build upon the prior knowledge of the students and her questioning skills help to take students
to a higher level of thinking. Throughout her lessons, Stacie has grown quite skilled at using the academic vocabulary of
the lesson as she allows students to give their meanings of the words, models meanings of the words and then guides
students in activities that encourage them to use the vocabulary.

Stacie has a calm demeanor which reflects respect and dignity for her students. She uses non-verbal communication to
encourage participation and interest in the lesson. She is strong at re-directing students to a task and often shares
positive comments with students that help to encourage respect and acceptance within their classroom community.
Stacie has worked hard on her goal of providing “wait-time” for students and providing specific feedback (both verbal
and written) to students that relate to the objective of the lesson.

Stacie has grown in the area of building confidence in her teaching. Her growth is a result of her willingness to reach out
to her mentor and other professionals that work in the classroom on how to support learners, add depth to her
instruction and build lessons that reflect discussion of data. She is a “go getter” and enjoys being a part of a team.
Stacie has experienced piloting writing programs for the school district with her mentor this year. Stacie is a strong team
player that understands the importance of networking with her peers and values diversity. She will be an asset to any
school willing to hire her. Please feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions.

Kelly Flynn
ECE Student Teacher Supervisor
hilberkj@ucmail.edu
513-673-6027