Dear Mrs.

Savur,

This semester has been an amazing experience so Iar. I have learned so much
Irom you and I truly appreciate all your help. Last semester I got a taste oI how to make
and perIorm a lesson plan. It was diIIicult and a lot oI hard work but I learned a lot and
carried the knowledge I acquired last semester into this semester. I`ve learned so much
Irom you so Iar but there`s a Iew things in particular that truly stuck in my mind that I
know will Iollow me through my teaching career.
One thing I`ve always struggled with is my conIidence in teaching. Even though
this semester I`ve learned to relax a little more when I perIorm a lesson plan, my nerves
still take over and aIIect my teaching. Through my observation, I`ve realized how
comIortable and relaxed you are with the children and how they truly do love and respect
you. I love how you relate to the students and know each oI their individual
personalities, which is crucial to running an eIIective classroom. I also appreciate your
honesty with the students and how you reassured me that sometimes lesson plans don`t
go as intended but how it`s okay. I always got nervous when my lesson plan was
unsuccessIul but by observing how conIident and calm you are teaching your lessons,
I`ve grow to become more selI assured that my lesson will have a promising outcome.
You`ve expressed to me when your lessons don`t go as planned and I value your honesty
because it makes me realize that it is alright to make mistakes and it can be turned into an
opportunity to teach the students something new.
Another strategy I`ve witnessed you use is the way you explain content to
students. The very Iirst day in the Iield, a student came up to your desk to ask Ior some
help about estimation and exactness as it pertained to math. You used me as an example
saying that I looked about twenty years old and that your assumption was an example oI
estimation because you didn`t know Ior sure. Next, you asked Ior my real age and I said
twenty-one; you explained to the students that when you have certainty you are being
exact. When I told you my real age you had just demonstrated exactness since you knew
Ior sure. I thought this example was a clever approach to helping the student understand
the math content.
Later in the day, you were teaching a social studies lesson about the explorers and
the materials they brought on their ships to the new world. A student mentioned that the
explorers brought maps and you connected your social studies lesson to the math content
the students were learning. You explained the location oI land masses on the maps were
an estimation because they didn`t have the technology to know the exact location oI the
continents. I was intrigued with your use oI examples and multiple ways oI teaching
students content because not every student learns the same way. Students learn in
diIIerent ways and sometimes certain students need more direction and instruction than
others; knowing this about students is important and I will be sure to demonstrate this
type oI teaching in my own classroom to assure that every student comprehends the
content I am teaching.
Finally, I`ve witnessed your classroom management techniques and admire how
you have control over your classroom. Having control in a room with twenty-Iive
students isn`t easy yet the student`s listen to you and comply when you ask them to. You
used a classroom management strategy that my proIessor has also modeled Ior us in our
own classroom. Instead oI raising your voice to gain control, you ask students who can
hear you to put up a certain number oI Iingers, which gradually, and quietly settles the
students. This is an eIIective strategy that I will also implement in my own classroom
because it gains control oI the students without adding to the noise level in the room.
This semester has been an inIormative one, through your guidance regarding my
lessons and interaction with the students, I have learned a lot about my teaching style and
myselI. You have given me great advice regarding my lessons that will be helpIul when
creating new lessons and when I begin teaching. I also appreciate the opportunities you
give me to interact with the students whether it be shadowing you while you conIerence
or modeling role-playing with the students to help me with my Iuture lessons. You give
me as many opportunities as possible to grow as an educator and I thank you Ior all your
help and direction. I look Iorward to the remainder oI the semester and I am eager to
learn new strategies and techniques I can apply in my Iuture classroom.

Sincerely,

Nicole Meyer