I’m pleased to recommend Arissa. Arissa was a student in an
undergraduate education course that I taught at the University of California,
Santa Cruz, in the spring quarter of 2006, and I had the pleasure of
supervising an independent study with her the following year. I have recently communicated with Arissa
about her goals and her background, and so I would like to inform you about the
range of experiences that make her an excellent candidate for your program.
Arissa did exceptionally well
in “Introduction to Issues in Diversity and Education,” my spring course in
2006. The course introduced some
structural inequalities that public school students face and helped future
teachers examine five approaches to multicultural education that are designed
to make a difference for those students.
Student evaluation was based on a midterm and final exam, a group
presentation, attendance and participation, and a paper. Arissa did very well on both exams, was
part of a group presentation that connected course content to a teaching
scenario, developed a summary of race and poverty issues based on course
readings, and wrote a a good paper discussing the human relations approach
(e.g., caring, cooperative learning) to multicultural education. As a top performer among the 200
students enrolled, she earned an A+.
In spring 2007 Arrisa took an
independent study with me that focused on exceptional children. This course had both an academic
component and two placements in classrooms. The readings for this independent study started out with
some key articles about schools and race, class, and other sorts of student
diversity. About mid-quarter, we
went on to readings about special education (disabilities, English learners
with disabilities, policies, and educational interventions). The two placements were in a bilingual Kindergarten
classroom in a private school and in a special-needs Kindergarten in a public
school. Arissa selected readings,
prepared lessons illustrating what she had learned from the readings, and kept
an annotated bibliography of what she read. She also wrote a final paper informed by her readings and
classroom experiences. Arissa
performed at a consistently high level for this independent study; she did
excellent (A level) work.
Arissa’s academic experiences
highlight her qualifications for programs in education. In June, 2008, she graduated from UCSC
with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in education, with honors from her
college (Cowell House). She took
ED 180 (an introduction to teaching) in the winter of 2007 and was placed at a
local elementary school. During
that placement, she spent about six hours a week observing, working with small
groups, helping students write stories, and doing clerical work to assist the teacher
in a fourth-grade classroom. For
more than an academic year, (including the time of her independent study with
me), she helped special-needs Kindergarteners at a local school through a UCSC
placement program called Classroom Connection. Arissa’s experientially based academic pursuits at UCSC have
prepared her well.
Beyond
her academic courses and placements, Arissa also has extensive employment and
volunteer experiences working with children. In the summer of 2008, she volunteered with a private
occupational therapist for three days a week to use sensory integration methods
in a pediatric occupational therapy program. She has also been employed as a babysitter (continuous work
since she was 18 years old), as a private tutor in a tutoring club (4 hours a
week recently) and in a private arrangement (3 hours per week) with two boys
who were home-schooled in 2007-08, and as a fulltime camp counselor at a local
horse camp (summers 2005 though 2008).
Through these varied experiences with children, Arissa has laid a firm
foundation for future.
I strongly recommend Arrisa.
She is an excellent student with many experiences working with special-needs
students and children in general.
Her academic performance and her volunteer and employment background
indicate that she will be an asset to your program and a successful teacher.
