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Tracy Hand is an excellent teacher candidate who has made the most of her student teaching experience, honing her
skills not only in working individually to address many students' developmental and personal needs but also in
working effectively with co-teachers to address students' special learning issues. I highly recommend her as a
candidate to teach in either the high school or the middle school setting.
Throughout sfudent teaching Tracy consistently developed lesson sequences that met target objectives and pravided
each student with opportunities to be active throughout each class period. She opened the class with a video or
guiding question to focus students' attention on the theme and elements of craft to be considered that day. The class
then engaged in a short reading and discussion session together before moving into activities which included a
combination of individual, small group, and whole group work using a variety of support materials and guidance
from the co-teachers to examine passages of text in more depth. Students worked at such tasks as completing
feminist stereotype checklists, window pane perspective organizers, and character comparison charts; short character
role play; and guided practice in character composition. Tracy developed a critical eye for places where students
struggled and used probing and prompting questions that created clarity one on one and across groups. She also
began to use differentiated materials and questions toward the end of the term to provide support that students couiti
use with less direct and constant intervention fiom either teacher. I was pleased to see that Tracy maintained a
healthy balance of student talk and writing to get a sense of what the whole class or groups could accomplish and
what individuals understood. I was also impressed that she responded quickly and effectively to feedback (from
students' responses and supervisor notes) about places in her teaching where she could use clearer terms or models
to help students pick up concepts or strategies more easily and fully.
As Tracy has gotten to know individual students better, she has become very deliberate in calling on particular
individuals to share experiences related to the topic of discussion, allowing them to link their issues of famiiy,
relationships, fear and stereotyping of others, awareness of influences on one's thinking or emotions, and the effects
of personal choices with themes in the literature they studied. Besides fiying to manage the class discussion through
interest and involvement, Tracy has become quick, direct, and proactive in bringing outliers back on task through
nonverbal and verbal cues. There is a clear structure to her classes that helps the students to organize their thinking
and stay focused on the big picture as well as the details ofeach activity. She is developing transitions that are
content focused which help students to see how one part ofthe lesson is related to others.
Tracy is excellent at reminding students that they should be giving their best work and showing them how this can
be accomplished. She uses a variety of different types of formative and summative assessments and has learned to
conskuct effective target criteria to show when students are meeting, exceeding, or struggling with expected
outcomes. In her new teacher performance assessment (edTPA) study, Tracy analyzed data on student learning to
make appropriate adjustments, additions, and more advanced study options for students. She effectively responded
to student work in specific terms that show individuals how as well as where their work succeeds and model how as
well as point out where they can improve their work through revision or later assignments.
One way Tracy has gotten to know and care about her students personally is through very active participation in the
school community. During student teaching she has helped to supervise the color guard and volunteered in a number
of other after school activities. If there is a need, Tracy is a willing volunteer to filI it, showing that she genuinely
enjoys being with students and relates well with them in many different settings. In a field where there are many
teaching candidates, Tracy stands out as someone who is flexible and skilled enough to fill many roles with quality
results for a diverse body ofstudents.
Professor ofEducation
150 Years. A Promising Start.
l0 N. Brainard St. Naperville Illrnois 60540 630-6i7-5140 Fax 6)O-677-5149 northcentralcollege.edu