Dr. Jerry A.

Caster
932 29th Street
West Des Moines, IA 50265
515-225-2016
cjeanjerry@aol.com
December 2, 2013
To Whom It May Concern:

Re: Richard Williams

It is a pleasure to write a letter of recommendation for Richard. I was his student

teaching supervisor at Drake University. Prior to working with student teachers, I
was a special education supervisor for the Des Moines Schools, and later principal of
Smouse and Ruby Van Meter Schools.

Richard did his student teaching in two different elementary schools in Des Moines.
One placement was a second grade classroom at Phillips Traditional School and the
other was in a special education resource program at Willard Elementary School.
Both schools served lower SES students and were ethnically diverse. He connected
well with the students and staff in both schools and demonstrated good teaching
skills.

It is a pleasure to recommend Richard to you as a teacher. During student teaching
he demonstrated good skills in planning and implementation of lessons. He always
made an effort to design activities that engaged the students, and, he focused on
their involvement and success as he evaluated his lessons. He had the opportunity to
be involved in the writing of IEPs and progress monitoring, and he had the chance to
see it from both the general education and special education points of view. The
second grade placement gave Richard the opportunity to develop skills on
organizing for group instruction and classroom management. The special education
placement gave him opportunity to provide intensive academic skill development to
small groups of students.

Richard is a non-traditional student. He has finished his first career in the air force
and will bring language skills and understanding of different cultures to the
classroom. In addition, he has gained knowledge through working with children by
being a parent and volunteering in scouts and church youth programs. I found
Richard to be very hardworking and focused on the students and very eager to get
feedback. I think he will be very successful as a teacher and will contribute in many
different ways in the school in which he teaches.


Please feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Sincerely,
Jerry A. Caster
Jerry A. Caster, Supervisor of Student Teaching
Drake University