Department of Human Development

and Family Studies

6 April 2020

To Whom it May Concern:

It is my distinct pleasure to be writing a letter of recommendation in strong support of Arielle
Hunsaker’s application for an early childhood teaching position. Arielle was a student in my HDFS 2600
(Seminar in Early Childhood) course, and that same semester, I supervised her in her HDFS 2630
(Preschool Practicum). In this practicum, Arielle was placed in the two year-old classroom at USU’s Adele
and Dale Young Child Development Laboratory. Additionally, I supervised Arielle’s student teaching in
the three-year-old classroom at the Child Development Laboratory. I know Arielle well, and am highly
qualified to speak to her many outstanding competencies.

It has been a delight to have Arielle do her Level II practicum and student teaching with us. As I have
observed her, it has become very clear that the core of her competency is in the genuine, meaningful
relationships she very quickly and easily establishes with the children. Her language with the children is
terrific, and she is superb at listening to children, maintaining eye contact, and using very positive non-
verbal gestures and facial expressions. As a result, Arielle is able to engage children and effectively
scaffold their learning. Arielle has very authentic interactions with the children, which has also helped
create strong connections with them. This has been reinforced by the terrific lesson plan that she
created and implemented. Her success in implementation is due to the fact that the development of her
plan closely aligned with the children’s needs and interests. Her planning is creative, developmentally
appropriate, and well grounded in content and theory. In her teaching, Arielle demonstrates
organization, enthusiasm, flexibility, an understanding of pacing, and such sincere enjoyment. Her
positive nature, constant beaming smile, warm sensitivity, and confidence are all such important
elements of her teaching. Because of her adaptability, Arielle is highly competent when working with
individual children, small groups, and large groups. Her teaching intuition and responsiveness to
situations is or note, as is her ability to reflect on her performance and continue to seek to improve.

Interestingly, Arielle did her student teaching during the semester the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Because of that, our program had to switch from teaching our children face-to-face to providing them
with continued remote contact and teaching. Arielle was very flexible in this switch, continuing to find
appropriate and engaging strategies to work with the children. This is a value-added experience for the
student teachers this semester, and may be important on a more frequent basis in the future.

On a personal level, Arielle is a delightful individual. She is extremely dependable and reliable. She is
very warm, displaying a wonderful sense of humor and amazing interpersonal communication skills.
Because of her kindness and understated demeanor, she is a consummate team member.

I give Arielle Hunsaker my unequivocal and strongest recommendation as a teacher of young children.
Any school that has Arielle join them as a teacher will be fortunate indeed! She will be an inspiration for

2905 Old Main Hill Logan, UT 84322-2905 Ph: (435) 797-1501 Fax: (435) 797-3845 hdfs.usu.edu
 Department of Human Development
and Family Studies

children, an outstanding school citizen, a valued partner with families, and a welcome addition to any
school faculty. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can provide you with additional information
about Arielle.

Sincerely,

Shelley L. Knudsen Lindauer, PhD
Executive Associate Dean, Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies
Co-Director, Adele and Dale Young Child Development Laboratory
435.797.1532 | shelley.lindauer@usu.edu

2905 Old Main Hill Logan, UT 84322-2905 Ph: (435) 797-1501 Fax: (435) 797-3845 hdfs.usu.edu