Fillable Printable Teaching Job Recommendation Letter Sample

Teaching Job Recommendation Letter Sample

Short Teaching Job Recommendation

December xx, 20xx

Educational Resources Group

416 Howard Building

26 West 17th Street

New York, NY 10011

RE: JOHN LERNER’S APPLICATION TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES GROUP

This letter offers my complete support of John Lerner as he applies for a teaching position. I’ve known

John for two years now, since he completed my course in Advanced Fiction Writing at Mythic University.

In this course, John wrote three pieces of short fiction for me, and I recall that in one of them in particular

his revisions after a group discussion of his work were substantial and well-focused. I also recall that John

was one of those few I could turn to when I needed to spark discussion; he was never lethargic,

uninterested, or unprepared, but always willingly thoughtful and articulate. He provided me with a

touchstone for what was best in the class.

Since John took the class he has kept in touch with me, in particular by seeking my advice on a literary

paper he was writing last year and by attending a fiction reading that I gave recently. Based on these

interactions, over the last two years I have come to see John as a bright, personable, energetic, and mature

person with a concrete, ongoing, well-rooted interest in teaching. As I glance over his credentials that he

gave me when he asked me to write him a letter of reference, I am struck by just how much he has already

done in various positions—whether volunteer or paid—and what this reflects about his work ethic. His

work in Outward Bound programs, athletics, and in six different part-time work positions just in the past

two years while he was a full-time student, shows John’s unfailing commitment to achieving his goals

while developing himself as a person. And I see this same ideal—one that he wants to pass on to his

future students—even in the careful wording of his career objective on his resume, where he speaks of

helping students achieve their “academic, athletic, and social potential.”

In short, it is clear to me that John Lerner is and will continue to be devoted to becoming the best kind of

educator. His college background and work ethic remind me very much of my own, and I respect what he

has done and will do as a teacher. Thus, I recommend him highly.

Sincerely yours,

Janet Teacher

Assistant Professo r of English and Comparative Literature

Teaching Job Recommendation

May xx, 20xx

To Whom It May Concern:

It is my sincere pleasure to write this letter recommending John Lerner for elementary school teaching

positions. Mr. Lerner recently participated in an innovative, field-based teacher preparation program that

culminates in a year-long internship at a professional development school (http://www.ed.mu.edu/pds).

The internship program is a central feature of an ongoing partnership between the Mythic Area School

District and Mythic Un iversity. As part of th is program, I served as one of Mr. Lerner’s university

supervisors and co-taught the concurrent science methods course, SCIED 458: Teaching Science in

Elementary Schools, in which he and the other interns were enrolled during Fall 20xx. I also co-taught

web-based portfolio workshops in which he participated. Because of my close and various associations

with him, I feel qualified to comment on Mr. Lerner’s potential as an elementary educator. Mr. Lerner

will make a valuable addition to your staff—he is an outstanding candidate for elementary teaching

positions.

Within the professional development school context, Mr. Lerner had the opportunity to work closely with

his mentor teacher, school and university faculty, and other interns to explore issues of teaching and

learning for understanding, and to consider connections between educational theory and practice. As part

of the elementary science methods course, Mr. Lerner collaborated with another intern to design and

implement a series of lessons aimed at helping students investigate concepts associated with the principles

of flight—thrust in particular. The development of his mini-unit required extensive background research,

as well as the comprehensive assessment of students’ prior knowledge of the content. The learning

experiences he crafted included a variety of opportunities for students to participate as young scientists

(e.g., making predictions, gathering and recording observations/data, and developing evidence-based

explanations).

Throughout the year, Mr. Lerner continued to develop a progressive approach to science teaching, and has

become very proficient at planning and teaching developmentally appropriate, hands-on, investigation-

based science lessons. For example, I recently observed him teaching a lesson on electricity in which

students explored basic circu itry. Mr. Lerner challenged his class to find multiple ways to make a bulb

light using only one battery, one bulb, and one wire. Patterns in students’ discoveries were used to

generate evidence-based explanations for how circuits work. Mr. Lerner not only demonstrated a

command of th e subject matter, but also interacted with students an d facilitated class discussio n in a

manner consistent with an experienced teacher. Students clearly respect him and respond to his proactive

approaches to classroom management. It was truly a pleasure to observe this lesson!

As part of his participation in the program, Mr. Lerner had a number of opportunities to work with cutting

edge applications of technology for supporting teaching and learning. For example, he used web

authoring software to construct a web-based po rtfolio that in cluded multimedia evidence from his courses

and field experiences (e.g., scanned images, electronic lesson plans) to demonstrate his developing

understandings and abilities associated with supporting children’s learning

(http://www.personal.mu.edu/jlerner). Mr. Lerner also integrated technology into the 4

-grade curriculum

in a variety of ways, all intended to enhance student learning. His experiences with applications of

technology should prove to be extremely valuable to any school or school district seeking to integrate

computer technologies into its curriculum.

In short, Mr. Lerner is an excellent beginning teacher. Not only is he able to plan instruction that is

engaging and developmentally appropriate, use a variety of assessment strategies to monitor and evaluate

student learning, masterfully orchestrate classroom discussions, and effectively manage classroom

routines and student behavior, but he also is a consummate professional. He is thoughtful, reflective, and

committed to life-long learning and continued development as an educator. Mr. Lerner is willing to share

his ideas with colleagues and capitalize on opportunities to learn from others. For instance, he attended

and presented his work with web-based portfolios at the Holmes Partnership Meeting (2004) in San

Diego, CA, where the teacher education program in which he is enrolled was awarded the Nancy Zimpher

Award for Best Partnership. As I noted at this meeting, he is poised and articulate as a presenter, and his

contributions are worthy of accolades.

In the context in which I have had the pleasure of working with Mr. Lerner, he has demonstrated his

thoughtfulness, leadership skills, collaborative abilities, willingness to take risks, and genuine compassion

for children and their development. After evaluating his work, observing his performance in class, and

supervising his teaching, I feel confident that Mr. Lerner will make a significant contribution as an

elementary educator. I give him my highest recommendation for teaching positions.

If I can provide additional information to support Mr. Lerner’s application for a position in your district,

please contact me (555-123-4567 or jteacher@mu.edu).

Sincerely yours,

Janet Teacher

Associate Professor, Science Education