Dear Sir or Madam:

It is a pleasure to write a letter of recommendation on behalf of Abby Mietchen. Abby took my

Content Area Literacy class during the Fall semester of 2016. During that time, I was able to
learn about Abbys passion for teaching and capabilities for designing academically rigorous, yet
relevant learning experiences for her students.

The Masters of Teaching program here at Westminster is both fast-paced and demanding. Abby
has risen to each challenge, balancing her coursework and practicum placements (methods and
now student teaching). Abby is not only well-prepared, but also extremely enthusiastic and
respectful of her students and mentoring teacher. In our class, Abby would always compliment
students abilitieseven those who presented challenging behaviors. She also watched her
mentor teacher closely, adopting strategies she noted were effective. Abbys commitment to
building on her students assets, coupled with her abilities to collaborate with experienced
teachers to learn strategies and dispositions that are effective, will serve her well in any
classroom environment.

Abby has an interest in creating curriculum that engenders empathy and a historical awareness in
her students. For my class, she created an interdisciplinary unit drawing on poetry, history and
music of the Harlem Renaissance. Abby experimented with engaging techniques and designed an
impressive array of reading and writing activities that gave students access to this rich history
and literature, while allowing them to build meaningfully upon their own interest and
background knowledge. We have also discussed her lessons on World War II and The Diary of
Anne Frank. Abby purposefully designed experiences to help middle school students
contextualize and feel with the Jewish people during the Holocaust. Importantly, Abby holds her
students to high academic standards. I have seen firsthand that she expects thoughtfulness and
thoroughness from her students in reading, writing and discussion Because many people can be
dismissive or even reticent to work with middle school students, Abbys desire to reach to work
with and capitalize on this group of students strengths is admirable.

Abby comes to the teaching profession with a great deal of experience as a teachers aide and as
a mentor. She is extremely academically well-prepared and knows current strategies for
assessment, behavior management and lesson delivery. Above all, Abby has a sincere passion for
helping students learn and grow so that they can realize their hopes and dreams. I believe that she
would be an asset to any classroom and school community. I am happy to answer any further
questions you have about Abbys skills and experiences.

Sincerely,
Anneliese Cannon, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Education
acannon@westminstercollege.edu