4/29/19

To Whom It May Concern,

Tyrah Urie completed her student teaching placement at the Child Development Center
at Keene State College. The Child Development Center serves infants through preschoolers and is
a best practice demonstration site for undergraduates majoring in Early Childhood Education.
Keene is a small New England city of 23,000 located in the southwest region of New
Hampshire. As a teacher in the toddler classroom, Tyrah worked with nine children ages 18
months to 35 months. In the same room as the Toddler program is an Infant program enrolling
seven infants, ages four months to 18 months. Permanent staff includes a morning
Cooperating/Supervising Teacher, an afternoon Toddler Teacher and two Infant Teachers. The
CDC Toddler program staffs itself with childcare assistants throughout the week and two
Practicum students four times a week. Tyrah worked in the classroom with children for seven
hours a day, five days a week. She was lead teacher her last two weeks in the program.

During Tyrah’s placement, she was responsible for all aspects of teaching full day in a
childcare setting. Her responsibilities included family communication, child guidance, curriculum
development, classroom environment, supervising daily routines and collaboration with team
members. In addition, she wrote daily reflections, implemented daily plans, developed and
implemented a Family Involvement project, and documented children’s progress. Tyrah
attended daily seminars with the Cooperating Teacher, center staff professional days, inter-
disciplinary team meetings, Toddler to Preschool Transition meetings, and family conferences.

Tyrah built strong relationships with children and was dedicated to the classroom. Tyrah
did seem hesitant at the beginning of the semester when she first came to us at the CDC, but she
grew and developed beautifully in the classroom. She quickly became aware of children who
needed her concentration and was excellent at setting goals for children from her daily
observations. Children looked to her as one of permanent teachers in the classroom. When
there was a caregiving need with children, children often chose her to help them. She could
easily set realistic limits for children and helped them to follow through with her requests. When
our tenth toddler joined our classroom in late March, Tyrah quickly took leadership and
developed a plan to help support the child’s routine and transition into the classroom. She
values positive intentional conversation with children. Tyrah became more natural and
spontaneous conversing with verbal and nonverbal children as she developed relationships. She
enjoys laughing and finding the joy with children. Tyrah uses her knowledge of children to make
smooth transitions and routines but also taps into her playful side to engage. Her expectations
for young children are authentic and individualized. When there is a question regarding children
or the classroom, Tyrah clearly communicated with us, asking many intentional and meaningful
questions.

Tyrah created, developed, and facilitated a Family Involvement project during her time
here at CDC. She planned and held a Toddler Pot Luck for fmailies to attned and share a meal.
She used her observations of individual and group needs to plan activities. Tyrah focused on
transportation and many art and sensory project. Planning curriculum in advance for the week
was easy for Tyrah, but also watched children and their play carefully each day and discussed her
new ideas with staff and co-workers.

Tyrah valued and enjoyed family involvement and worked hard to communicate with
parents on a daily basis. She documented children’s play through photographs and displayed
them for families, wrote an anecdote about each child in their journals and greeted families at
the end of each day, though does also have experience opening the classroom in the morning
and greeting families in the morning as well. She was equally comfortable with co-workers. As
lead teacher, she easily assisted and assigned roles to other co-workers, and offered ideas and
support.

Tyrah Urie fulfilled all student teaching requirements this semester. Tyrah is professional
and personable. She can work independently to get things done as well as being a teammate.
Tyrah can juggle details of the classroom and is available for individual children’s needs. She
delights in toddler’s abilities as well as rising to their challenges with insight and encouragement.
Tyrah will be a successful teacher in a childcare setting. She truly understands “emergent
curriculum and responsive care.” I look forward to hearing about her future as a teacher.

I am pleased to welcome Tyrah to the teaching profession and recommend her for
employment with young children. Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions.

Sincerely,

Stephanie A Quail
Facilitating Teacher
Keene State College
603-358-2215