Chula

Vista Elementary School District

PARKVIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
575 Juniper Street, Chula Vista, California 91911
Phone: (619) 421-5483 • Fax: (619) 421-2119 • www.pvpanthers.net

It is my honor and pleasure to provide this letter of recommendation for Frances as she
pursues a teaching position. As her cooperating teacher at Parkview Elementary, I have
enjoyed having Frances on the fifth-grade team. We worked side by side for half a school
year and my students, as well as myself, enjoyed every minute of it.

Purpose
When planning lessons, Frances had a purpose for everything she planned. Specifically, in
writing, Frances would prepare purposeful mini-lessons that tied directly to the text type
that she was teaching. For example, mini-lessons in punctuating dialogue and reviewing
tenses prefaced her narrative lessons. Mini-lessons in formal and informal language was a
predecessor for her informative writing lessons. Mini-lessons in distinguishing facts vs.
opinion, identifying an author’s statement of opinion, and choosing the best transitions,
were forerunners for her opinion writing lessons. Everything she did had purpose. This,
paired with the Success Criteria and rubrics she created for each text type, held students
accountable for their learning.

Data-driven
While many student teachers in her cohort focused on Social Emotional Learning for their
Action Research from their University, Frances made the conscientious decision to focus
her attention on effective feedback to her learners. Frances developed Success Criteria for
the all of the standards she taught and used these criteria to inform her instruction.
Through rubrics and routine conferences, her feedback was timely and specific to each
learner’s progress. The feedback was understandable for all learners because the Success
Criteria was accessible to all learners - it was clear and concise, and she would pin-point
specific areas for all learners to attend to. Small group instruction was developed around
these criteria and proficiency was attained because of her attention to the learner’s
individual path to proficiency. The feedback she delivered was actionable and each learner
was able to see their growth.

Student-teacher Relationships
Above all, Frances utilized her time in my classroom to build positive student-teacher
relationships. She was determined to build her credibility as their student teacher and she
was successful in doing this because she built trust and was effective in communicating her
expectations with all students. The students knew she was fair, so they responded well to
her teaching, making her an effective student teacher. The bonds she built with all learners
did not go unnoticed and will not go unnoticed at her future placement with your school.

All in all, Frances would make a fantastic addition to your school community. She is
collaborative, determined, and passionate about the students she works with. She is highly
motivated to develop into the best teacher she can be. She has my full support in her
educational journey, and you have my support as well. Please feel free to contact me with
any further questions you may have.

Respectfully,
Michael Ramirez
5th Grade Teacher • Parkview Elementary • michael.ramirez@cvesd.org