COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN SCIENCES

Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education

10 March 2015
Dear Colleague:
I am writing in support of Kelsi Kohlers application to teach in your school. I worked
with Kelsi as her science teaching methods instructor during the spring semester of
2014, and I am currently her student teaching supervisor. Through our work together
in class, I found that Kelsi is prompt, efficient and professional. In her student
teaching, Kelsi shows great interest and ability in developing classroom scientific
communities, as well as a strong aptitude for planning instruction. I am most
impressed with Kelsis attention to using active learning principles, promoting
collaborative learning and using formative assessment in her teaching.
As a part of our methods final project, Kelsi and her classmates constructed an online
catalogue of student-centered instructional resources to support key concepts in
biology, and during her teaching internship, Kelsi is exploring and implementing ways
to make science content more engaging and active. As a scientist, Kelsi chases
questions, and as a science teacher, Kelsi applies scientific principles to systematically
investigate her pedagogical approach, and uses student input and performance data to
assess the effectiveness of her teaching. Currently, Kelsi is developing a
comprehensive unit that incorporates active learning, student-to-student discussions
and a formative assessment plan that estimates student prior knowledge and identifies
misconceptions. Kelsis plan will provide a path to build upon students strengths and
that anticipates and addresses common misconceptions. I expect Kelsi will continue to
modify and critically evaluate her teaching practice throughout her career.
From the beginning of the methods course, Kelsi showed an interest in and enthusiasm
for developing effective classroom scientific communities. Kelsi effectively facilitated
and managed group discussions among her peers, and contributed to and benefitted
from group interactions. From my observations of her interactions with her
classmates and current students, I can tell that Kelsi values individual students and
their contributions to the classroom community, as well as the home cultures and
individual attributes her students bring into the classroom. Kelsi easily establishes
connections with her students, and she works to create a comfortable, supportive and
structured environment for them. Kelsi and I recently discussed her plans to use more
collaborative learning and structured discussion methods in class, and I look forward
to seeing her plan in action.
Kelsi regularly assesses student understanding by incorporating review questions in
every lesson, by encouraging students to explain their thinking, and through using
instructional strategies that make student learning visible. Kelsi is refining her
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introductory and concluding activities, practicing open-ended questioning, and using

what she learns about students understanding to modify her instruction.
Like all beginning teachers, Kelsi will benefit from the support of more experienced
teachers and administrators as she negotiates her first year of teaching and works to
fine-tune her practice. I have confidence that Kelsi will focus on her teaching
techniques until they meet her high expectations. Based on my experience working
with Kelsi and other early career teachers, I suggest supporting Kelsi during her first
year with a structured, sustained and focused professional development program.
Based on my work with Kelsi as an instructor and student teaching supervisor, I
believe she will persist and excel as a teacher, and that you will find her to be a reliable
and supportive colleague. It is my pleasure to highly recommend Kelsi Kohler for a
teaching position in your school.
Sincerely,
Aaron Musson
Program, Research and Teaching Assistant
Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education
University of Nebraska-Lincoln