WA LLED LA KE WESTERN HIGH SCHO O L

May 17, 2013

To Whom It May Concern: I am writing this letter of recommendation on behalf of Jason Middleton. Jason was my student intern from August 2012 through April 2013. Jason has excellent organizational skills, classroom management skills, and a very professional relationship with his students. I fully recommend Jason as a teacher to any district. Jason instructed a full load of classes from January of 2013. The classes were Algebra I, Geometry, and Geometry Essentials a companion class to Geometry designed to help students who may struggle with Geometry - allowing them more time and more alternative learning experiences in order to be successful with the Geometry standards. As part of his student teaching experience, he visited other teachers and taught some classes with other teachers in the math department to evaluate other teaching techniques and classroom management philosophies in order to help develop his own unique teaching style. Jason instructed a full teaching load during his lead teaching time. Jasons motivation and love of teaching allowed him to make his mark on classes already in progress. Jason implemented practices and policies that he deemed necessary to make his students successful including the use of technology such as the internet, power point presentations, online presentations, differentiated instruction, and use of the flipped classroom model of instruction. As part of his student teaching experience, Jason attended parent-teacher conferences, assigned grades for two full marking periods, communicated with parents via phone and e-mail, learned how to integrate technology into his lesson plans, and worked through the demanding classroom situations that teachers deal with on a daily basis. Because of these experiences, Jason is capable of stepping into a full time teaching position at any time, and he is ready to meet the needs of students at any level and in any area of Mathematics. Jason has a friendly and confident personality that enabled him to have a professional, yet friendly relationship with students, faculty, and administrators at Western High School. He spent many days after school mentoring and tutoring students, as well as making special accommodations for the many special education and English as a second language students enrolled in his classes. Jason also evaluated what his students knew and determined how to teach content and re-teach topics according to the benchmarks and standards adopted by the Walled Lake School District, the State of Michigan, and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Jasons lesson plans were detailed and clear. He was always prepared in advance, yet he was flexible enough in his planning to adjust his lessons to address the students needs, even if it required significantly altering his original timelines for a unit. His presentations were detailed and creative. Jason used hands-on and exploration experiences for his students to learn about the mathematical concepts being studied. The attention and respect his students displayed in the classroom were a testament to the quality of his teaching. Students commonly came to me commenting about Jasons high expectations, his clear explanations, and his willingness to give students extra help. The students expressed how wonderful a teacher Jason was and that he would be missed when his student teaching term was done. I fully recommend Jason Middleton for any teaching position that you, the employer, have available in front of you today. I wish that Western was in the position to hire a math teacher so he could join our staff to make it stronger. If you have any question please feel free to call me at anytime. Sincerely, Michael G. Weiskopf N.B.C.T. - A.Y.A. Mathematics
600 BECK RD. WALLED LAKE, MI 48390 PHONE: (W) 248 956-4400 (H) 248 347-6060 (C) 248 872-3922