Educational Studies

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

610 E. UNIVERSITY AVE., ROOM 1228

ANN ARBOR, MI 48109
April 2023

To whom it may concern,

I have been working with Doug McClure for the past academic year in my function as a
field instructor in World Languages. In that capacity I have observed him teach several times
over the year and have seen him progress a great deal in his capacities as a planner and teacher.
In the fall semester he interned at Pioneer High School, and in this past winter term, at
Tappan Junior High School. Which gave him the opportunity to work with students from 6th
grade through 12th grade at various levels of German.
Doug learned to plan thoughtful and well-designed lessons that scaffolded new material
clearly. He used a good variety of activities to help students such as videos, worksheets, games,
etc. He was thoughtful about thinking of the variety of learning skills in the classroom so as to
adapt or develop activities that would address various students’ needs and skills. He came
everyday well prepared with his lessons scripted out. But he was also able to quickly pivot and
adapt as need be. He learned to reduce his instructions to the key elements and to have students
repeat them as a check that everyone knew what was expected. He grew adept at working with
the class as a whole as well as with small groups.
Doug is quite comfortable using German and I was impressed with how much of the
language he used on a regular basis with the beginning classes at the junior high. He used
pictures and repetition and ‘recycling’ to help students easily understand all of the German
being used in instructions and activities and devised a variety of activities for the students to
also use the language on a daily basis. He kept building on their prior knowledge.
It was clear from the very first time I observed him that Doug really enjoys working with the
students. He seemed comfortable from the very beginning and they quickly were comfortable
with him, talking with him before and after class, joking with him, etc. He really works to
engage all the students in the class on a daily basis. He is very good at giving positive
reinforcement which encourages the students to do more. This of course builds their confidence.
I was particularly impressed on his skill in redirecting incorrect answers and guiding the
student(s) to correct their answer(s).
Student teachers often struggle with classroom management and that is an area that we work
on quite a bit in World Languages at the University of Michigan. Doug has really progressed in
this area. I think the biggest change I have seen is in shortening his reminders of expected
behavior to very clear, short sentences. He had a tendency at first to go into long explanations
which didn’t often work. Being brief and to the point has helped a great deal. He has also used
body proximity, being aware of the pace of the lesson, timing of activities to help students focus
on the task at hand. And whatever happened, he stayed calm.
One of the areas that I have most appreciated about Doug is his thoughtfulness around his
practice. His daily lesson plans are well written out but so are his daily reflections on how the
lesson went. Our conversations after each observation showed that he really wants to improve
his skills and practice and he reflects on each lesson as to what went well and what could be
improved. We had some very thoughtful conversations. In all of his interactions with peers,
faculty and students, he has been thoughtful and professional. He is very open to feedback and
considerate of others.
Doug has the skills and desire to become an excellent teacher. I strongly recommend him.

Isabelle Carduner, DML