December 2013 To Whom It May Concern, I am writing this letter to recommend Barbara Niemann for a teaching position in your

district. I had the pleasure of having Barbara as my student teacher from October through December of 2013. During that time, she demonstrated her ability to effectively manage a self-contained special education classroom setting, work cooperatively with an educational team, and develop a sincere interest in the achievement and well-being of the students. Over the course of her student teaching experience, Barbara took responsibility for teaching seven students who required moderate levels of specialized support. These students ranged in age from six to eight years old and had a variety of diagnoses including intellectual disabilities, speech impairments, physical disabilities, and vision impairments. Furthermore, each child required a unique combination of academic interventions. On a daily basis, Barbara prepared and presented lessons for her own instructional groups. In addition, she prepared lessons for the two classroom assistants to present and provided necessary training so that the lesson plans could be implemented with fidelity. Within her lessons, Barbara adjusted to each students individual learning styles and demonstrated an understanding that flexibility is always valued when working in the special education setting. When it came time for Barbara to fully take over classroom instruction, I was able to pass the responsibility with confidence; in a short time, she had become familiar with existing classroom interventions and resources and blended them with new ideas and technologies. The AERO FALP classroom is always bustling with the presence of related service providers, in addition to the two classroom assistants. In order to carry over the students related service goals into the daily classroom routine, Barbara had to consult with the occupational therapist, speech therapist, physical therapist, adaptive PE teacher, social worker and nurse on a weekly basis. Her strong communication skills and calm demeanor made her well-respected amongst these peers. I would regularly receive positive feedback from the related service team regarding their professional interactions with Barbara. Finally, Barbaras commitment to the students success was apparent in every conversation we had and supported by all of her actions. She spoke to the children with respect and calmness. In turn, they quickly accepted her into the classroom which was evidenced by their reverence for Barbara and their enthusiasm to participate in all activities led by her. Whenever any one of the students was having difficulty learning a new concept or coping with a new transition, she would evaluate the situation in a timely manner and implement a new approach to help the student be successful. Moreover, her enthusiasm and dedication to working with individuals with disabilities sets an example to be emulated by the other professionals. In closing, I highly recommend Barbara Niemann for a teaching position in your district. Her professionalism, positive approach, and commitment will be an asset to both the classroom and the field. If you need further information, please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely,

Tracy Abernathy, MAEd Special Education Teacher AERO Special Education Cooperative 708.431.0872 (classroom), 708.710.6019 (personal) tabernathy@aerosped.org