EAST HIGH SCHOOL 815 E. 13” Street Des Moines, JA 50316 Telephone: 515-242-7788 Fax: 515-242-7958 December 1, 2015 To Whom It May Concern: Stephan Maras student taught in sophomore, junior, and senior level English classes at Des Moines East High School from September until the middle of December, 2015. East High School is one of the largest high schools in lowa with 2,500 students. Over half of our population is made up of minorities, and we have a diverse socioeconomic status of middle to low income students. Stephan worked with approximately 150 students in two sections of English Il, three sections of AP Language and Composition, and one section of college speech. Stephan’s lessons in AP Language and Composition focused on students developing stronger analytical skills through the reading of The Glass Castle and early U. S. history writings. In addition to the readings, students worked on both timed writings and the writing process. In the novel unit Stephan demonstrated stronger focus on analysis and on assisting students with really comprehending and identifying important terms then he did with the U.S. history writings. For English II classes, Stephan focused on a novel, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, and worked with understanding the Standard Reference Grading (SRG) system. Here Stephen struggled to grasp 21" Century educational practices and terminology. He worked to move away from a very traditional teaching model and to implement a more student centered approach with clear learning targets and to focus on formative and summative assessments through CFA’s and BOE’s. Being sure that each lesson provided honest focus on the standards and targets was a struggle for Stephan but he did make progress as the semester progressed. Finally, for college speech, Stephan focused on presenting a month long unit that encompassed informative speech (writing and presentation), improved eye contact, and analytical writing based off of a public address speech. Stephen has a diverse background, having degrees in vocal music performance and in library science. desire to enter the English teaching field as a non-traditional student speaks highly of his sincere interest and desire to be a teacher. He is very comfortable talking with and working with other adults in the building and is also very comfortable asking supervisors and colleagues in to see what he is doing in the classroom. As he has worked to see through his teaching goals during student teaching, he has seen that while some classes can start out as a struggle, they can also turn around to be some of the most enjoyable and rewarding classes in the two day cycle of teaching. Finally, having substitute taught, Stephan has identified differences that are necessary in day to day teaching and has embraced those considerations. Stephan is a mature individual who presents himself professionally. He says the right things and is always respectful. He knows why he wants to teach and has a sincere desire to be a teacher. In addition, he has a professional manner in the classroom that allows for basic completion of his instruction to occur in the majority of the class periods and days. As he gets to know classes and students, he is comfortable sharing his quick wit and sense of humor. Ling Gorhus a Ginger Johnson OC Virginia.johnson@dmschools.org