February 9, 2016

To Whom It May Concern,

It has been my pleasure to work with Zoe as an advisee whose graduate fieldwork I
supervise and as a participant in conference group, the seminar that accompanies
fieldwork at Bank Street. In each context, I have found her to be a caring, committed,
and thoughtful teacher, student and colleague.
This year Zoe has been working as an assistant teacher in second grade at Rye Country
Day School. There, she writes and rewrites lesson plans as she works to match the
content to the needs of her students, plans meaningful and engaging activities, and
responds to feedback from her head teachers and myself. Her effort has paid off. It is
not unusual for students to come up to me during my visits and ask if I am Zoes
teacher. When I acknowledge that I am and ask how she is doing, they invariably
respond, She is good. She listens to us. We learn a lot.
In her role as an assistant teacher, Zoe divides her time between two classrooms,
working with two teachers and two sets of children. Both teachers respect her
thoughtful way with children and her careful planning. Over the year, they have been
giving her increasing responsibility, working with her more like a peer than an
assistant, particularly in the areas of reading and writing.
In the graduate seminar setting, Zoe listens carefully to others and supports her
colleagues as they engage in a problem solving process around issues emerging in their
own classrooms. She is also comfortable reversing roles; she is as willing to ask for
advice, as she is to give it. In each setting, Zoe is exceptionally reflective about both
policy and practice, considering implications for her own students and for all students.
I highly recommend Zoe as a teacher. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail
(Hfreidus@bankstreet.edu) or by phone 917-913-2583 if you would like more
information
Yours truly,
Helen Freidus, Ed.D.
Bank Street College Reading and Literacy Program