February 18th, 2018

To Whom It May Concern:

Mrs. Alyssa De Adder was assigned to my fourth grade classroom consisting of 25

students, of the 25 students, two are mainstreamed for most classroom activities and subjects,
three receive Tier III reading services, and two receive gifted and talented services.

It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Mrs. De Adder. She is a talented individual
who I have had the privilege to assist in her educational experiences. She has several qualities
that will aid her as a classroom teacher. Listed below are some of her strengths:

*Mrs. De Adder is a strong, effective communicator. She has the ability to build instant,
appropriate rapport with students. Her nonverbal communication is extremely positive, smiling
and showing interest in the students and their abilities. This excellent rapport allows the student
to feel his/her contributions to the class are given thoughtful and sincere consideration.
Classroom discussions thrive in this healthy environment.
*Ali has demonstrated strong content knowledge in many subject areas. She is
dependable and well-organized. She keeps excellent records and lessons are carefully planned to
address standards and benchmarks. Important objectives are selected, taught and mastered by
students.
*She gives additional one-on-one time to address the varying needs of the students in the
class, helping all to achieve to the best of their abilities.
*Ali is open to suggestions, constantly self-evaluating her performances in the classroom.
She always has a positive attitude!
*Mrs. De Adder is calm and consistent.
*Ali is professional, ethical, and observant, learns quickly, shows initiative and is
enthusiastic.

*Mrs. De Adder taught the following units that stimulated and enriched the students. The
following paragraphs are representative of these units:
*Mrs. De Adder has an excellent understanding of reading. She successfully taught her
reading units on nonfiction text structure, elements of plot, theme, poetry, inferential vs. literal
questioning, and much more. She taught these units using modeled reading, interactive reading,
spelling, and writing. Ali also successfully implemented guided reading small groups. Working
with small groups requires excellent management of the entire classroom, with some students
working independently while others are in a group with the teacher. Mrs. De Adder did an
excellent job of working on specific skills within these groups. She created guided reading units
based on the books, The Island, Rules, Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy, and implemented its
instruction. She focused on comprehension (main idea and supporting detail, visuals,
determining importance), fluency, and word study.
*Mrs. De Adder also has an excellent understanding of mathematics. She successfully
taught her whole group created math units on creating, ordering, and comparing fractions,
rounding decimals to the nearest tenth, angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, and finding the area of
geometric figures. She taught these units using modeled teaching, interactive teaching, and small
group work. Mrs. De Adder did an excellent job of working on specific skills within these
groups.
*Mrs. De Adder also successfully taught social studies and science to the students. She
successfully taught her whole group social studies and science units on the different regions of
the United States, the water cycle, and rocks and minerals. Ali taught these units using whole
and also small group activities. Ali did a great job of working on these specific skills with the
students.

*Mrs. De Adder truly enjoys working with students. She is committed and looks forward
to having her own classroom. The students and I enjoyed the time she spent with us this winter
and spring.

Nathan Ostby
4th Grade Teacher
507-775-6620 (W)