December 12, 2019

Letter of Recommendation for Mrs. Amy Sauers:

To whom it may concern:

I am delighted to write this letter of recommendation for Mrs. Amy Sauers. I met Mrs. Sauers when she
came to my Grade One classroom prior to beginning her Professional Semester One. River Heights
Elementary School’s foundational philosophy is based on constructivism, integration and the
development of critical thinking skills. Mrs. Sauers immersed herself into this leaning environment
seamlessly and was able to engage in this style of teaching as though she had been doing it for years.

Mrs. Sauers treated her practicum as an opportunity to immerserse herself in reflection to determine
what kind of teacher she would like to be. She engaged deeply in conversations with both myself, her
practicum supervisor as well as her fellow student teachers. After these conversations teaching
practices that were discussed seamlessly became part of her repertoire.

While Mrs. Sauers has several strengths perhaps what impressed me most was her ability to respond to
the needs of students in both her planning of a lesson as well as her pacing of lessons when teaching. I
have been impressed throughout Mrs. Sauers’ practicum with her ability to reflect on lessons and
incorporate suggestions into her teaching practice. Years ago, a mentor teacher of mine used the term
'withitness' to describe a teacher's ability to be mindfully present during whole group instruction as well
as independent work time. Mrs. Sauers shows incredible 'withitness' and is able to scaffold exactly the
right level of support needed for different students.

The teaching profession will gain a valuable member with Mrs. Sauers and she will have many fortunate
students.

Sincerely,

Elaine Willock
Grade One Teacher
River Heights Elementary School