Andrew James Bigelow

History Department Co-Chair

Francis W. Parker School
330 W. Webster Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614

April 25, 2020

To Whom it may concern,

I have been asked to write a letter of recommendation for Lauren DeCesare. I do so with great
pleasure and without any reservations. As an adjunct professor of education at DePaul
University, I had the honor of teaching Lauren for two very successful terms. Lauren is one of
those natural teachers who will become every student's favorite due to her kind soul, inclusive
lesson planning, and her endless drive to create meaningful experiences for each and every one
of her students. Lauren is an absolute pleasure to teach and know. In fact, I would even love to
have her as a colleague and member of my department. I feel strongly that she is more than
ready to start a life-long and effective teaching career in high school social studies.

Lauren has been quite successful when creating meaningful and engaging lesson plans. In fact,
she even created a year long curriculum on US Government and Civics with numerous and
engaging experiences for her kids. This collection of lesson plans introduces students to the
basics of government and the foundations of the American political system. It is effective
addressing the Founding Fathers’ intentions of setting up the government and the debate behind
their original intentions. More so, this unit addresses the debate between a strong federal and
state government; one of the biggest and ongoing debates behind the foundation of the
United States government. To engage student interest in this unit, and the class overall, Lauren
created a series of innovative activities and alternative assessments. It was an impressive feat for
such a young educator!

I was very impressed when I observed Lauren’s teaching. She created a superb lesson on civic
engagement in a U.S. government class. Students were creating PowerPoints to demonstrate how
the branches of government work in real life scenarios. Many students were exploring the
powers of the three branches, activism in government, and the power of voting. The idea of
doing a mini lesson via PowerPoint presentations came from the students. Many students had
questions on what to include in a PowerPoint and how to actually make an effective presentation.
Lauren thought it would be a great idea to pause her lesson and use class time to go
over what makes an effective PowerPoint. This was a great opportunity to get in front of the
class and lecture, while the students were simultaneously learning a lifelong skill.
Throughout the lecture, she took several opportunities to stop and ask the students if they
understood the material in the mini lecture. She highly encouraged the students to ask any and all
questions they may have had. In this particular class period, she had a wide range of English
language abilities. Many of her students can understand English incredibly well
but they struggle when it comes to speaking and writing English. Giving a PowerPoint
presentation slowly and considerately gave her students the chance to practice their English skills
and learn about a great technological skill. The classroom practiced the “one mic” policy to
show respect for one another. “One mic” is the idea that when one person is sharing they have
the microphone and are the only one who is able to talk out loud. Here is my favorite part of
Lauren’s lesson, to engage her students during the presentation, she decided to include a few
examples of effective PowerPoint slides and poor ones. She showed each slide up on the
projection screen and asked the students to share whether they thought the example was a good
or ineffective slide. This type of sharing out loud created a space for students to practice their
English speaking skills with a great deal of support. This entire lesson demonstrated Lauren’s
ability to create an engaging, interesting, and inclusive lesson plan for all learners.

I have been so impressed with Lauren since the very first class through our final experience at
the end of the second term. Lauren is more than ready to be a successful high school social
studies educator. I wish we had an opening for Lauren! She is one of a kind and will truly be a
memorable and effective teacher for a very long time.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach. Please give Lauren the consideration she so richly
merits.

Sincerely,

Andrew J. Bigelow