April 2021

To Whom It May Concern:

I write to you this letter of recommendation on behalf of Mr. Joe Janosik. I have
worked with Joe over the past two years as an instructor in four social studies
methods courses spread over that time. Over the course of those two years, I
witnessed everything from his first lead teach in front of a middle school
classroom all the way through is successful completion of his year-long
internship.

The one thing that becomes clear when you watch Joe teach is his commitment
and passion for the content with which he engages. He not only has a depth of
knowledge about social studies but he has this unique ability to bring life to the
topics he teaches by inserting humanizing and interesting aspects of it which, no
doubt, increases student engagement. By doing so, he has also been able to
motivate students to develop their own more authentic lines of inquiry and
thereby motivating engagement as well.

In addition, Joe has proven that he can systematically think through a lesson or
activity and imagine how students might struggle with and be challenged,
therefore enabling him to make adjustments to ensure successful engagement by
all. It is this attunement to the struggling student that is most impressive about his
practice. Upon reflection, which he does very well, he credits a lack of success
not because of some deficiency in the student, but rather, as a call for him to do
College of
Education
more, to re-teach, to re-engage in a way that will more likely lead to success. In
this way, Joe is concerned by all his students and is willing to put forth the effort
Teacher Education to see them all succeed.

Michigan State This speaks as well to Joe’s willingness to seek out and try new instructional
University
620 Farm Lane, strategies that foster learning not in general terms, but rather, with the very
313 Erickson Hall specific students in his class. Through his willingness to and skill at knowing his
East Lansing, MI 48824
students’ strengths and challenges, he is adaptable and flexible enough to amend
517-353-5091 his plans with this in mind. One recent example of this is his commitment to help
Fax: 517-432-5092
education.msu.edu students become better, more original writers. During this process, he ascertained
that they simply did not possess the skills to adequately digest and interpret
information and then develop individualized arguments through it. Therefore, he
re-directed his efforts at building this skill before asking them to do the more
difficult work of synthesis and creation. His efforts, in the end, proved successful.

Joe has also been a valuable part of his cohort of intern teachers that have worked
together for the past two years. He has provided and accepted constructive
feedback in an attempt to develop a sense of collective responsibility for each

MSU is an affirmative-action,
equal-opportunity employer.
other’s success – a commitment so engrained with this group of students and with
Joe that it is easy to see how he committed to meaningful collaboration he is. In
this, I can easily see him becoming an important part of any team of faculty
similarly committed to each other.

Finally, Joe understands that there are other factors to any students’ life that may
impact their learning which may not be evident in the classroom. This awareness
of and attunement to the entire student makes Joe the kind of teacher that takes
students where they are at, addresses their strengths and challenges in the
moment, and works with each tirelessly to jointly develop as learners and as
people. Because of this, Joe is not only a teacher of social studies, but is a loyal
ally to the students who are lucky enough to have him.

Because of all of this and more, I whole-heartedly recommend Mr. Joe Janosik to
you and your school. I am confident that your students and school will benefit
from their interaction with him and can easily attest to the fact that he possess the
skills, dispositions, and knowledge to not only be a great teacher, but a valued
member of any faculty.

Sincerely,

Scott Durham
durhambr@msu.edu