Department of English (MC 162)

2027 University Hall

April 27, 2022 601 South Morgan Street
Chicago, Illinois 60607-7120

To Whom It May Concern:

I had the pleasure of serving both as Megan Stonis’s methods course instructor and as her university supervisor
for student teaching, and I wholeheartedly recommend her for an English teaching position.

If I were still working in a high school setting, I would want to be on a teaching team with Megan. Of the many
pre-service teachers I have mentored over the years, she is one of the best: an exceptionally hard worker, a deeply
reflective practitioner, and a resourceful and creative planner attuned to the individuals in her care. Don’t let her
reserved demeanor fool you; within is a dynamic mind always at work in the service of kids and their learning,
and she will always be the first to step up when help is needed.

Megan’s student teaching lesson and unit plans reflected her very strong content area and pedagogical knowledge.
All plans were artfully scaffolded toward a unique final assessment—a zine project requiring creative and
analytical thinking and writing. She employed various activity structures, exhibiting an understanding of
cooperative learning theories and writing center pedagogy, and was always prepared with questions to advance
students’ critical thinking. She did assignments herself, not only to create models but also to be able to anticipate
and address misunderstandings. And she continually assessed her students’ learning as well as her own
instructional efficacy, making immediate adjustments to her practice. Moreover, she engaged students in self-
assessment and goal-setting.

Megan also stands out when it comes to planning for and supporting diverse students. She used her knowledge of
her students to select supplementary readings, such as when she had her mostly Latinx students practice close
reading with a humorous poem by a Spanish-English bilingual author. For the zine project mentioned above,
Megan created a topic bank using information about students' experiences, communities, and cultures and then
allowed students choice among those topics. She also designed bell-ringer activities that invited students to make
connections between their lives and the curriculum. To support the diverse learners in her classroom, Megan not
only worked efficiently with a co-teacher but also independently planned for differentiated instruction, such as by
grouping students strategically and scripting sentence stems to support struggling students.

Megan’s commitment to students was always clear, from the way she greeted students at the door, invited their
voices throughout lessons, and circulated during independent and group work, showing respect and enthusiasm
for students’ ideas. Perhaps the clearest testament to the positive and productive environment she created: a group
of students suggested an extracurricular book club, which Megan energetically co-led.

Megan is a committed, resourceful, and reflective practitioner—and a great team member. I have no doubt she
will deeply enrich your school community.

Sincerely,

Kate Sjostrom
Lecturer and Associate Director of English Education

Phone (312) 413-2200 • Fax (312) 413-1005 • www.uic.edu/depts/engl