Christopher Kingsland • PhD Candidate

Secondary English Teacher Preparation Program

April 14, 2023

To Whom It May Concern:

It is with great pleasure that I recommend Janine Chouinard for a teaching position in English. I
taught Janine in the English Methods course at the University of Michigan in the Fall of 2022.
Janine entered the program with prior teaching experience and excelled in further developing her
knowledge and skills for teaching English during her time in my course. In fact, she opted into
taking the course, as it was not required for her because her primary endorsement is in Spanish.
This choice alone demonstrates much of what makes Janine an excellent teacher. As her
methods instructor, I want to highlight three aspects of Janine’s practice that make her a highly
qualified candidate for teaching English.

First, Janine has a deep understanding of how to use mentor texts to teach reading and writing.
In Methods, Janine designed a genre approach to teaching real-world writing. She collected
mentor texts and used linguistic analysis to determine common genre language features as well
as strategies for supporting students to identify them.

Second, Janine artfully layered disciplinary knowledge and skills with cultural knowledge in a unit
she created for Firekeeper’s Daughter. Janine incorporated an oral history project as part of the
unit. This project involved students learning about their culture and community to parallel and
supplement the reading of the novel. This assessment paired with the text demonstrates Janine’s
skill to balance a culturally responsive approach to teaching English.

Third, Janine cares deeply about selecting and incorporating diverse texts in her English
curriculum. In Methods, she developed strategies to identify student interests, linguistic practices,
and cultural backgrounds. Then, she used this knowledge of students along with her knowledge
of YA literature to select texts and activities that connect to students’ funds of knowledge. Thus,
Janine has a strong depth of knowledge for providing windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors
to her future students.

When Janine felt she didn’t know about texts or strategies, she asked questions, searched
online, and consulted academic texts. Janine Chouinard was an excellent student, and I am
confident she will continue to be an excellent teacher. Thus, I highly recommend her for a
teaching position in English. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. I can be
reached at cwkingsland@gmail.com or 714-904-2641. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Christopher Kingsland
PhD Candidate, Joint Program in English and Education
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
610 East University Avenue, 4204a
Ann Arbor, MI 48109