March 1, 2015

!
To Whom It May Concern:
!

It is my pleasure to write this letter recommending Katie Vondette for both an

elementary teaching position and a special education teaching position. I have
worked with Katie since the beginning of the Fall semester 2014 through the Spring
semester of 2015. As her field instructor, I have had the opportunity of working
with Katie within our weekly seminar as well as numerous teaching situations,
including a 4th grade classroom at WHRC in Pontiac School District and a middle
school resource room at Pontiac Middle School. She would later split her time
between a resource room at Brooklands Elementary School and Reuther Middle
School, both schools are in the Rochester Community School District.

College of
Education!

Department of !
COUNSELING,
EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY,
AND SPECIAL
EDUCATION !

Michigan State
University!
Erickson Hall!
620 Farm Lane!
East Lansing, MI 48824!

517-355-1837!
Fax: 517-353-6393!
education.msu.edu!

MSU is an affirmative-action, !
equal-opportunity employer.!

As her field instructor, I have witnessed, first hand, Katie's abilities in the classroom
on a weekly basis. In her first semester, she taught in a 4th grade classroom,
planning lessons appropriate in both developmental and curriculum considerations.
She worked to include variety using both large and small group techniques, many
learning centers, books, and technology. She communicated well with the students,
giving them clear and concise directions. She allowed enough practice and used the
information from these evaluations to individually help students. She connected
prior knowledge and recognized which students to coax and coach. She made pacing
consistent throughout and transitions occur with little loss of instructional time.
The students were always engaged and motivated due to the enthusiasm that Katie
put forth when she taught. Katie always provided positive reinforcement, was easy
going, supportive and sensitive to the needs and interests of the children.

In the Spring semester, Katie began working at Pontiac Middle School with special
needs students where she assisted with "push in" instruction with the Language Arts
and Social Studies programs with grades 6 through 8. Her responsibilities were to
use accommodations such as reading the questions aloud to students, paraphrasing
and asking the students questions to bring them to the correct answer and to help
them develop their own answer. In order to insure that Katie was getting an actual
"resource room" experience, she was moved to Rochester Community Schools
where she split her time between a elementary resource room and a middle school
program. Whether she was servicing students in the elementary or middle school
resource room the students received their specific instruction in reading, writing, or
mathematics. Her lessons were well thought out and well planned while still

allowing the flexibility to meet the needs of her students. She often created her own
materials for the lessons. The classroom environment was organized with high
expectations. She worked individually or in small groups and adapted the
curriculum in many different ways so that students had increased chances of
learning. Katie's lessons often included physical movement, games, hands-on
activities, technology to help motivate and engage the students along with a
behavior management system to ensure a safe productive classroom. Katie was also
involved in the IEP process, planning and sharing some of the information in order
for parents to make an informed decision on their child.

Katie always presented herself as a professional when working at both Pontiac and
Rochester Community School Districts. She established relationships with her
students, staff members, and parents; she was highly respected. She was articulate
and expressive in both the spoken and written language as evidenced at the IEP
meetings, parent conferences and her presentations at Michigan State University.

In closing, I have enjoyed working with Katie and wish her many successful years in
the field of education. Her love for teaching and for young people will make her an
asset to the teaching profession. I highly recommend her for an elementary or
special education teaching position. She has had an outstanding internship
experience and is ready to take the next step and receive a permanent teaching
assignment. I wish her well.

!
!

Sincerely,
Kathryn McCurdy
MSU Field Instructor
(Cell)) 248-877-3299
(E-mail) kathy.mccurdy@msu.edu