Dear Mrs.

Epstein, I have learned so much from you so far this semester and I know that I will be learning so much more from you before the semester is over. You are a wonderful teacher and have a good relationship with your students. Even though I did not observe you in the beginning of the year, I can tell that you set up good rules with your students and they know what you expect of them. They have so much respect for you. They seem to realize that there is a time for work and a time for play. I really like how you do a riddle every day to start the day off, it gets the students minds working and thinking first thing in the morning. We read a book for Dr. McKool by Donalyn Miller and in the book she had her students read 40 books a year in order to encourage students to read in their free time. Therefore, I really like your scoops idea where students have to read three books a marking period and then color in an ice-cream cone to be displayed in the classroom for each book they read. Also in the book by Donalyn Miller she discusses how students should not always have to take paper and pencil test on books that they read. I completely agree with her, which is why I liked that you gave students different options for how they could be assessed when they were finished their literature circles. In a book we are currently reading by Fountas and Pinnell and in Dr. McKools class both stress that a good lesson consist of modeling for the students, guiding the students through another example, and then independent practice. Your lesson on lead-ins was a wonderful example of what they both stress. You gave students wonderful examples of lead-ins in other books and then had the students look at pieces of writing that they had already written and revise their own writing.

I really liked the book talk you gave last week on The Devils Arithmetic. I have read many pieces of literature that tell you how to give a book talk but it was nice to see an actual example of one. You told students just enough information so that they were interested in the book but did not give away too much about the storyline in the book. In addition, I like how you are having the students write journal/diary entries from Hannahs point of view as they read the story. In math I like how you teach the subject matter to the class as a whole but then break the students up into small groups if they are struggling, so that they may get some individualized instruction. Every science lesson I have seen you teach is very hands on, which I believe really engages the students and makes them interested in the subject matter. Personally, I have always loved math and science and I believe that it is because all the teachers I have had made their lessons very engaging. I cannot wait for the rest of the semester and I know that I will learn so much more from you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to observe in your class.

Sincerely, Caitlin