1436 U Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
March 28, 2013
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing the strongest possible recommendation for Jessica Curry in her pursuit of a
career as a classroom teacher. In my role as Miss Curry’s teaching coach this year, I have
had the opportunity to work closely with her on all aspects of her professional practice,
from lesson planning and instructional delivery to accessing professional resources and
managing a healthy life-work balance. Because of the intensive time I have spent coaching
Miss Curry over the course of the school year, I feel I am especially well positioned to speak
to her considerable strengths as a teacher.
Whether observing Miss Curry teach a mini-lesson, consult with individual students, or lead
a group game, I have been thoroughly impressed with her commanding presence from the
first day of school. She always addresses students in a respectful and kind manner, but she
is also able to set very clear expectations for both work and conduct. As a result, Miss
Curry’s classroom climate is best characterized as calm, happy, and productive.
Highlighting this point, once when Miss Curry’s students were at music class and I was
meeting with her in her classroom, a visiting parent who had been observing earlier popped
her head in to say how much she loved the classroom and would gladly place her daughter
there if she could.
Through her own enthusiasm for teaching, strong command of content knowledge, and
diligent planning, Miss Curry consistently presents interesting, dynamic lessons that elicit a
high degree of engagement and learning from her students. For example, during an
introductory lesson for a weeklong geometry unit, Miss Curry peaked students’ interest by
placing objects representing various shapes around the class and then had students search
the room for clues about what their next unit of study would be. She then asked students to
explain what they noticed about the objects and taught them how to think about attributes
of different shapes. Indicative of Miss Curry’s sensitivity to her students’ needs, her lesson
catered to a wide range of learning styles by incorporating multiple modalities, including
music, movement, writing, drawing, individual and teamwork. Finally, Miss Curry had
students complete an assessment at the end of the lesson, which she then used to effectively
differentiate instruction during subsequent lessons.
As a colleague, Miss Curry has proven to be a great asset to her grade-level team,
consistently contributing important insights about students’ academic and emotional needs
and sharing resources and strategies to enhance curriculum across content areas. While it
is true that Miss Curry is a Teaching Resident this year working with a more experienced
teacher, she has steadily assumed more responsibility in the classroom, essentially growing
into the role of a co-teacher who has cultivated a strong partnership with her lead. As a
result, students extend Miss Curry the same level of respect and affection as they do the lead
teacher in the room.
Rarely in my fifteen years as an educator have I had the privilege of working with an
individual who possesses such a natural talent for teaching children and it is with great
confidence that I endorse Miss Curry as an exceptional candidate for any classroom position
she chooses to pursue.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you should require any further information.
Sincerely,
Emily Gasoi
Learning Consultant
Center for Inspired Teaching