April 14, 2005
Jamie Odeneal
High School ESOL Department
James
W. Robinson Secondary
School
5035 Sideburn Rd.
Fairfax, VA 22032
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to highly recommend Abigail Hunting as an ESOL teacher. As her cooperating teacher, I have had the pleasure of supervising Abby during the entire 2004-2005 school
year, and I have been able to observe her extraordinary skills as a teacher during that time.
From Abby’s first days back in September, she has always been able to handle herself well
with ESOL students, and her ease and expertise in the classroom have only grown since then.
When working with students, Abby is consistently focused on how to maximize student learning which has allowed her
to excel in the areas of lesson planning, meeting objectives, assessment, and classroom management. Whether substituting, co-teaching, or student teaching, Abby’s students have always benefited from
the high standards in learning and behavior she set for them. She has demonstrated
a clear balance between connecting with students on a personal level and maintaining a rigorous yet attainable course of study.
During Abby’s student teaching, she worked with both beginning and intermediate-level ESOL
classes. With our beginning-level students, she taught a content-based unit on
the U.S. Constitution. Though these students were new to the country and still
struggling with basic English, her creative and hands-on activities enabled them to meet all the learning objectives she set
for them. With our intermediate-level students, Abby worked on two different
literature units. The first was an end-of-unit project for The Count of Monte Cristo
in which students participated in a literary debate about the events of the novel. Later
in the year, Abby worked with the students on a unit about the novel Hatchet which
focused on the use of figures of speech and imagery. Both literature units required
students to approach novels in a sophisticated, academic way, and because of her guidance and clear expectations, her students
enjoyed and were successful with both units.
Robinson’s ESOL students have been very fortunate to have Abby as one of their teachers this
year. I attribute much of their success to her dedication to teaching, creative
lesson planning, high academic standards, and true gift in communicating with all types of students. I know the students as well as Abby’s ESOL colleagues are grateful for the contributions she has
made. Her future students and colleagues will be lucky to work with her, and
it is without hesitation that I highly recommend her for a teaching position at your school.
If you have any further questions or would like any more information, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
Sincerely,
Jamie Odeneal
(Jamie's contact information is available upon request)
