May 18, 2013 To Whom It May Concern: All I can say is..HIRE THIS MAN!! I first knew Mr.

Douglas Peterson in the spring/summer of 2012 when he was a member of my Connecting Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction class (EDG 680) at Grand Valley State University. Since then, I became Dougs university coordinator as he was doing his student teaching during winter semester, 2013 and we have continued to work together in classes that are part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Woodrow Wilson Michigan Teaching Fellowship program at GVSU. This program seeks to attract talented, committed individuals with backgrounds in the STEM fieldsscience, technology, engineering, and mathematicsinto teaching in high-need Michigan secondary schools. During his fellowship at the East Kentwood Freshman Center, which serves a diverse student population, Doug demonstrated a confident command of freshman biology content as well as expertise with effective teaching strategies/ methods and proficiency with sound assessment practices. Doug knows how important it is to teach biology content by making the information relevant and by using multiple methods in order to meet the needs of all students. Throughout the semester, Doug used a variety of presentation tools that promoted guided inquiry. He showed his students how to develop their own labs and biological experiments. In one instance, during a unit on cellular respiration, Doug gave his students blank lab documents and the students were asked to develop their own questions, observations, hypotheses, procedures, data tables and conclusions. The students were able to understand the content and procedures as Doug acted as a facilitator. During this lesson, Doug demonstrated that clear directions and classroom procedures, coupled with interesting lessons and active teaching, result in a productive classroom filled with engaged, on-task students. At East Kentwood, Doug had the opportunity to work in a Project Based Learning (PBL) school-within-a-school. He developed a PBL where students explored the content of mitosis and meiosis and how these concepts connect to the development of humans. He had his students take on the role of a teacher and students had to develop their own lesson plans in order to teach fifth and sixth grade students about cell division and development. The unit concluded by having fifth and sixth grade students from a near-by middle school come to the Freshman Center to learn about mitosis and meiosis from Dougs students. His students did a wonderful job as teachers and it was amazing to see how much they knew about cell division and development as they presented their lessons. Doug also demonstrated a great deal of proficiency with technology, which he comfortably integrated into his teaching. While teaching a unit on photosynthesis and respiration, Doug noticed that some of his students quickly understood the material while others continued to struggle. In order to provide more intervention for those who struggled, Doug decided to flip the classroom. He developed videos about various concepts having to do with photosynthesis and respiration and he placed the videos on the classroom website. Students were able to watch these videos at home before the next class period and, with fewer distractions, they could watch them several times in order to better learn the content. During class, Doug was then able to devote more time to individual student needs and run a more inquirybased classroom. When presenting content to students, Doug created engaging PowerPoint and Prezi presentations which included very appropriate YouTube videos. He also became very adept at using the classroom SMART board and incorporated several interesting and helpful iPad Apps into his lessons. Doug used well-established classroom procedures to create an orderly classroom. The students respected him as the classroom leader. He displayed confidence and maturity. He has shown himself to be highly intelligent, conscientious, well-versed in biology content, and prepared to give his personal best on a daily basis. I am pleased to give Mr. Douglas

Peterson my highest recommendation for certification and employment. He ranks among the strongest student teachers I have supervised, and I am confident that he will be an outstanding addition to the school that is fortunate enough to hire him. I would be pleased to answer any questions or make any further supporting comments that you might need. Please dont hesitate to contact me at my office (616-331-6209), at my home (616-866-2077), on my cell phone (616-450-0998) or via email melinj@gvsu.edu.

University Coordinator: Jacquelyn Melin Affiliate Professor College of Education May 18, 2013