Mareh 11, 2015 ‘To Whom It May Concern: highly recommend Bonnie Palmer as a candidate for a teaching position. I have observed and ‘co-taught with Ms. Palmer for eight weeks, during her internship for James Madison University, and know that the district that hires her will be very lucky. Bonnie's gentle and kind nature allowed her to quickly develop relationships with the students. Her ability to connect with her students and her talent at teaching simple concepts, as well as more advanced topics, are both truly superior. Ms. Palmer implements “best practices” when teaching, designing student centered lesson which get kids up and moving and talking about what they've leamed. She integrates the “Fundamental Five” by framing her lessons,and setting clear learning objectives for students. Ms. Palmer documents and monitors student achievement through pre and post testing, as well as uses formative assessments to drive instruction. Ms. Palmer instinctively uses the “power zone,” for instruction and classroom management. She has excellent written and verbal communication skills, is extremely organized, reliable and computer literate. Ms. Palmer works independently and is able to follow through to ensure that the job gets done. She accomplishes these tasks with great initiative and with a very positive attitude. ‘Ms, Palmer demonstrated her ability to work co-operatively, as she seamlessly became a member of our fifth grade team, fully participating in C.L.T meetings, co-creating assessments and creating math lesson plans. Ms. Palmer routinely stayed after school until 5 pm., or after, to plan and prepare for the next, day’ activities, review assessments and group students for differentiation and remediation demonstrating her commitment to student achievement. In order to reach out to the community, ‘where many homes lack a sharpened pencil, markers, etc., Ms. Palmer created a “backpack” program in order to target specific skills which students lacked, such as basic multiplication facts, and reading experiences by setting goals and giving them the tools they need to be successful. ‘Community is very important to Ms. Palmer, who in the short eight weeks in my class, planned and executed as family STEAM night. Students and their families came together to design and build the most effective confetti launcher in order to teach kinetic and potential energy. Ms. Palmer guided students and their families to discover the principles of kinetic and potential energy in a night they will not soon forget. I recommend Ms. Palmer to you without reservation. If you have any further questions with regard to her performance as a teacher, please do not hesitate to contact me. ji hesdowland elementary (71) 434-4440