LOWELL AREA SCHOOLS

Lowell High School

11700 Vergennes
Lowell, Michigan 49331
Phone: 616.987.2900
Fax:
616.987.2911
www.lowellschools.com

June 6, 2015
Russell L Stevens: Social Studies Teacher
Lowell High School
11700 Vergennes
Lowell, MI. 49331
To Whom It May Concern:

High School
Administration
Amy Pallo
Principal

Deanne Crowley
Assistant Principal

Dustin Cichocki
Freshmen Center Director
Central Office
Administration
Greg Pratt
Superintendent

John Zielinski
Chief Financial Officer

Roger Bearup
Director of Curriculum,
Assessment and Instruction
Maureen Dorough
Director of Special
Education

I am writing on behalf of Khaleb Straight. Mr. Straight just completed his student
teaching placement at Lowell High School. Under my tutelage, he taught 9th grade
Economics and World History.
Mr. Straight has demonstrated that he is an outstanding teacher. He carried himself like
a seasoned veteran. He has demonstrated great strength in creating thoughtful,
engaging lessons as well as providing his own assessments. Mr. Straight has effectively
incorporated a wide variety of teaching strategies ranging from traditional methods to
contemporary methods that encouraged and challenged all students.
Mr. Straight had an excellent rapport with his students. He has the rare gift of making
his students understand the material and takes the time to help anyone who needed
more individualized instruction. He has displayed outstanding management skills.
Disciplinary problems have never been an issue in the classroom.
The thing that I am most impressed me was Mr. Straights ability to ask students for
their feedback. Though students were reluctant at first to give feedback, Mr. Straight,
through his encouraging persistence, enticed constructive input from the students. Mr.
Straight always conducts himself in a professional manner. With that thought in mind, it
has also been nice to watch Mr. Straights sense of humor emerge over the weeks. The
laughter that the he and the students have shared shows that the students respect him
and felt safe in the environment that he had created.
Mr. Straight was the finest student teacher I have had in the Social Studies Department.
He is one of the rare student teachers who earned high praise and respect from
administrators, staff, and students. Mr. Straight would make an outstanding addition to
any school district. If I may be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Russell L Stevens

Enclosure:
Student Teaching Evaluation

Student Teaching Evaluation

Name Student Teacher: Khaleb Straight
Semester/Year: Winter 2015
School District: Lowell Area Schools
Building: Lowell High School
City: Lowell

State: Ml

Khaleb Straight has proven to be an outstanding student teacher. Khaleb taught two courses of
Economics for a trimester and two courses of World History for a month. Although he already had a
great knack for teaching, Khaleb strived to improve each week. I believe he left my classroom fully
prepared to take on his own classroom. Sharing a class with such a talented and knowledgeable young
man has been a great experience for me. In all honesty, I think I have learned just as much from him as
he has from me. From the start, Khaleb worked hard to foster a positive learning environment for his
students. They knew his expectations and routines, and they felt safe expressing themselves knowing
that he would treat each of them with respect. I was most impressed with his ability to allow the
students to "have fun'' at times while still meeting the curricular demands. As any teacher knows, that is
a tough balance to achieve.
In addition to recognizing that each student learns differently, he also embraced and responded
to the fact that each class is a unique entity. Khaleb identified these differences and planed accordingly.
He has created appropriate instruction that takes into account the different learning styles of individual
students. He has designed numerous activities that build on the learners prior knowledge and activities
that allow the students to demonstrate their understanding. I have no doubt that Khaleb understands
that every learner develops differently and at their own pace. He has demonstrated this time and time
again while working with the students of Lowell High School. He regularly differentiates instruction and
provides individualized feedback. Although scoring papers takes considerable time, Khaleb offered
comments, questions, and suggestions on most student writings. Through this he showed the students
that their writing and effort was valuable and worth the time to do right.
Khaleb's curricular knowledge is very impressive. However, what impressed me most was his
aspiration and ability to enhance his knowledge. When teaching a unit on something unfamiliar, Khaleb
used all resources available to learn about the subject. While some student teachers just employ the
cooperating teacher's material, Khaleb made sure he fully understood the subject and developed his
own ways to help the students learn the material. He did an excellent job of incorporating the media
and technology as well as creating dynamic activities that had real world applications for the students.
Khaleb implemented a routine each day so that students knew what to expect and he broke up every
class into segments to keep the kids engaged and focused. He is certainly not a lecture exclusive teacher
which made the class refreshing and effective.
I have no concerns with Khaleb's ability to plan. Even though Economics was not his teaching
major, he always had his lesson plans prepared and had all the necessary supplies secured to carry out
the lesson of the day. He incorporated his knowledge of State Standards into everything he did. His
assessments were fair, balanced, and appropriate. I have no concerns about Khaleb's desire, ability, or
willingness to learn. He is always professional and ethical; I believe in his ability to continue moving into
the educational world as a professional. The reason I believe he stands out in this area is that Khaleb
reflected on everything he did. He is flexible and made changes based on how things were going in a
lesson or in the classroom. Often new teachers are afraid to deviate from what they had planned;
Khaleb had the confidence and knowledge to vary instruction when appropriate. Since he taught the
two courses in back to back periods, he had the opportunity to revise his instruction based on what

worked (and didn't work) during the next hour. He took full advantage of this opportunity; his classes
seldom looked the same even though the subject area and standards were the unchanged. Khaleb was
fantastic at coming up with his own ideas and extensions to make instruction appropriate, effective, and
dynamic, but he was also great at collaborating with me and the students.
I truly enjoyed discussing and processing through ideas on units and activities with him. His
passion for creating new activities was contagious, and I found myself getting excited about units that I
have done numerous times over the years. He inspired me to create and implement new teaching
methods since he has left our school. Khaleb was also always professional, confident, and appropriate
when dealing with colleagues and others in our community. I have no doubt that Khaleb will make a
fabulous teacher in any district lucky enough to hire him. It was truly an honor to have had the
opportunity to work with such an amazing young man.