Dear Colleagues,
Jasmine Bird is a dynamically passionate, engaging teacher who specializes in the sciences. I learn something new every time I talk with her. She integrates contemporary technology tools to bring the world into the classroom and empower students to bring their work to audiences beyond the classroom. She brings a wide variety of strategies to meet students’ needs as their learning is the puzzle she is fascinated to solve.
Ms. Bird is completing her teacher certifications in 7-12 Life Science through the Extended Teacher Education Program (ETEP) at USM. She is also pursuing her 7-12 Social Studies certification and has taught physical science. She was very successful in her fall internship at South Portland High School with her mentor Ryan Green. She took the initiative to reach out to other teachers in the department and worked with Sue Richmond. Her spring internship was at Mahoney Middle School in seventh grade with Libby Gurnee. I have known Ms. Bird for eight months as her instructor and program coordinator.
It has been a great pleasure to have Jasmine as a student. Her work is innovative and inviting. In the December at the high school she developed, taught, and assessed a series of lessons on plate tectonics for Earth Science for which she downloaded US Geological Survey Data and GIS maps on student iPads through Google Classroom so that they could choose locations of interest and apply their learning to actual locations making predictions about future erosion. To support students to reach these high expectations she developed interactive unit vocabulary notes, draw along modeled diagramming in class. She had a much higher rate of student work completion than previously seen in the classroom and engaged students in providing her feedback as she modeled constant inquiry as a way of being in the world.
Ms. Bird knows her students as individuals and groups. Her student readiness profile reveals her insightful, strengths based, understanding of middle school students. She's built a classroom environment based on inquiry with constant surveys of student opinions, informal formative assessments, and long term plant growth labs along side the daily lessons. She made a scientific game out of selecting 'ambient' white noise that is 'not lame' to set the tone for working time. She writes of her own planning process, 'I try to think of student learning and behavior in the classroom the way an anthropologist-engineer hybrid would, looking for design solutions that are informed by what motivates students as a group and individually. I prefer that these solutions be non-invasive and have a logical place in the classroom, so that inquiry, learning, and focusing on individual and group work can continue to ‘dominate’ the space.'
This is clearly evident in observations in her classroom. I have observed Ms. Bird teaching on a couple of occasions. She is approachable, responsive, well organized and prepared. For her unit on photosynthesis she created a learning environment with clear objectives posted and reviewed, bulletin boards with unit long terms goals, models of scaffolds for their final presentation template in Google Slides, and unit specific vocabulary on a word wall. She opened the lesson with a projected warm up question that reactivated discussions from the previous lesson, engaged the whole class in discussion and then gave them work time on their small group projects that were well scaffolded with clear guidelines. Students were actively working on task, excited about the projected while she circulated and supported them, offering next step challenges as needed.
Ms. Bird is a consummate professional, taking initiative, collaborating and responding to others where they are, and enjoying the craft of teaching in her preparation with class materials and curriculum. She has adopted the proficiency based grading system aligning all of her lessons with Essential Learning Targets (ELTs) adapted by South Portland Schools from the CCSS. She’s developed and implemented PBIS Tier I projects, been involved in IEP and RTI plans. She is a strong collaborator in the graduate cohort involved in PLC critical friends groups skillfully providing constructive feedback and open to learning. I am completely confident that Ms. Bird will be a strong contributing member of a school community.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Flynn Ross, Ed.D.
ETEP Program Coordinator and Associate Professor of Teacher Education
To Whom It May Concern:
In 43 years in the field of education, rarely have I seen an intern more prepared to teach than Jasmine Bird. As a supervisor in USM’s ETEP program, I have been able to observe Jasmine as she engaged learners in her seventh-grade science class. Your school would be fortunate to have Jasmine join your faculty.
Ms. Bird makes strong connections with students and has great instincts about what each student needs to be successful. Differentiation and accommodations are present in everything she does, from classroom management to classroom instruction and assessment. Her content knowledge is strong, and Jasmine is skilled at organizing and breaking down content to allow every student to access and understand learning targets. She is highly organized, has excellent time management skills, and has high expectations for herself and her students.
Jasmine has many skills that cannot be taught in any teacher preparation program. She is a “natural teacher”. She demonstrates this in the way she responds to students, in her ability to self-reflect, and in her flexibility. Ms. Bird easily and consistently adjusts plans to accommodate the needs of the learners in her classroom.
Jasmine Bird is an incredible teacher. It is evident when you walk into her classroom that “kids come first”. She does whatever is needed to ensure that her students succeed. I recommend her highly and without reservation.
Sincerely,
Kathryn Turner
USM Adjunct Faculty
To Whom it May Concern;
It is with pleasure that I write this letter of reference for Jasmine Bird. I acted as Jasmine’s supervisor through the University of Southern Maine during her fall 2017 student teacher internship at South Portland High School. Within my role I was able to meet with Jasmine many times over the course of the semester, as well as conduct three formal observations of Jasmine teaching ninth grade Earth Science. Jasmine is well on her way to becoming a great teacher. Her innovative ideas, use of technology in the classroom and interest in science was exciting to watch. Jasmine’s use of real-world examples within her lessons, as well as supportive and creative classroom techniques used to engage students, was impressive. Her insight and forethought, as to what would work best in her class, had me reflecting upon my own practice. I believe that she will be a wonderful teacher and have a very positive influence on her future students and the larger school community.
Jasmine was extremely organized and thoughtful in her lessons, providing structure and support, while still challenging students to think for themselves and investigate on their own. Part of this was due to her splendid use of technology as a tool for exploration and discovery. Her transitions between activities were smooth, connecting the “I can” statements (objectives of the class) with the actual lab or project. Her movement around the room allowed for quick “check-ins” with each student, all of which were full of encouragement, support, respect and positivity. I have found that Jasmine is very reflective of her teaching practice, identifying what worked well and what could be changed for next time. She is open to suggestions and seeks feedback, in addition to offering ideas and sharing what she has learned from her own educational experiences. The type of collaboration that she demonstrated here at SPHS will be a strength to any science department and larger school community.
Throughout the semester Jasmine impressed me with her ideas and energy at developing lessons that tie curriculum standards with twenty first century skills and current issues. These lessons were implemented with a variety of strategies to try and reach every student. Her future students will be fortunate to have such a dedicated teacher who cares about them and their overall educational experience. Her positive attitude, support for students to reach their individual potential and enthusiasm for the content strengthens my recommendation.
Please feel free to contact me regarding the strong qualifications of this very capable teacher.
Sincerely,
Hope MacVane-Tray
ETEP Supervisor, South Portland High School
To Whom It May Concern:
I am pleased to write this recommendation for Jasmine Bird. I am a seventh grade teacher at Mahoney Middle School in South Portland. Jasmine was an ETEP intern in my classroom from January to April 2018.
Jasmine was involved in all aspects of our middle school classroom. She was involved in homeroom/connections, meetings, intervention/workshop, supervision, and planning for science lessons. She was a valuable addition to the classroom and developed strong bonds with the students. By utilizing Jasmine, we were able to better meet the needs of all of our students. We were able to co-teach, consult and collaborate new strategies to work more successfully with students. We were able to split the class in two groups to have more manageable labs.
Jasmine used many effective strategies during her lead teaching. Her lessons tied to our Photosynthesis Essential Learning Targets. She differentiated her lessons to meet the needs of our students. To provide students with background knowledge, her project was built on a sixth grade unit. Technology was effectively used in many of her lessons. Whether giving a formative or summative assessment, she gave student’s feedback in a very timely manner.
Jasmine is a reliable, conscientious and innovative educator. Her calm, persistent manner with students was very successful in my classroom. Her relationships with students have developed into strong bonds between student and teacher.
I have a high regard for Jasmine’s abilities and provide this recommendation without reservation. She will be an asset to any school because she believes all children can be successful in school.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Gurnee
7th Grade Science Teacher & Mentor, Mahoney Middle School