School of Education and Human Services

Office of School and Field Services

381 Pawley Hall
Rochester, Michigan 48309-4494
248-370-3083
Final Assessment of Student Teacher
Student Name
Building
Term

John Timm

Program

Troy Athens High School

Winter 2016

MAT

District Troy State MI

Assignment and Grade Levels:

World History 1-9th grade, World History 2-12th grade
Spanish 3-9-11th grades

Cooperating Teachers
Brad Morton
David Scott

University Supervisor
Marge Mandl

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT
Troy Athens High School is an upper middle class suburban high school in metro
Detroit. It is a diverse school in a community with over 70 different languages
spoken in the home. The graduation rate is in the high 90% range with the vast
majority being college bound students who achieve both academically and
athletically. We are a class A High School with approximately 1650 students.
Several of our sports teams and athletes achieve success not only at the league but
state level. Troy Athens is normally ranked in the state and the nation as a top
high school. There are approximately 100 teachers for our relatively high
achieving student population. We offer a wide variety of AP and Honors courses
as well as numerous electives and most students end up taking at least one AP
course while at Athens. John was responsible for teaching Spanish 3, Freshman
World History I, and Senior World History II during this semester. His Spanish
classes were made up of mixed grades between ninth and eleventh with the
majority being sophomores. He was responsible for the day to day teaching of the
classes including all of the grading, attendance, classroom discipline and
assessment involved with the instruction. John also attended department
meetings, staff meetings, and professional development sessions. In addition, he
participated in the proctoring of the state mandated SAT plus writing assessment
administered at the school.

COOPERATING TEACHERS ASSESSMENT

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
In Spanish John established early and continued to maintain good interpersonal
relationships with his students. He earned their respect at the beginning and
retained it throughout his student teaching tenure. John was always friendly with
his students but established early that he was their teacher, not their friend. He
quickly learned the students names and greeted them by name on a daily basis.
John, also, established and maintained good interpersonal relationships with his
two cooperating teachers as well as the departments that he worked with. He
sought out administration and invited them into his classroom to observe and give
valued feedback. He truly became a member of the school community and
participated in activities during charity week on behalf of the staff and attended
extra-curricular activities to support his students and the school.
In the Social Studies Department, John has done an excellent job creating and
maintaining relationships both with students and faculty. He is well liked and
respected by his students and has been able to maintain good classroom discipline
and control. He works well with other staff members and has collaborated with
other members of the department. John was asked to take a part in the social
studies department performance during Charity Week and made himself available
for practice and a performance in front of the entire student body. John is highly
thought of by the other teachers in our department and has been fully accepted as
a valuable member of our department.
CLASSROOM CLIMATE AND MANAGEMENT
John established an inviting atmosphere in the Spanish classroom from beginning
to end. He was approachable and friendly yet firm and disciplined throughout.
There were no major issues that necessitated involvement from me or the
administration during his time at Athens. He dealt with normal in class issues
with a firm, fair and friendly manner which helped prevent additional problems.
He was looked upon as the authority in the classroom and given the appropriate
respect from the students.
Classroom climate and management is always the most difficult area for new and
student teachers to excel. John has spent the semester finding out who he is as a
teacher and what works for him. His classroom control has improved the entire
semester and he has used a variety of techniques and strategies to help keep his
students on task and engaged. John has seen a variety of different classroom
settings going from a small group of seniors in his World History 2 class to a large
group of freshmen in his World History 1 class. He has adapted nicely and
through trial and error found ways to deal with these two different groups. Along
with these two classes, he has helped to manage and set up a very warm and
welcoming environment in the Sociology class that we team teach. He has been
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instrumental in creating an environment where students feel comfortable

expressing themselves and their opinions in what is primarily a discussion class.
Overall, John has made tremendous strides in this area. He has reflected on ways
to make his classroom management better and I would have no hesitation putting
him in charge of any type of classroom environment.
INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION
John was consistently prepared to deliver meaningful lessons in Spanish to his
students. He was willing to use assignments and assessments that we as a
department had developed and also to create new and different assignments
should the situation require. He maintained the products and processes of the
classroom and class but also was able to add to them to make the class truly his
own. He collaborated well with me as a cooperating teacher, was willing to take
input and was also willing to take risks and try new things to enhance the learning
experience for his students.
John has done a great job in planning and implementing his History lessons
during his student teaching. He has taken some risks with different assignments
and has tried a variety of strategies. Afterwards John has also been very reflective
on what worked and what has not. He has maintained excellent pacing with
where he needs to be and his students are performing quite well with our essential
questions and objectives. He has taken into account a variety of student needs
and has made several accommodations throughout the semester. He has worked
closely with some of our Special Education staff and has accommodated several
IEPs. He has been flexible in his planning and has made some adjustments on
the fly, as all good teachers must, and has taken into account the needs of the
students and the environment of the building.
INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNING AND INCORPORATION OF
TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE STUDENT LEARNING
In his Spanish classes, John was strong in his use of technology in both
instruction to the students and having the students use technology in the
classroom. He regularly explained concepts using prepared Powerpoint
presentations, used Kahoot for entertaining formative assessments, had the
students using ipads and laptops to practice verb conjugations and formations and
also used the computer labs for students to prepare presentations for assessments
on several occasions.
John used a variety of technologies during his student teaching experience in the
Social Studies Department to aid in his lesson planning. His students engaged in
web quests, watched and interacted with on-line instructional videos, he made use
of our on-line textbook and resources had his students doing research and putting
together presentations using a variety of technologies from I-pads, laptops,
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computers, power points, and Prezis. To aid in assessment, John became

proficient in the use of the SMART Response system and was able to instruct his
students on its use. John also used Schoology as a classroom resource in both
Spanish and History to help communicate with parents and students as well as
share instructional outcomes.
EVALUATION
John employed formative and summative assessments on a regular basis
throughout his time here to help guide his teaching. From quick exit tickets to
more formal written responses, John used a variety of assessment measures to
evaluate his students and their progress. Sometimes the formative assessments
were in a fun lively manner with Kahoot! and other times they were in a more
traditional paper and pencil fashion. This information then helped modify his
lessons or encouraged him that he was on the proper track. His summative
assessments varied as well from paper and pencil quizzes and Prezi or Powerpoint
presentations for the students to show a final product and understanding of the
highlighted concepts. John also started to create his own tests in History and
matched them up with our classes essential questions and objectives which are
tied to state standards. He incorporated homework assignments in Spanish on a
regular basis which he checked for accuracy to make sure students comprehended
the material.
COMMAND OF SUBJECT MATTER
John was put into a difficult position of having to teach level 3 Spanish before
having the opportunity to work with the first and second year levels. This is
something we dont even have our first year teachers do, but he performed
admirably. He was always well prepared and ready to teach the students. He has
good control of the language that will continue to improve the longer he is in the
classroom. He was always able to answer student questions on material that was
current and as well as the spontaneous questions that he wouldnt have been able
to prepare for.
John had a strong command of History and when he came upon information he
was not sure about he took the time to educate himself as well as his class. Being
a new teacher some of his students tried to test him. What was nice to see was
that if John was unsure of the answer he expressed this to the students and
followed up with them after he found the answer. He was constantly finding
additional information about our subject and sharing that with his classes. This
strong background and a willingness and eagerness to continue to learn will serve
John well going forward
PERSONAL QUALITIES
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John has a warm welcoming personality with his students. His sense of humor
puts them at ease and creates a great environment for learning. Students trust and
respect him, feel safe in his class and thus are willing to express themselves and
participate in new and challenging activities. Students find him easy to approach
in class, as well as before and after school. He is open to new ideas and willing to
try new activities in his teaching. He accepts and responds to constructive
feedback and has a tremendous desire to do things correctly and make things right
for kids.
John is personable, easy to talk to and very intelligent. He has made himself a
part of our staff and department. He is very passionate about his job and would
be a welcome addition to any school. He has gone to a variety of extra-curricular
events here at Athens from sporting events to the school play and has shown a
genuine interest in his students and our community. To me this is exactly the type
of personal traits you would want in a new teacher: someone who wants to be a
part of your community and who people like to and want to be around.
PROFESSIONAL QUALITIES
John has a great understanding of the demands of the teaching profession and a
great work ethic to meet those demands. He was always on time, prepared,
energetic and ready to teach. He is well organized and well prepared yet flexible
at the same time. He is able to tweak activities during a lesson to make them
better as well as after the lesson for another hour to improve them even more. He
accepts and acts upon feedback from his cooperating teachers, university
supervisor and administrators who observed him. In addition, John is always
present, early and prepared.
John's professionalism was probably his best characteristic. John realized that
this is a job and at times a very difficult one. Every day he was here early and
stayed late making sure that papers were checked and lessons were prepared. He
was always appropriately dressed, never took any time off, and always conducted
himself in a professional manner. John has been the best student teacher I have
worked with in this regard. Along with all of the other attributes that John has it
is his professionalism and work ethic that are going to allow him to be successful
and are why anyone would be wise to hire him. His intelligence, personality,
professionalism and work ethic are all topnotch and will lead to future success for
John in whatever he decides to pursue.

OAKLAND UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY SUPERVISORS ASSESSMENT
John Timm is an outstanding, talented teacher with an incredible work ethic. He
is warm and welcoming and is to be admired for his calm confident demeanor in
the classroom. He is approachable, always positive, and emanates an encouraging
presence at all times. His students respect him and respond very well to him. He
sets high expectations and the students know they have to work hard. He creates
quality activities that are challenging and motivating and he demonstrates a great
example of warm demander pedagogy.
Johns Spanish classes are very engaging. Students are on task and busy from bell
to bell in well structured and diverse activities. John begins with a warm-up and
students know to begin this at the beginning of the hour or immediately after
practicing their current song. John uses a great deal of Spanish as he teaches and
students respond to his directives to change the seating arrangement for an inside
outside circle speaking activity and then move them back to groups or partner
settings, or even in rows for assessments. All of these moves are made quickly
without losing instructional time.
Johns use of authentic Spanish music was an excellent way for him to emphasize
interpretive listening. Students studied and listened to the song for several days
and then took a cloze type quiz testing for accuracy of verb forms or other
vocabulary as they listened two more times. John chose songs which coincided
with his current grammatical lesson to highlight these concepts further in
contextualized language. For example, when studying the subjunctive or
commands, the songs John chose contained many examples of these structures.
John taught complicated grammar in his Spanish classes and always developed
fun, engaging ways to make the content clear.
Johns use of technology in the classroom is impressive. He is adept at using
SmartBoard technology and uses it daily to present PowerPoint presentations
which he creates to deliver his quality lessons. He uses Kahoot! for formative
assessments and Ipads for research and online practice on different sites such as
Quizlet for increasing grammar and vocabulary skills. He incorporates authentic
music videos into his Spanish classes to enhance interpretive listening skills.
What is most impressive about John and his use of technology is that he
continually encourages his students to explore topics and then share them with
their classmates. He makes good use of computer lab time with well-structured
projects and web quests with short and specific yet adequate turnaround time.

Johns lessons in History were frequently accompanied by well-thought out

project assignments. This project-based approach afforded the students the
opportunity to experience the history of the world through hands-on experiential
learning. John believed that the students would remember more by exploring and
creating projects or skits about historical events, famous people, or works of art.
For example, when studying Julius Cesar, he had the History I students create a
skit about the rise and death of Julius Cesar. They had to reenact Cesar taking
control of Rome, his partner fleeing the city, and the senators stabbing him on the
senate floor. This worked well to replace days of tedious note-taking. He also
used projects for studying famous explorers and exploring world artists among
other topics.
John is also a very reflective teacher and constantly evaluated his own
performance to make changes in future lessons or from class period to class
period. His written reflections, both daily and every other week for his supervisor
were exceptionally insightful. There was always an awareness of high leverage
teaching practices in his lesson plans accompanied by the Michigan Benchmarks
and ACTFL National Standards. He demonstrated incredible professionalism
throughout his internship. He attended department meetings and all professional
development training and participated in activities around the school including a
charity week teacher dance. He was admired and accepted by the staff and
administration at Troy Athens and became a contributing member of the school
community.
John Timm is an incredible young man and an exceptional student teacher.
While observing John teach, I could not help but think how successful he will be
as a Spanish and History teacher. He inspires and motivates students by his
demeanor, his knowledge and his methodology. This is indeed very
commendable. He fosters critical thinking in ways that students do not even
realize as he designs memorable learning experiences each day. In multiple
ways, John displays many qualities of a successful veteran teacher. He always
remained positive and he was always helpful and dependable. He carried out all
duties and responsibilities in a competent and thorough manner. I most highly
recommend John as a qualified Spanish and History teacher for a position in any
secondary school.