Adam Desautels, Principal
Rebecca Faheem, Assistant Principal
Joe Mismas, Assistant Principal
Shawn Rainwater, Assistant Principal
Kenmore, WA 98028-4430
(425) 408-7200
March 28, 2022
To Whom It May Concern:
It is my pleasure to write this letter recommending Noah Swain for any secondary social studies position at the high school or middle school level. I have known Mr. Swain for nine months of full-day contact, and he completed his embedded, year-long student teaching experience in my classroom at Inglemoor High School during the 2021-2022 school year. Because of my close, long-term association with Mr. Swain, I feel qualified to state that he will be an asset to any secondary school and should be hired as a full-time classroom teacher.
The most important teaching trait, I believe, is the ability to form relationships and a positive rapport with a wide variety of students. Noah Swain does very well at this. I remember one instance very early in the year where a group of students stayed after to ask several follow-up questions related to the historical content we had been discussing in class. I was excited to answer their questions, but they walked right by me and asked their questions to Mr. Swain. He most certainly is viewed as a full classroom teacher by all of the students in our classes. Of course, this positive rapport matters only if it is used to advance student learning. Mr. Swain is able to use this rapport to foster significant student learning and academic growth.
One specific trait Noah Swain possesses at an extremely high level for a beginning teacher is his comprehensive knowledge of the total job of a teacher. Noah’s mother was a lifelong educator, and I believe this has helped him to have a thorough understanding of the rigors and requirements of the job. This institutional knowledge, I believe, will allow Noah Swain to have a faster learning curve than many beginning teachers. Noah Swain is also able to take corrective feedback and show growth. Noah has had the normal challenges of learning the nuances of classroom management coming out of the pandemic. These management challenges include wait time to ensure that student focus is re-centered on the teacher, and student cell phone use/distraction in class. Of course, these are struggles that I still have as an experienced teacher, especially this year. It is very encouraging that I have seen rapid growth from Noah Swain at these finer points of classroom management as he grows in confidence as lead instructor.
Noah Swain independently designed instruction for my 9th-10th grade regular-level and AP world history classes covering the years 1900-2021. I was impressed with how varied his lessons were—integrating video clips, political cartoons, high-level reading opportunities, and writing instruction successfully and seamlessly into 50-minute class periods. Mr. Swain consistently demonstrated high-level content knowledge, the ability to plan and implement high-quality lessons, and calm, relaxed, and in-control classroom demeanor in front of the students. Therefore, I highly recommend him for social studies job openings for the 2022-2023 school year.
If any additional information is needed, please feel free to contact me by email (jmetcalflindenburger@nsd.org) or phone (281-229-1336).
Sincerely,
Jason Metcalf-Lindenburger
Adam Desautels, Principal
Rebecca Faheem, Assistant Principal
Joe Mismas, Assistant Principal
Shawn Rainwater, Assistant Principal
Lance Gatter, Athletic Director
Elisabeth Kowalski, Activities Coord.
Kenmore, WA 98028-4430
(425) 408-7200
To whom it may concern,
It is my pleasure to write this letter of support for Noah Swain as a Social Studies teacher. We have been so lucky to have him do his student teaching with us for the entire school year. His presence has made our school a better place.
I have been able to observe Mr. Swain’s teaching this year. He has a done a great job building postive relationships with his students. It is easy to see this as soon as you enter the classroom. Students are happy, energetic, and engaging wth Mr. Swain before class even begins. Has a great presence in the classroom which helps explain why his students were on task and behaving appropriately in class. His lessons were well organized and easy to follow for the students. There were always visuals to go along with any text to help students to understand who struggle with reading. Mr. Swain has established clear expectations for student behavior. When they were given work time the students began immediately with the work without any prompting or redirection from Mr. Swain. His positive attitude and energy have been great for our staff as well as our students.
I would like to restate my support for Noah Swain as a teacher. He has done a great job for us and I fully expect to do the same for you at your school.
Thank you,
Shawn Rainwater
Assistant Principal
Inglemoor High School
425 408 7305
srainwater@nsd.org
May 3, 2022
To whom it may concern:
It has been my pleasure to coach Noah Swain in the teaching of middle school Social Studies in the University of Washington Bothell Campus’ Secondary cohort since September 2021. UW Bothell’s rigorous secondary program incorporates content-area, developmental and pedagogical coursework, extensive field experience, and data-driven instructional methodology.
Noah is an energetic, fun-loving and dynamic teacher candidate who demonstrates strong goal-oriented pedagogy and deep caring for each of his students. He synthesizes numerous relevant components – strategies and theories learned in the program; his own experiences in schools; formative and summative data; and growing knowledge of his students – to inform his emerging practice.
Noah’s strengths include creating a warm, welcoming classroom environment; planning lessons designed to appeal to student interests, with individual student needs in mind; and clear, well-structured lessons supported with engaging supplemental materials. Rather than relying on a textbook in planning a recent lesson on the Holocaust, for example, Noah found primary documents written by young people who experienced that tragedy, specifically to help students connect with the content. While teaching this heavy emotional material, he showed thoughtfulness and care toward his students. He skillfully struck a balanced tone that acknowledged the importance of understanding genocide in our current global context while remaining hopeful and thinking about ways to fight back against oppressive social forces.
Noah has grown into an effective educator, and will be an asset to any school community. I strongly recommend him to be considered for any openings you might have in your district or school. If you have any questions regarding Noah’s qualifications, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Sooz Stahl, PhD, NBCT
Field Instructor
University of Washington - Bothell
School of Educational Studies