1.
Talawanda Middle School
4030 Oxford­Reily Road
Oxford, Ohio 45056
Phone: 513­273­3300
Talawanda School District murraym@talawanda.org
To Whom It May Concern:
I have had the privilege of teaching with Meghan Riley for 8 weeks at Talawanda Middle School for the
first half of her student teaching experience. During this time, I have observed and collaborated with
Meghan in many professional teaching situations. Meghan has displayed enthusiasm and professionalism
as well mathematical content area knowledge.
During her time with me at Talawanda, Meghan has assumed responsibility for planning and teaching
four classes of Algebra I. Students in the Algebra course are either identified as gifted or have tested into
the course. This gave Meghan an excellent opportunity to worked with an advanced group of learners.
Meghan planned and taught lessons that were aligned to the 9th grade Algebra I Common Core standards
using the Connected Mathematics Project 3 (CMP3) curriculum. CMP3 is student centered exploration
and inquiry into mathematically rich problems that emphasize big ideas and connections. This is not an
easy curriculum to teach; it takes incredible amounts of planning and preparedness from the teacher to be
able to properly guide, scaffold, and support students through their own learning and discovery in
mathematics. Meghan shows promising signs of a developing educator in her ability to facilitate student
learning in her planning and executing of these lessons.
While at Talawanda, Meghan demonstrated an excellent rapport with her students both in the classroom
as learners and outside the classroom as unique individuals. Not only did she provide engaging activities
and real life connections in her lessons, she also attended sporting and community events to support her
students. Meghan has a gift in her ability to work individually with a struggling student to help them
understand the content and build confidence in the student, and often spent time after the school day doing
so. She employed fair and consistent grading practices as well as classroom behavior expectations.
At all times during her 8th grade Algebra placement, Meghan has conducted herself with the
professionalism of a teacher. She has attended meet the teacher night, parent conferences, and department
meetings, and staff in­services. As Meghan continues her student teaching internship in 6th grade
science, I trust she will continue to strengthen and develop in her ability to create meaningful lesson
plans, differentiate instruction, and use technology as a means to engage and enhance her teaching.
I can recommend Meghan Riley as a potential candidate for any position for which she may be
considered. Meghan is a pleasure to work with and the kind of professional who will be an asset to any
school staff, and will continue to grow to become an excellent educator. Please do not hesitate to contact
me for further information.
Sincerely,
Megan Murray
8th Grade Math Teacher