Brittany Atkinson

Sunnyslope High School

35 W. Dunlap Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85021

Dear Parents,

I am looking forward to being your students history teacher this school year. I would like to
take some time to introduce myself, inform you of my expectations for students this school
year, and relay what goals I hope to achieve. My name is Brittany Atkinson and I recently
graduated from Arizona State University with a BAE in Secondary Education with a
concentration in History. I have lived in Phoenix for three years and am looking forward to
working with the local community.

My goal is to provide students with opportunities and resources to build their knowledge of
history and develop a deeper interest in specific topics that may be of particular interest to
them individually. This course will focus upon building the skills needed to critically analyze
and synthesize information from a historical context. Students will be exposed to a variety of
topics spanning world history and we will use various resources ranging from the textbook,
articles, and videos. The students will be challenged to build their critical thinking skills
through the use of these resources and activities and assignments that are designed to help
the students analyze the information.

My goal for students over the school year is to provide the necessary tolls and materials for
success and help students work through any issues that may be preventing them from
succeeding. I encourage students to let me know of any issues that may arise so that
arrangements can be made to help the student stay on track. I also encourage parents to
contact me with these same concerns. Throughout the school year, students will be
engaging with each other frequently and the use of discipline and respect is a must within
the classroom. I expect all students to treat each other in a respectful manner and be
respectful of the learning environment.

In the event that you need to contact me, reaching me via email is the quickest way to get
in touch. Expect a response back within 24 hours. I am not always available by phone
however I will respond to messages with one day. If you need to speak to me over the phone
you can also email me to set up a phone appointment. My phone number is 602-xxx-xxxx
and my email address is Brittany.atkinson@district.com. Please contact me immediately if
you have any questions.

Again, I look forward to working with your student over the next school year and hope to
provide a memorable and enjoyable experience.

Sincerely,
Brittany Atkinson
To the Parent or Guardian of Joe Student,

My name is Ms. Atkinson and I am Joes 6 th hour World History teacher. Joe is a bright student
who is typically very engaged during class and a great leader for group activities and
projects. Joes enthusiasm for leadership has helped engage other students and led to many
great collaborative efforts.

I often check in with parents periodically throughout the school year to update parents on
their students progress in the classroom throughout the year. In this case, I am writing to
address a concern that I have regarding your students performance in my class.

Joe has been performing poorly on a variety of different assignments over the last quarter.
During class, Joe often sits and does not take notes or seem attentive. Despite this, Joe is
very engaged during class discussions or group work. He also frequently gives correct
answers in class and demonstrates mastery of the material. The struggle is motivating Joe to
turn in daily work and perform well on assessments, such as quizzes or end of unit exams. I
have addressed this to Joe verbally several times after class but no changes have been
made. Scores on quizzes and exams have been consistently low and assignments are not
turned in on time and are often incomplete. I have also addressed this with Joe verbally and
attempted to help him make changes in order to improve his grade. The work that Joe has
not been submitting on time or incomplete are his class notes, daily assessments, and
homework assignments. I have these assignments listed so that they can be reviewed. Joe
has also been performing poorly on quizzes and tests. This concerns me because he seems
to know the material in class if he responds to a question, however he is not retaining the
information long term.

As of now, Joes grade is a D. During our conference after the first quarter I had addressed
concern for his falling grade and no improvements have been made and his grade continues
to slowly drop. I have spoken with Joe about various resources that can be utilized to help
him get back on track, including online materials posted on the class website and the
campus writing center (open Monday and Wednesday from 3 PM-4 PM). I have also made Joe
aware that I am available to help with assignments and provide additional instructional
support if needed. Joe has not been responsive to any concerns or suggestions that I have
made or expressed.

I am willing to accept late work in order to get Joe back on track. I can work out a plan to
have him do a certain amount of missing assignments each week to get caught back up. I
cannot adjust test grades however I can arrange for quizzes to be taken again. I would also
like to make sure that a plan is put into place to ensure that Joe stays on track for the rest of
the school year and asks for assistance if there are any issues. Please contact me so that
we can discuss this matter further and make arrangements to set up an improvement plan
for Joe. My email address is Brittany.atkinson@district.edu and my office phone number is
602-xxx-xxxx. I try to respond to email and phone communications within 24 hours however
it is typically faster to reach me by email.

Thank you for your time. I am sure that we can work together to ensure that Joe will have a
successful remainder of the school year. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Brittany Atkinson
Joe Principal
Sunnyslope High School
35 W. Dunlap Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85021

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Dear Joe Principal,

I am writing to express my interest in the opening listed on the Glendale Union High School
District website for a 10th grade World History teacher at Sunnyslope High School. My name
is Brittany Atkinson and I recently graduated from Arizona State University with a BAE in
Secondary Education with a concentration in history. I graduated with both my Associate in
Arts Degree and Associate in Arts Degree Elementary Education from Glendale Community
College in 2015. I originally wanted to work in elementary education; however I chose to
pursue my Secondary Education degree due to my interest in history and the ability to
choose history as my content area. As part of the iTeachAZ program at ASU, I have
completed three semesters (225 hours) of clinical observations along with one semester of
full time student teaching in a secondary supervised classroom setting under the guidance
of a well qualified teacher in my content area. My student teaching was completed at
Sunnyslope High School. I am excited to have the opportunity to apply for a position at the
school where I completed student teaching and an internship.

While attending Arizona State University, I have received great training in various aspects of
education including instructional planning, lesson delivery, content knowledge, and
classroom management. The combination of training provided by the iTeach program and
practical application from student teaching and internship experiences have provided me
with the skills needed to perform this job successfully. I now have over three years of
experience working with both elementary and secondary students and providing
instructional support. My hours spent in the classroom have allowed me to develop and
improve my content knowledge, instructional planning, and lesson delivery skills as well as
provide practical experience and application with classroom management. My history
courses at ASU have provided me with a range of historical knowledge from various eras and
provided me with the framework needed to develop my own history courses following state
guidelines and standards.

My objectives and goals for my classroom are to create a respectful and accommodating
learning environment that is comfortable for all students and provide students with the tools
and information needed to analyze and synthesize historical date and events. I would like
each student to enjoy their experience in my classroom and learn new material while
learning how to develop critical thinking skills that will be applied to the new information.
As a graduate of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, I have been well prepared to teach
my content area of history at the secondary level. I am excited about this opportunity and
believe that my skills and experience will be a valuable asset to your school community. I
would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you in greater detail regarding this position. I
can be reached via cell phone at (949) 278-3388 or by email at bmatkin1@asu.edu. Thank
you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Brittany Atkinson