January 17, 2007

Dear School Administrator,

            The purpose of this correspondence is to seek your permission for our preservice teachers in elementary education at the University of New England (UNE) to observe and participate in one or more of your classrooms.  From the beginning of their teacher education, the preservice teachers are required to have clinical experiences in public school, as the State of Maine wants them to have ?early and ongoing? classroom experiences. 

To enhance their learning in the university classroom, five two-hour visits to observe and participate with a variety of classroom teachers are required.  To give our students a greater understanding of the teaching of literacy, I want them to visit a number of classrooms at different grade levels. 

 I have asked the preservice teachers to set up a meeting to introduce themselves to you.  If there is time, I hope they will tell of their interest or passion for teaching.  Since the course I am teaching is Language Arts, I wonder if you could recommend a teacher that either teaches using Reading/Writing Workshops or is strong in the area of teaching literacy.  If possible, a teacher who would allow them to participate would be most helpful. 

I hope it is a win/win situation for your school whereby the UNE preservice teachers learn and are inspired by your teachers and they, in turn, are energized by the presence and eagerness of the UNE preservice teacher to learn. 

As for me, prior to coming to the University of New England, I taught for twenty plus years at Patrick Henry Elementary School in Anaheim, California, Nevitt Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona, Somersworth Middle School in Somersworth, New Hampshire, and Frisbee Middle School in Kittery, Maine. 

Thank you again for being a most valuable resource for our preservice teachers and me.

                                                            Dan Rothermel

Department of Education

University of New England

(207) 602-2010

drothermel@une.edu