I’d have accepted that scholarship and practice are different in many ways, and that they would have been able to find their way and possibly excel. This student really was a lovely girl, but I felt like I couldn’t recommend her.Įvery other student – even the average ones – I probably would have given a chance as my employee. “Yes, this is a generous but also true and constructive statement about the candidate.” What about the Student who I refused to Provide a Letter For? They may give them a go, they may not.īut I’ve always only written a letter that I feel comfortable showing to the student and the employer and saying: They’ve seen that I’ve been generous and positive without lying.Īnd I do hope the employers also looked at the letters and thought that the person I’m writing about must be lovely, but not a standout candidate. I think for my average students, they’ve read my letters of recommendation and still appreciated them. I save the lavish praise for the students who deserve it. They are soft skills elements, like their interest in specific content in the degree or the fact that they’ve shown sustained commitment to this career by getting through the degree.īut for those average students I’ve also shied away from saying anything about their critical thinking skills or about how they’re a stellar, stand-out student. I’ve written letters of recommendation for pretty average students before.įor the average students, I am careful to talk about what I still genuinely see as their good traits. I’ve refused one letter of recommendation. I’ve had this conundrum a few times, so here’s where I stand on the matter. Should I give a Bad Student a Letter of Recommendation? It’s one tangible act that really does give them a push in the right direction and help them out into the world. Plus, personally, it’s one of the pleasures of the job. Draw the line at your bosses making you do extra work on their nonsense vanity projects. But don’t draw the line here! Draw the line at the bureaucracy, the after-school meetings about absolute bulls**t.
Sure, you’re not allocated time to do it in your workload. It’s not on our job description, but not everything in our line of work is an economic transaction. It represents the culmination of both our and out students’ shared hard work. It’s my opinion (and only my opinion!) that teachers should write letters of recommendation. I nurtured their interest in the topic and pointed them in the right direction.Īm I really going to hold back one last piece of support when they’re so close to their goal? No, I don’t think I will. It’s also part of the fulfillment of something I worked hard for: I nurtured this young person, scaffolded them through tough content and guided them to the place they are today. My vocation as a teacher is to support young people as they strive for self-improvement (Sorry to sound Cliché). In my opinion you should write a letter of recommendation for any student who you would be proud to recommend. Let’s get started with the one that generates the most controversy! 1.
I find this a fulfilling part of the job because I feel like I’m helping students out.
So, I decided to share below my thoughts on the matter.
That post got me thinking about how I write reference letters for students.
Lightwrite for student how to#
I recently wrote a post on the ‘student advice’ side of this blog about how to ask for a reference letter (aka letter of recommendation).