FINDING YOUR VOICE

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FINDING YOUR VOICE
Presented at the 2004 IACAC Conference Wyndham
Hotel Itasca Illinois
The Recommendation Letter
IACAC Conference Itasca, Illinois May 6,
2004 Sandie Gilbert Highland Park High
School Molly McBride Homewood-Flossmoor High
School Barb Selvaggio Lake Forest High School
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DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TEACHER AND COUNSELOR
RECOMMENDATIONS

• Teachers speak to first-hand knowledge and
  observations
• Counselors present the global student

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INTENT OF COUNSELOR RECOMMENDATION

• Advocate for student
• Highlight strengths/growth/uniqueness
• Bring the student to life

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PRE-RECOMMENDATION WRITING RESEARCH

• Interview the student
• - let them tell their story
• Highlight
• - most important extra-curricular activities
• - leadership
• - personal/academic strengths
• - personal/academic challenges
• - passions
• - calculated risks taken
• - papers/projects of which the student is most
  proud

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PRE-RECOMMENDATION WRITING RESEARCH

• Overcoming obstacles
• Quotes from student
• Information from parents
• Information from teachers who are not writing a
  recommendation for the student

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WRITING STORYTELLING

• Develop A Theme Unique To The Student
• Everything Gail has achieved through
  extra-curricular involvement during high school
  has been aimed at helping others and has resulted
  in her growth as a coveted school leader.
• Naomi has done a remarkable job in high school.
  She has maintained and improved her grades while
  simultaneously working her way from
  individualized special education classes
• to a completely mainstream college preparatory
  curriculum.
• Jack has made more positive gains out of
  setbacks than almost any other student I have
  encountered in my __ year career.

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WRITING STORYTELLING

• Begin With An Attention-Getting Introduction
• Ryan is a leader you want on your campus.
• I have agonized over writing this recommendation
  for Lee Smith because I am afraid of not doing
  Lee justice in my ability to paint a portrait of
  him.
• Incredible is the first word that comes to mind
  when I think of Tracie.

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WRITING STORYTELLING

• Organize the Body of the Letter
• Move from general to specific
• Utilize topic sentences
• What Jenny lacks because of her learning
  disabilities, she more than makes up in positive
  attitude and drive.

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WRITING STORYTELLING

• Provide extensive coverage of a few select
  topics
• Avoid pat sentences or paragraphs
• Refer to activities rather providing a resume
• Relate what the student does or says
• Last year Tom worked at a restaurant after its
  closing, he created his own part-time job of
  programming computer software for food brokerage
  companies. This job has blossomed into a company
  which sells his product nationwide and earns
  substantial profits.

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WRITING STORYTELLING

• It shocked me when Danny recently told me that
  he suffered as a bagger at an upscale grocery
  store this past summer. As I asked him to
  elaborate on the suffering, Danny recounted his
  horror at how the patrons of this store would
  treat the hired help. He found customers ignored
  and snapped at the help, treating employees in a
  patronizing or invisible manner. Danny, being of
  great moral fiber, found this experience an
  appalling eye-opener. To him treating human
  beings as anything other than equal is
  unfathomable. This experience strengthened his
  resolve to use any power he had in order to
  ensure equal treatment for all people.

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WRITING STORYTELLING

• Show them rather than tell them
• cite examples/supporting details
• A vivid picture comes to my mind when asked to
  write about Leah. Imagine a group of young
  people nervously campaigning for student
  government in a gym. Slowly, a six-foot ladder
  rolled out Leah (all five feet of her) ascended
  the ladder rung by rung to the delight of her
  audience and proceeded to deliver her winning
  speech. This moment in Leahs high school career
  is so indicative of her marvelous sense of humor,
  her willingness to take risks, her ability to
  distinguish herself above the crowd.
• When Stephanie began telling me about her
  experience studying ecology in Costa Rica last
  summer, I practically had to tie her to a chair
  to prevent her from falling out of it because of
  her enthusiasm of and excitement for learning.

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WRITING STORYTELLING

• Describe the student in relation to the school
  population
• As a mainstream Hispanic student in a school
  whose Hispanic population is largely comprised of
  ESL students, Jorge often finds himself not
  fitting in with any culture at the school.
  However, whereas many students would find this
  predicament defeating, Jorge sees it as an
  opportunity to rise to the challenge.

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STYLEORGANIZED STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS

• Conversational
• Choose dynamic words
• Dont underestimate the power of transitions
• Avoid redundancy
• Vary sentence length and word choice
• - A short sentence amid more compound sentences
  sends a
• powerful punch
• - Thesaurus and word choice dictionaries are
  your best friends
• Check grammar/usage/syntax
• - Spell check is not fool-proof
• - Utilize colleagues

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ILLUSTRATE INFORMATION NOT FOUND IN THE
TRANSCRIPT THROUGH EXAMPLE

• Motivation
• Academic and/or personal independence
• Originality/creativity
• Intellectual depth
• Causes for behaviors

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ILLUSTRATE INFORMATION NOT FOUND IN THE
TRANSCRIPT THROUGH EXAMPLE

• Reasons for demonstrated interests
• Unusual circumstances
• Patterns in performance
• Character traits

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SUMMARIZE THROUGH A CONCISE CONCLUSION

• Refer back to concept in introduction
• Offer what the student can lend to the campus
• State any concerns positively

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SUMMARIZE THROUGH A CONCISE CONCLUSION

• Thats Paul. He is the kind of person who I
  pray will someday lead our country or discover a
  medical breakthrough. We need more intelligent,
  yet ethical, responsible, and moral people like
  Paul.
• Julie would be a great college tour guide
  and a definite asset to any admission office.
• Nate will excel in a program in which he can
  continue getting assistance with his learning
  differences.

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BEIGE STUDENTS

• A student is what he/she is
• Admissions can read between the lines
• Maintain your credibility while advocating for
  your student
• Matt has strong interpersonal skills.
  Through he has matured later than many high
  school students, he possesses the skills and
  knowledge to succeed. I am confident that as he
  finds his learning passion, he will soar to new
  academic heights.
• I know that Michael will go on to achieve
  beyond what he has during high school as he
  becomes more interested in what he is studying.

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WHATS WRONG WITH THESE EXAMPLES?

• Mikes creative writing ability and wit are
  especially showcased in his work as one of the
  editors of the school newspaper. Mike is
  well-liked and respected by his peers, teachers,
  and administrators.
• Kathys reasons for stepping forward in the arts
  go well beyond the talent and fortitude exhibited
  to date. In the short span of two years, she has
  studied, grown, diversified, spun off, and
  solidified into a record number of separate
  activities.

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Finding your individual voice will allow you to
become the best advocate for your students.