Reply to What do you think of HS teachers who tell kids to write their own letters of recommendation?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As a teacher who does this here is my rationale:

First of all, I never send a letter verbatim that is written by a student. The tone must be mine. But I often do not know what gifts or challenges a student has or has dealt with beyond what I see in their work or in class. And this can be very boring and impersonal to write.

Most public HS teachers have hundreds of students at one time, so developing a personal relationship with all of them is impossible. The last thing you want is a teacher who writes 3 forms of a letter for average student, good student and struggling student and just changes the name of student and school to which the letter is going. You risk this by providing no insight into yourself when you ask for a recommendation.

A recommendation should highlight more than what is obvious - just saying someone is a good focused student who does well and participates in class will get you no further than what a report card is telling an admissions committee. Getting personal input helps the teacher craft a more personalized and individualized letter.

Often schools require each student to write a brag sheet to aid teachers with this process. i have had parents do it too. These are not letters, but do provide guidance and insight into a student.

If a student is willing to do a letter, it is a sign to me they are taking their college or job prospects seriously and personally. A student who cannot engage with those they are enlisting to support them may not have the energy needed for the programs to which they are applying. This tells me something about who wants to get in more. Who is most committed.

Lastly there is a lot I don't know about my students. Why do they sleep in class (taking care of siblings, sick parents), why are they over or under organized (everything from undiagnosed ADHD, which based on their description of their behavior might give me insights they do not have - I cannot stay focused, I like to listen to music while I work) why is their work always on time or late, yet they do well? Or they may have a dream I know nothing about that explains why they are pursuing certain programs. (I want to record music so I am focused on computer science as our school does not have a solid music program, or I love nature but we have no environmental studies class, but I work at a community garden for my volunteer hours and am an avid hiker.)

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But when you ask students to write their own letters, how do they know you want them to include personal details about their lives that you don't already know. First off, a student might be embarrassed to reveal family troubles or to special needs. Second, if someone asked me to write a recommendation on their behalf, I'd only focus on things that person already knew about me because otherwise it wouldn't ring true. Like if I'd overcome a personal challenge in order to get an A in their class, but the teacher didn't know about that challenge, I wouldn't include it in the letter because... the teacher doesn't know about it.

It sounds it would be better to have a questionnaire you give students who ask for recommendations where you ask them directly for some of these personal details (especially stuff about their future goals, why they are applying to that school, why their experience in your class was good preparation for that or inspired a specific interest, etc.). That would make it clear what you are looking for.

But just telling a student to write their own recommendation doesn't make them suddenly understand any of what you just explained, and could come off as you saying "I don't like you well enough to write a good recommendations, but I get you need one, so you write it and I'll sign it."

These are 17 yr old kids who have never applied to college before, so it might be useful to be a bit more explicit with them. You are assuming they understand it from your perspective but of course they do not. And while some students will have savvy and supportive parents who can guide them, others won't, and those are actually the ones most in need of encouragement and guidance from you.[/quote]

In the case of the teacher you're responding to, there's a well articulated explanation above, don't you think the request for a letter or a brag sheet would come with a similar verbal explanation?  If not, and the student is confused or offended, they should be able to go to the familiar teacher and feel out the reasoning.  If the teacher does this as a matter of routine, they certainly can't make an exception for the pet student. The teacher still edits the letter, the student who did go above and beyond is going to get more attention at that stage, and a better recommendation.[/quote]

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