What do colleges look for in teacher recommendations?

I asked one of my favorite teachers who is also the best English teacher in my school to write my recommendations, but she told me to look up what the colleges I’m applying to look for in the recommendation so that she can make it the best she can and tailor it to me.

I’m not really sure what this means and everything I’ve found is to just make sure it’s a class you stood out in with a teacher who you had a relationship with, but nothing about what to tell the teacher to write. She still remembers me and knows my work since I just had her last semester, so I’m not too sure even a portfolio is what she wants.

Help would be much appreciated!
If it helps, I’m applying to mainly UC’s and USC.

[url=<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs%5DHere%5B/url”>http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs]Here[/url] is what MIT has to say on the subject. The same can apply for other schools.

[quote]
Try to address the following questions in your evaluation:

•What is the context of your relationship with the applicant? If you do not know the applicant well and are only able to write a brief summary, please acknowledge this.
•Has the student demonstrated a willingness to take intellectual risks and go beyond the normal classroom experience?
•Does the applicant have any unusual competence, talent or leadership abilities?
•What motivates this person? What excites him/her?
•How does the applicant interact with teachers? With peers? Describe his/her personality and social skills.
•What will you remember most about this person?
•If you have knowledge of MIT, what leads you to believe MIT is a good match for this person? How might he/she fit into the MIT community and grow from the MIT experience?
•Has the applicant ever experienced disappointment or failure? If so, how did he/she react?
•Are there any unusual family or community circumstances of which we should be aware?

UC’s don’t require LORs. In fact. you can’t even send in LORs to UC’s.

While that was previously true, it’s changing.

http://admissions.berkeley.edu/freshmanpolicy

Interesting I always thought UC’s and a lot of big state schools don’t have time to read LORs. What do they mean by invited though?