Farmington ; AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS Meadowview Elementary School Becky Bican, Principal December 4, 2015, ‘To Whom It May Concern: lis my pleasure to recommend Katie Zuzek for a teaching position within your district. Katie joined the Meadowview team in August of 2015 to teach Sth grade asa long-term sub from August to April 2016. The position Katie was hired for was vacated by a well-liked teacher on a high functioning team. Therefore, we knew the teacher we hired for the position would need to have a very strong skill set to fill this particular role. Although Katie’s experience was limited, her pedagogical knowledge, ability to connect with others, and solid recommendations made us confident that she would have the skills and qualities necessary to be an excellent addition to our 5" grade team, Katie has been a great teacher ‘at Meadowview and I can confidently say that she is all we expected and more One of Katie's greatest strengths is her ability to connect with students, She values the relationships she has with students and works hard to identify what motivates them. Katie realizes that educating students is about much more than a standardized curriculum or state test. She is student focused and works to educate the whole child by learning each individual's story and what is important to them. Katie uses her knowledge of the students to make the classroom content meaningful and relevant for them. By identifying what motivates students, Katie is able to personalize the learning for her students and keep them engaged in their learning, Katie's use of backwards design when planning her lessons also contributes to her success in the classroom. She begins each unit with a clear understanding of where she is going. More specifically, she identifies the standards and learning targets she expects students to master and works backwards to design her lessons from there. Through the use of frequent formative assessments, Katie gauges where her students are in relation to where they need to be to show mastery of the content or skill. She is also very reflective in her instruction and uses multiple forms of student feedback to guide her decisions for upcoming lessons. She is creative in her lesson design and is always open to trying new things in an effort to keep the curriculum relevant for her students. Katie is a team player who is always willing to put in the extra effort to support our students at MVES. She was reliable, fiexible, and willing to pitch in for her team whenever necessary. She is truly the type of person who is willing to try and. learn anything. | fully support Katie in her search for a long-term, consistent, teaching position. Please feel free to call ime if you have additional questions about Ms. Zuzek’s candidacy. Singerely, ys Bi an” Becky Bicai, Principal 6100 195% St. W. Farmington, Minnesota 55024 | Phone: 651-460-3100 | Fax: 651-460-3110 ‘www farmington k12.mn.us District 192 serving all or parts of Farmington, Lakeville, Castle Rock, Bureks, Empire, Hampton, and Vermillion Townships i