wl U Scottsdale Auifled School District pO Telephone: 480-484-4400 FAX: 480-484-4401 Wass eee October 30,2016 ASU Outstanding Teacher Candidate Committee: It is my privilege and joy to recommend Alexis Baumgartner for the ASU Outstanding Teacher Candidate jent Award. She has served as a student teacher in my academically and socially diverse classes. Both of these courses are new to our school, and Al ly embraced the challenge of building a new curriculum with me. ee isan excelling school with strong, parental involvement, a varied range of economic and social backgrounds, and a caring community, Alexis has exceeded the challenges of working with our student population and has been an asset to our classroom and campus. School administrators, teacher colleagues, parents, and students alike appreciate her. have been impressed by Alexis’s ability to consistently reach the needs of the students. Her enthusiasm and general caring nature make her an ideal candidate to work with middle school. She is able to engage and connect with students through her love of literature and writing and her knowledge of pop-culture, Her innate ability to connect with students on their level and her genuine rapport with them add to her effectiveness in the classroom, Although this ‘connection leads students to love and respect her, she still maintains a professional attitude and appropriate authority level with all of her students. In addition, her creativity and willingness to learn new strategies and subjects help keep her lessons fresh and engaging. Students are never bored when Alexis is teaching, which is a great accomplishment in iiiddle school. Several students have even been overheard to remark that “Miss B.” is their favorite teacher ever! Alexis is also very knowledgeable about teaching strategies, lesson planning, and the English content, Her ‘organizational skills are impeccable, and she took the initiative to create a fabulous record system that tracks individual student performance and then differentiates for each student accordingly. She shared this system with other teachers and administration on our campus, and many have adopted a similar strategy. She is able to plan for differentiation of all student levels and readiness, and her lessons always link closely withthe state and district standards she is teaching. Her lessons, while engaging, are purposeful and relevant and target each students” individual leaming goals. She employs a wide range of strategies and is always well prepared to present her lessons in a skilful, student friendly manner. On the rare occasion a lesson does not tum out the way she has planned, Alexis is able to monitor and adjust seamlessly to better meet the needs of her leamers. Alexis is a natural bora teacher. 1 am confident any school will be lucky to have Alexis Baumgartner on theit staff, and we at our school are hopeful she will be able to find a position on our campus. [am thankful to have had the opportunity to leam from her throughout this past semester. Our entire community has benefited from her innovative ideas, willingness to help wherever needed, upbeat personality, and professionalism, Her love of students and learning is evident in everything she does. I know she will be a wonderful teacher — she already is — and I highly recommend her for the ASU Outstanding ‘Teacher Candidate Achievement Award. Sincerely, Teacher, MEd. National Board Certified Te