Department of English

Modern Languages 445

P.O. Box 210067
Tucson,Arizona
85721-0067

Tel: (520) 621-1836

Fax: (520) 621-7397

April 25th, 2020

Teaching Observation Letter for Analeigh Horton

To Whom it May Concern,

On April 13th, 2020, I was allowed to participate and observe Analeigh Horton during the
teaching of her ENGL 102-011 class. It goes without saying that Analeigh is an amazing scholar,
academic, and teacher! I will go into further detail, but one of the first things I noticed about
her class is that it is both accessible and committed to the student’s capability to learn,
becoming an environment that is holistically positive. Analeigh encourages her students to stay
in constant contact with her, through email, Zoom, or Calendly, and is opening herself up to
additional emotional labor to deal with during our current academic transition.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic has brought teachers to the forefront of online learning, Analeigh
has adopted a mix of a/synchronous learning environments that maximize a multimodal way of
teaching through the use of self-recorded video, shared Google documents, and an updated
contingency schedule, which was brought on by the pandemic. Analeigh’s ability to craft such a
strong foundation for online learning after a quick transition from Face-to-Face to fully online
courses shows the capability of a successful and well-achieved teacher!

This class starts with an update of “Hot Take Pitch” feedback and acknowledging the students
participation in the assignment. Moving forward, Analeigh masterfully transitions from
updating from the previous class to opening D2L for the current class,—D2L being a website
that is used by the teacher and students—navigating the website on screen, going step by step
for the today’s assignment, underscoring the instructions with her cursor, and breaking-down
the assignment from an academic tone to a conversational tone by highlighting what she is
looking for as a teacher. Analeigh is effectively leading the class while understanding the space
and time of the classroom—there is a proficiency in the way she manages the classroom that is
creative, professional, and welcoming.

Analeigh also allows her classroom to act as a space of community, acknowledging the difficulty
the pandemic has had on not only her classroom, but of the students well-being in their other
classes and their own lives. There is an understanding that maintaining a relationship with her
students becomes necessary in order for participation in the classroom to continue. Analeigh
does this by weaving between what is necessary for the completion of the current “Hot Takes”
project while also spotlighting the benefits of the community and keeping the tone of the video
conversational. This encouragement through an online video benefits the transition of
Face-to-Face to online learning. While I cannot comment on the physicality of the class
participation, Analeigh drew me in during her teaching demonstration. The well-organized daily
outline, the conversational tone, and the attention to the needs of each student shows a
knowledgeable teacher regardless of the hurdles given to her because of the pandemic.
 Department of English
Modern Languages 445
P.O. Box 210067
Tucson,Arizona
85721-0067

Tel: (520) 621-1836

Fax: (520) 621-7397

During this class, Analeigh goes through not only what is required, but how to submit to the
discussion post through D2L by showing where to go, how to start a thread, and what is due. To
continue the space of active learning, Analeigh encourages her students to comment and reply
to multiple students on their shared discussion post. In order to capitalize on the space of
online learning, Analeigh encourages her students to interact with one another in their group,
but pushing them at the same time to interact with posts as a whole class. Recognizing the
space/time we are living in, there is a flexibility granted through communication with the
teacher. Analeigh makes time available to talk with her students about complications that
might arise from the pandemic. That is, there is a community being crafted around the
classroom. She isn’t talking and teaching ​to​ her students—rather, she is talking and teaching
with​ her students! I wanted to call attention to Analeigh’s teaching style because it is a crucial
component to sharing a space/time with students in order to promote epistemological growth.

Analeigh properly prepares her students to be successful in their writing career. By being
organized, focused, and crafting a space for prospering well-being, Analeigh’s classroom
produces a proliferation of knowledge and resources. As a student of composition theory and a
teacher myself, I believe I learned a lot from watching Analeigh teach. Understanding the
position of the teacher within the classroom, it is refreshing to see a teacher who focuses on
realizing that students are at different times in their academic career and that writing will be
continued and consistent in the field of study. I would recommend anyone who wishes to
become a teacher to learn from Analeigh, to learn from her compassionate style of teaching
and desire to become a successful teacher in the first-year composition classroom.

Sincerely,

Martin J. Cardenas