April 27, 2018 To Whom It May Concern: Kelley Polasky has been team teaching in our third grade class as a student teacher for the past 4 months. She has recently completed her full-time six week takeover. During this time. she has planned and implemented a comprehensive, science based integrated unit focused on Winter Olympics: Forees & Motion. Mrs. Polasky has infused literacy, math, and art into her unit on Forces & Motion while differentiating content and learning styles for a wide spectrum of learners. Mfrs, Polasky has many strengths that make her an outstanding team teacher. With her positive personality and natural ability to connect with students, she has helped establish a strong classroom community of learners. She is consistent in her high academic and behavioral expectations of students and knows which motivational techniques are the most effective with individual students in our class. Kelley is equally impressive in her interactions with our school staff, families and community members. She is a valued member of our professional learning community. With our ‘grade level team, Kelley actively participates in meetings and provides reflective feedback on her own teaching and observations of peers, Families have trusted her as a valued team teacher and appreciate her effective communication. She has led multiple parent teacher conferences. contributed to class newsletters and provides valuable insight on students daily. Another strength is her ability to take learning into the community by leading field tips and inviting guest speakers into our classroom. Prior to beginning a standards based lesson or unit, Mrs. Polasky seeks feedback regarding her plan. She starts a lesson by making sure students know the objective and why it's important in real life . Then, she follows her plan by connecting the lesson to prior knowledge, increasing student interest with an engaging “hook” and giving clear directions. After students show what they know, she gradually releases them and uses both formative and summative assessments to guide her next steps. Mrs. Polasky has shown a strong aptitude for integrating across content areas. Whether it’s giving multiple opportunities to creatively plan, design and reflect on a STEM activity, ot facilitating their scientific understanding of the night sky during an art lesson, she keeps students engaged, moving and motivated. My own teaching has benefitted by watching her teach and interact with students. am confident you will find Mrs. Polasky to be a valued member of your staff and school community, She is an experienced, dependable self-starter and her desire to continually reflect and take action steps to improve the learning experience of her students will continue to grow. [ highly recommend her for a teaching position at your school. Please feel free to contact me for more information. Sings Marty Dean martin.dean@juneauschools.org,