ne UO UNIVERSITY or UTAH ‘Rmx STITUTE FOR TEACHER EDUCATION ‘Collegeof Elvation, 1721 Campus Center Drive Rom 2260 Salt Lake City, Uh 84112 801.581.7158 FAX 801 51.3609 LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION Nicole Lavely Linda Sorensen, Ph.D. Date: March 20, 2017 Itis with great pleasure that | write this letter on behalf of Nicole Lavely. I have interacted closely with Nicole over the past year in my role as her secondary cohort leader at the University of Utah’s Urban Institute for Teacher Education (UITE). Ihave also been her direct supervisor, which has provided me with the opportunity to periodically observe her teaching her high school students. Nicole is developing into a fantastic teacher, especially in her ability to manage a classroom filled with alternately drowsy, then lively teenagers. She has grown tremendously over the course of this school year in her ability to speak authoritatively to the students. She uses an appropriately strong voice tone to deliver both instructions and content—but not until she has carefully considered what she wants the students to do so she can competently convey that information to them unambiguously. She has learned the importance of establishing daily routines, and she works to help the students internalize them in an explicit way. Consequently, her students feel secure because they have confidence in their teacher. Another of Nicole’s strong qualities is her thorough preparation. She makes an effort to include a variety of targeted instructional activities in her units, and even in her daily lessons, despite the fact thatthe nature of art classes is that students spend much of their creating their own art projects. She is especially good at seamlessly transitioning her students from one topic or activity to the next, ensuring that students productively listen, contribute, and/or work together as required from start to finish. It was incredible to see and evidenced the fact that maximizing her instructional time is important to Nicole. Nicole incorporates many principles of effective instruction (e.g., proper pacing, visual representations, developmentally appropriate motivation) such that students of varying language, ability, and interest levels are engaged. She continuously assesses by mindfully meandering the room, checking student work for progress and understanding, and pausing for class discussion of thought-provoking questions. She exhibits a strong grasp of the content, as well, which has eared her the respect of her students, ‘The result of these actions is a classroom environment that unquestionably supports all her learners. Finally, the most impressive thing I have leamed about Nicole this year is that she is a person of high character. If she tells me she will do something, she does it. If she has an issue or confusion about something, she confronts it head on—in a polite, professional way—so that she can address it properly. She is punctual, which tells me that she respects others’ time. She is thoroughly prepared, revealing that she takes seriously her responsibilities to her fellow cohort members, her site teacher, and her young students. { feel confident these behaviors are part of who she is and will continue to be evidenced in her professional setting. As such, {highly recommend Nicole Lavely to you as an outstanding future educator at your institution, Please feel free to contact me if you need additional information. Thank you. Secondary Cohort Leader and Associate Instructor Urban Institute for Teacher Education (UITE) College of Education, University of Utah SAEC 2248; 801-587-1743