TEACHING, LEARNING AND

SOCIOCULTURAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT
Education Building
1430 E. Second Street
P.O. Box 210069
Tucson, AZ 85721-0069
Ofc: 520-621-2928
Fax: 520-621-1853

To whom it may Concern,

I am writing in reference to Isabela (Isa) Santos, in full support of her application for the position of elementary
classroom teacher. I am an Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Arizona and Ms. Santos was in my
Elementary Mathematics Methods course during the spring of 2018. In this role, I observed her interact with
children during classroom visits that are a part of my course, evaluated her assignments and monitored her
participation in my course. The course was during the second semester of her junior year, as a part of our field -
based methods courses for our elementary teacher preparation program. She will achieve Elementary Teaching
Certification with an ESL (English as a Second Language) endorsement with this degree in May of 2019.

Ms. Santos’s attention to detail, commitment to students and desire to learn stand out as some of her most
noticeable strengths, positioning her amongst our highest performing students. Ms. Santos frequently
collaborates with colleagues and teachers due to the format of our program, in which she takes courses in a
cohort and spends several days a week working alongside an elementary classroom teacher. In this way, she is
gaining valuable experience neeed to be a successful education professional, all while she is still an
undergraduate. I have no doubt she has the planning, organizational and collaborative skills that will allow her to
be a successful beginning teacher.

More specifically, through course assignments and classroom visits, Ms. Santos demonstrated her ability to
interact with children of different ages in a way that made them feel comfortable and valued. In addition, she
thoughtfully applied what she learned about pedagogy in practice, either in a classroom or in her written
assignments (such as a literature-based mathematics lesson plan). During most class sessions we visited an
elementary classroom (ranging from K to 5th grade) and she always put the students at ease, worked to
maximize her own learning during the experience, and carefully reflect on what she had learned after the visits.
As an example of her application of best practices in classroom assignments, her analysis of her teaching of a
whole group math lesson included a thoughtful reflection on including strategies to encourage participation of
all students in class discussions.

I am confident that Ms. Santos will be an asset to your school and district. Without hesitation, I recommend Ms.
Santos for an elementary classroom teaching position. Please do not hesitate to contact me for further
information.

Sincerely,

Maura Varley Gutiérrez, PhD.

Assistant Professor of Practice
College of Education, University of Arizona
Email: maurav@email.arizona.edu
Phone: 520-921-9596