March

6, 2019
To Whom It May Concern:

It is a distinct pleasure to recommend Taryn Bartholomew, a graduate student from Westminster College in education
and a student teacher at Stansbury High School, for her excellent teaching performance in the classroom this spring.

Taryn is, in my judgment, one of the best and brightest prospective teachers I have had the pleasure to supervise. Taryn
was presented with a challenge: teach 9th grade honors Math 1 and 11th grade Math 3. These classes consisted of
students of varying degrees of ability including lower level learners and bright overachievers. In addition, these two
math courses require deep content knowledge which Taryn has in spades. Taryn is proving to be an incredible educator.
She is brilliantly prepared in mathematics pedagogy. Taryn's units are deeply thorough and well taught. One of Taryn's
greatest strengths is positivity which brings a comfort level for students as well as providing a great life example. Taryn
begins each class with a self-starter to assess student learning and foster critical thinking. These self-starters prove to be
an incredibly effective tool in assessing content literacy and understanding where each student stands emotionally.
Through differentiation of her content, Taryn is helping diverse learners attain higher order thinking.

Taryn's passion for mathematics, her tireless attention to making the curriculum accessible for all students, and her
professionalism are the hallmarks of an exemplary teacher. However, Taryn’s best quality is her desire for making the
classroom a meaningful and practical experience for her students. Taryn has an astounding ability to create a positive,
friendly, and safe atmosphere in the classroom. She has created a deep rapport with her students by inquiring about
individual students’ interests and activities and using humor as a teaching tool. Taryn is becoming especially strong in
classroom management. She consistently employs a clear and confident teacher voice as well as excellent proximity in
her classroom. Taryn is always willing make accommodations to students who need it. She provides choices for a
student who cannot complete the work in class – she is never negative or punitive. The students understand that they
can choose to fail or succeed. Having students take responsibility for their own behavior is an accomplishment some
teachers never attain.

Taryn is an outstanding spirited teacher. Her entire student teaching experience reflects her care in planning for
instruction, willingness to try new techniques, and implementation of a variety of teaching methods and classroom
management skills. Taryn has a natural “teacher presence” in the classroom and, through the use of popular culture, her
students feel she understands them. She also has a great ability to problem-solve in a caring and creative manner. Taryn
is a strong role model for her students: showing empathy, the love of learning, and the merits of building a productive
life. She is always quick to point out to her students that they teach her new ideas every day. Taryn is forging lasting
relationships with her students.

Taryn is motivated, original, clear, and sensitive. Becoming a good teacher is so important to her that she not only seeks
after suggestions and critiques from veteran teachers, but she attends teacher development meetings to improve her
teaching. She continually shows the professional dedication necessary to become a master teacher. I wholeheartedly
commend Taryn Bartholomew for her excellent teaching performance in the classroom during student teaching.

Sincerely,

Diana H. Gardner


Diana H. Gardner
Student Teaching Supervisor, Adjunct Faculty