April 15, 2016

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing this letter to highly recommend Natalia Moody for a science teaching position at the secondary level.
Natalia is an extremely well-prepared, reliable, caring, thoughtful and reflective educator! She has created and maintained
clear classroom routines and structures such as strategic seating charts, productive student groups, an organized binder
and lab notebook, and daily warm-ups. She consistently develops and delivers well-planned and engaging lessons. Her
lessons and materials are accessible for all ability levels in the classroom while still providing challenging and rigorous
opportunities. For each unit and lesson, she explicitly identifies student learning objectives (using Next Generation
Science Standards) and important academic and content vocabulary words that students will be responsible for learning.
Natalia excels at designing creative science lessons that begin with engaging questions and/or hands-on modeling tasks
that connect students real-life experiences with a big science idea. Throughout her units, her question and model are
revised multiple times as students construct their own meaning around the big science idea in discussion and writing. In
addition, Natalia is extremely reflective. She frequently invites feedback from me, other colleagues and students and
spends time with this feedback to improve her practice and student interactions. It has been a true pleasure to co-teach
with Natalia. She is a collaborative, creative, and dedicated partner in every aspect of our classroom!
Natalia does a great job assessing students. Many of our staff at Elsie Allen High School have adopted StandardsBased Grading in our classrooms. She has used and embraced this method of assessment throughout the school year. All
student formal and informal assessments are designed and leveled (from basic to proficient to advanced) to truly reflect
what the students know and understand in relation to each learning objective/standard/big idea. Natalia consistently
provides students with timely and clear feedback on what they know and where they still need to improve and learn. She
often adjusts her plans for the following class period, day or week to reinforce a concept that she recognizes they need
more support with. I have been so impressed with this. In my experience, this takes years to develop at this level!
Natalias greatest strength is her deep caring for her students. She is very attentive to students needs, everyday
life experiences, and relationships. If she sees a student has an emotional, learning, or other need, she persistently pursues
all resources available on campus and in the community to support that student. She has become very adept at
collaborating with her fellow colleagues, school counselors, administrators, on-site mental health services, and our school
health center to support many different students in various ways. When she interacts with students, Natalia is always
consistent, calm, positive and respectful. Natalia communicates that she cares about the students as learners and
individuals. She has truly created an engaging, safe learning environment that all students can access.
I look forward to watching her continue to grow and thrive as an educator and having many more opportunities to
collaborate in the future!
Sincerely,

Kelly Mackura
Science Teacher
Elsie Allen High School
(707) 528-5010 ext. 6859 or kmackura@srcs.k12.ca.us