SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY

School of Education
Department of Curriculum Studies and Secondary Education
1801 East Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park CA 94928
www.sonoma.edu/education

April 6, 2017

Dear Members of the Selection Committee:

When I walked into Lissa Baysingers geometry classes at Elsie Allen High School in
January 2017, I quickly recognized an exceptional student teacher. She moved the class along
in a pace that engaged students the entire hour or two. Every minute of learning was filled
with interactive discussions and questions about the problem being presented. Lissa lead the
classes with routines and procedures in place and, at the same, was totally emerged with
student learning.

One day, Lissa reviewed concepts for the unit to ensure student understanding. She had
developed a jeopardy game for students to play. They were all totally engaged and worked
collaboratively to find the answers/questions. Throughout the game, students had to think
critically, discuss, share, and solve a process that helped students to think individually and
together. Afterwards, they took the test for the unit in complete silence. She has established
an environment that promotes fairness and respect. It was teaching at its best.

I was fascinated when Lissa changed students seating arrangements. She simply
distributed a card with directions where to sit. As they moved to their new seats, they met
their new partner for the next unit. She gave the class a problem to solve and checked on
partner interactions. She walked around the classroom to guide them with questions and ideas
to figure out the problem. Later during the block schedule, she and her mentor teacher, Jon
Giacomini, divided the class in half. They stood at each corner of the room and taught their
smaller groups of students. Lissa explained parallelograms with the use of the white board.
Students were absorbed in the process of explaining the parallelograms and took notes quietly.
With smaller groups, students received more attention and asked more questions as they
moved forward in the practice. The various instructional strategies especially benefit bilingual
and bi-cultural students. All students seem very comfortable and are involved actively in the
various learning activities.

I enthusiastically recommend Lissa Baysinger for any math position. Shed be an

excellent asset to any department and district. Hire her, and youll soon recognize an
outstanding beginning teacher.

Sincerely yours,
Kirsten Searby

Kirsten Searby
Faculty, Curriculum Studies and Secondary Education