Macau University of Science and Technology, Block K, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau

Knowledge Knows No Bounds

K
Tel: +853 2853 3700 Fax: +853 2853 3702
Email :tis@tis.edu.mo Website: www.tis.edu.mo

June 24, 14

To Whom It May Concern:


I had the privilege of working with Miss Ashley Jones from February 2014 until April
2014, at the International School of Macao (TIS), in Taipa, Macao. Ashley had many strong
teaching attributes already in place when she first came to TIS Macao in February, and has
continued to grow and hone her skills during the past three months. Ashley wasted no time
becoming involved in teaching and planning as she began teaching Mathematics 20-1 during her
first week at the school. Ashleys choice to hit the ground running enabled her to establish herself
in the classroom as a teacher from the start with our students and work together with me to develop
a positive and productive atmosphere.
Ashley spent the first few days of her teaching practicum observing and taking notes,
ensuring that she felt comfortable with the routines and structures that were already in place in the
school. Ashley immediately started to help with classroom routines, preparatory and assessment
tasks, as well as helping students with questions during classes. Her dedication to helping students
was very evident. I know all our students will attest to the fact that Ashley definitely went above
the call of duty for giving extra help outside of class time.
Ashley began planning individual lessons in units early on, and by the end of her practicum
completed two full units in Physics 20 (Dynamics and Gravitation), as well as units in Mathematics
20-1 (Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences and Series), Mathematics 10C (Polynomial Operations
and Factoring), and Science 10 (Physics). Ashley would begin her planning by reading through the
Alberta Program of Studies (PoS), my materials, and various other online and text resources. Once
she was confident that she understood the big ideas from the PoS, she would continue by planning
assessments and lessons focusing on areas where she thought that the students might struggle.
While TIS Macao is an Alberta accredited school, there are many subtleties to teaching a
population of students that can exceed 90% English language learners. Ashley proved herself to be
incredibly dynamic and open to feedback when it came the nuances of working with these students.
Ashleys level of understanding made it possible for her to be able to differentiate well for the
majority of students.
Ashley acknowledges that there are many things to think about when she is in front of the
class: the lesson/material, how the students are relating to the material, their behaviors, the time,
etc. As her comfort level increased, Ashley shifted from a primary focus of getting through her
prepared material, to trying to interpret whether the students were understanding her and gauging
when to slow down, move on, or even abandon a relevant tangent when she noticed that the prior
knowledge she assumed that the students had was missing. Ashley will surely continue to work on
developing the all-important skills of being able to communicate ideas while simultaneously
assessing the efficacy of her delivery. Ashley is very aware that she needs to continually assess
students understandings throughout lessons by means of various types of formative assessments






Macau University of Science and Technology, Block K, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau

Knowledge Knows No Bounds
K
Tel: +853 2853 3700 Fax: +853 2853 3702
Email :tis@tis.edu.mo Website: www.tis.edu.mo
and work hard to build up appropriate pedagogical content knowledge, and has made some great
strides in this area.
Ashley puts much thought into what questions she wants to ask and how to ask them. I have
seen her reword questions when she realizes that they could be improved. She continues to work
on giving adequate wait time for responses and digging her heels in a bit when she doesnt get an
immediate response instead of giving the answer herself or just moving onward. Ashley
understands that she must encourage responses to her questions so that the students understand the
importance of the questions and understand that there is the behavioral expectation that they engage
in class discussion. As we all know, this can be a challenge depending on the time of day, time of
year, or the dynamic of the class. Ashleys questions improved immensely as she began to focus
more on the big ideas that she wanted to emphasize with the students.
Ashley was able to put together relevant examples in a logical, building sequence early in
the semester. Her materials were comprehensive, well prepared and professional. Ashleys area of
focus and growth revolved around choosing how to present complex topics and deciding what
information was important to stress to students during the delivery of material. This was definitely
more of a challenge with Physics 20 lessons than with Science 10 lessons, as the Physics 20 tends
to be a much more rigorous course where concepts can, at first, appear to be more abstract to the
students.
Ashley took great care to assess and understand the areas that she felt the students would
struggle the most. Much of our discussion revolved around how to better present the material she
prepared and how emphasize the material that was most important for students to grasp. Ashley
was very concerned when students did not grasp concepts as well has she had hoped, and was very
interested in discussing options of how she might present these concepts in a more effective
manner. We discussed how to manage group activities effectively, how to emphasize important
information during lessons, and how to give students a framework for handling certain types of
problems, when possible. Ashley was very open to discussion for improvement and really took our
conversations to heart, as was evident in the growth she exhibited throughout her time here.
Ashley took many opportunities that were presented to her to develop professionally while
at our school. This included participating in an experience week trip to Cebu, in the Philippines,
and working along side other teachers during on-site professional learning days. She also enjoyed
the opportunities she had to observe other math and science teachers in action as this enabled her to
see different teaching styles and strategies, which allowed her to further negotiate, through
reflection and discussion, what her own beliefs were. Ashley played an active role in both the
development and critique of summative assessments in all of the courses that she was teaching. I
fully expect Ashley to continue to engage in professional learning opportunities in the years to
come.
Ashley was successful in developing positive rapport with students. Ashley was both
approachable and helpful and as a result many of them were regulars in our room. Other students
would come to our classroom in search of Miss Jones just to hang out.






Macau University of Science and Technology, Block K, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau

Knowledge Knows No Bounds
K
Tel: +853 2853 3700 Fax: +853 2853 3702
Email :tis@tis.edu.mo Website: www.tis.edu.mo
Ashley is definitely a student teacher with great promise. She has strong organizational
skills, a focused work ethic, a clear vision of what her classroom will look like, and a clear
perception of her own strengths and weaknesses. It is encouraging for me to see quality teachers,
with so much to give, entering our profession. It has been a privilege to work with Ashley. She is a
talented, energetic, and compassionate educator, and I have no doubt that she will be successful in
her future career. I am delighted to commend her to you, and would hope that I may be lucky
enough to work with her again in the future. I would certainly have no reservations in
recommending Ashley for a position at this, or any other school. If you have need of further
testimony to Ashleys abilities please feel free to contact me.




Mr. Derek Markides, B.Sc., B.Ed., M.Ed.





Physics and Mathematics Teacher
The International School of Macao
derek.markides@tis.edu.mo