ÉCOLE INTERNATIONALE DE MONTRÉAL
5010 Avenue Coolbrook
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3X 2K9 Phone (514) 596-5721
Montreal, December 10th, 2010
Dear Selection Committee for the Phyllis Shapiro Award,
It is a great pleasure to write this letter of recommendation on behalf of Ms. Chandra McIvor,
who was my McGill student teacher for her third year field experience in Teaching of English as
a Second Language, from August 24th to November 11th, 2010.
The Ecole Internationale de Montreal is a fully accredited IBO establishment and our programme
must adhere to both the guidelines set by the Quebec Ministry of Education (MELS) and the
International Baccalaureate Organization- Primary Youth Programme (IB-PYP). In this respect,
Ms. McIvor had to master both English as a Second Language programmes within a considerable
short time span. She not only exceeded my exceptions, but also went above and beyond the call
of duty to ensure the success of all her students.
Ms. Chandra’s teaching task was a highly demanding one, as she was responsible for preparing
the lessons and subsequently teaching six ESL groups, while incorporating the mandatory IB
Research Units. Within the six language groups she had to contend with different learning
abilities and ESL levels. However, where other student teachers of mine seemed to lack the
endurance to cope with such a challenging situation, Chandra demonstrated exceptional
professionalism.
She arrived each day bright and early already meticulously prepared with an array of highly
creative and stimulating ESL activities. These activities were an integral part of her amazing
teaching aptitudes and they served to motivate her students while promoting and enhancing the
three ESL competencies: oral, reading and writing components.
Furthermore, Chandra had to teach two complete IB- Research Units in English, pertaining to
World Celebrations and First Nations. This had to be done partially as a Computer Assisted
Language Learning (CALL) module. Not only did Chandra excel at how creative and varied her
CALL/ESL activities were, but she was virtually a computer “whiz” by introducing the students
to such innovative teaching methods as YouTube in the classroom. The students were enchanted
to go to the computer laboratory with her.
Similarly, Chandra is an extremely dedicated, patient and resourceful teacher. She often worked
during her breaks, lunch hours and stayed late after school in order to help any student or staff
member that required assistance. Her generous availability extended itself to extra-curricular
student and staff activities, social school events, such as raising funds for Centraide, and
numerous committees, such as the IB Committee, CPEPE and IB action, as well as working
weekends, in order to finish the materials for the IB evaluations.
To my amazement, she guided the students through the discovery and definition of countless
world celebrations. Additionally, she encouraged the students to perform an IB action by making
them aware of the plight of the elderly who must spend the holidays without any family. She
actually explained to the students how they could become “better global citizens” by contributing
to ease the loneliness of the elderly through such a simple action as making a holiday card for
them. Evidently, that is what the IB Mission Statement professes: the education and global
awareness of its students. Consequently, in the upcoming weeks, those cards will be delivered to
the Little Sisters of the Poor: a Centre that houses elderly citizens in the east end of Montreal. It
is admirable to see such a display of empathy towards the elderly that comes from such a young
student teacher and transcends to her young students.
Distinctly, Ms. McIvor mastered and completed her field experience teaching with such grace,
dedication, independence, and an extraordinary contagious sense of humour that is usually
unbeknownst for teachers in such an exigent atmosphere. Moreover, the students, staff,
administration and parents also adored Ms. McIvor and they bestowed upon her constant praise
and appreciation for her professional commitment and interminable enthusiasm.
What is also most endearing about Chandra is how she is not afraid to meet any challenge by
being a risk-taker who is independent, well-poised, calm, polite, empathetic, tolerant and
extremely open-minded. Her amicable and pleasant personality, compounded with her
communicative skills and her boundless energy are apparent upon meeting her. These personal
qualities transcend to her classroom and never fail to manifest themselves in her teaching.
Consequently, upon entering any of “Ms. Chandy’s” – as the students affectionately like to refer
to her – student-centered classrooms and lectures, one was enthralled to encounter engaged and
motivated students that strived in a cooperative, creative and inspirational environment
conducive to ESL learning. This can be attributed as well to her exceptional classroommanagement skills and the most admirable respect that she exhibits towards her students, and
that in turn, is reciprocated relating to her.
Accordingly, attributable to Ms. Mc Ivor’s outstanding teaching performance and her astonishing
computer knowledge and IB-PYP mastery of the programme, research units and IB terminology,
which remain unsurpassed by any of my other student teachers, she obtained perfect evaluations,
for her teaching practicum with me. Comparably, Ms. Chandra’s supervisor, Eric Martin, from
McGill University, also concurred that she is an excellent student teacher and graded her very
positively throughout her evaluations. Consequently, I would like to add, that in my extensive
years of teaching, I have not seen such high grades being attributed to a student teacher.
Correspondingly, I have not come across any other lesson plans as detailed, organized and
pedagogically motivational as the ones produced by Chandra.
Indistinguishably, it must be stated that Chandra’s field practice teaching transpired within the
aftermath of an IB evaluation year, thus making it a much more demanding and complex
endeavour. This circumstance tends to limit the pedagogical possibilities for the attainment of a
perfect evaluation component. However, I am thrilled to report that Ms. McIvor has completed
this teaching experience with a stellar performance because she mastered all of the IB tasks that
had to be accomplished. Hence, I can most certainly attest that Chandra is a most well-deserving,
brilliant and dedicated teacher who will be a welcome and excellent addition to any teaching
institution. As Chandra’s cooperating teacher, I can endorse the fact that she will meet any
challenge with the same determination, that is an inherent tendency of all her accomplishments.
Notwithstanding, Ms. Chandra teaching abilities, I would also like to take this opportunity to add
that she has the extraordinary possibility to go beyond the teaching spectrum and to excel within
the education profession by pursuing her studies into the graduate level. I had the opportunity to
read many of her lesson plans, creative stories for the students and, most of all, to see how she
motivated her students with technology compounded by the innovation and passion with which
she addressed global issues within her ESL classrooms, and I remain in awe pertaining to her
academic creativity and achievements.
Evidently, it is my recommendation that Ms. Chandra McIvor, should be considered as the ideal
recipient for the Phyllis Shapiro Award, not only for her amazing dedication as a student teacher,
but also for her the caring way she connects with her students.
Finally, I would also like to take this opportunity to remember the wonderful contributions made
by Professor Phyllis Shapiro on behalf of education. One of the nicest references about Professor
Phyllis Shapiro was how ‘she saw the big picture of life and managed to illuminate it’. It is an
honour to know that this award was created to recognize the future generations of teachers, who
will someday follow her path, and, as a teacher, I convey my gratitude and respect to her
memory.
Please do not hesitate to contact me, if you may require any additional information.
Sincerely and respectfully,
Maria G. Contente, BA, BEd, MA
Ecole internationale de Montréal-IB-PYP
ESL-EFL Specialist- Spécialiste en Anglais
IB and CPEPE Committee Member
Deleguée Syndicale-FAE
School: 514-596-5721
Cellular: 514-77-7201