Laura Light EDUC 461 Mrs.

Trainor November 11, 2013

TWS Element 10 Communication and Collaboration

Communication with parents/guardians: My initial form of communication was my letter that I sent home the second week of school. I introduced myself to the parents and told a little bit about me. I wanted to let them know that I grew up in Greenwood and that one of my children attends a public school within the same district. I think this helps the parents to feel more comfortable with me since I understand, as a parent, what all it entails to raise a child. I also used this form of communication to thank them for sharing their children with me. I communicated with parents on a daily by signing agendas every afternoon where I wrote about their behavior. If we did not have a good day, then I would describe the behavior to the parents. If it was a good day, then a smiley face is all I would put in the agenda. Every week, I would send home their graded test papers in a manila envelope. Attached to their graded papers was a behavior sheet. I would put a check mark by certain behavior that needed improved and check whether we needed a conference or not. Another form of communication was at the parent conferences. I was able to talk to a few parents about what I had noticed.

Communication with colleagues: While student teaching, I communicated orally with my colleagues. I would go to them when I needed certain things and ask them directly. My future plans as a teacher: I plan to communicate with my colleagues at the whole school level during the school wide meetings on the first Monday of every month. This is when the principal will express his/her expectations of the school, and the teachers can express concerns or ask questions. I also plan to attend my grade level meetings once a week or create these meetings if they are already not in place. During these meetings, we will discuss grade level events and lesson plans. Events might include field trips, career day planning, and/or special events. The teachers and I will also email each other regularly with lesson plans and activities to make sure that we all are on the same page when it comes to our students. I really feel like having this open communication with my colleagues will assist in making all of us more effective teachers. I also believe that having an open line of communication with the related arts teachers will help to support each other in lesson planning. I can help tie in their lessons with mine as they can support me in their lessons. I plan to stop by each other their rooms or speak to them during the school meeting. I would also ask for those teachers to email me their theme of the week just so I can help to enhance their lessons. When the time comes to schedule special programs or field trips, I will call the facility directly. If this does not work or is not appropriate, then I will send an email or letter.

Community Resources A great way to organize a community resource is to have a guest speaker. This is an easy way to have someone come in and connect our classroom to the local community. Our second graders are learning about government in Social Studies right now, and they are learning about the roles of government within communities. The teachers asked for the City Manager to come in and talk to the whole second grade about his job. Then the City Manager allowed the students to ask him some questions about his job. The next day, the Mayor came to speak to the classes. The Mayor did the same thing by telling all about his job and letting the students ask questions.

Extra-Curricular Involvement During my clinical experience, I helped out with PTO/Open House by setting up the classroom, collaborating with the teacher, and communicating with the parents during the event. This was the same night as Community Night. I helped my cooperating teacher by faxing confirmation letters to local businesses that were participating as vendors. I also arranged for my mother and her husbands small business to become vendors during this night. I also contributed to the Carnival by hosting one of the games. Parent conferences night was another time that I participated in by gathering all the pertinent information to effectively communicate with the parents.