Victoria McDonald TWS-10

Communication with Parents and Guardians Communication is extremely important in all aspects of life but when working with children it becomes even more of a necessity. During my experience student teaching, I had the pleasure to work with 24 amazing third graders. At the beginning of the school parents had the opportunity to come to Pinecrest Elementary and bring their children to meet their teacher. Being that this was the first time I was going to be encountering the parents and guardians of the students I would be teaching, I was a little nervous. The parents were extremely nice and seemed to all look forward to me being in the classroom with Meredith Buchanan. During the first week of school, I sent a letter home with each student to give to their parents to let them know a little more about me and to inform them of some of the activities we would be participating in this semester. Pinecrest being a Title 1 school they do a lot with parental involvement and try to have numerous activities for the students along with the parents all the time. While at Pinecrest, I was able to participate in my first parent teacher conference. It was very interesting and enlightening to see what all takes place at an end-of first nine-weeks conference. Due to the fact that I had taken on full responsibility of the classroom at this point I had to answer a lot of questions dealing with students grades and their individual progress in the class. Interacting with parents was not always about grades, however, one parent was selected as our class parent and she assisted throughout the semester with all class parties and she also helped plan a going away party for me. Each week I sent graded papers home to parents and they had to be signed and returned. Also at the end of each day, I signed every students agenda and would let parents know how their day was. The agenda was also a place for parents to send notes to Mrs. Buchanan and myself. Parents would also send notes in their childs homework folder if it were extremely important.

Victoria McDonald TWS-10 Communication with Colleagues Every Thursday at Pinecrest we had PLC meetings during our planning period. During these meeting we would meet with the principal and she would talk to us about upcoming academic measures we would be taking. During these meetings we also discussed our ESOL students and Tier II students. I had the opportunity to converse with the ESOL teacher, speech specialist, guidance counselor, as well as other support staff at the school. After school every Tuesday were faculty meetings. At the faculty meetings we worked in groups and discussed new techniques that were being used in classrooms across the nation. We learned a lot about how to stick with the pacing guide and how to continue moving forward at all times. Collaborating with other teachers was very insightful because I had the opportunity to hear their opinions and what works for students in their classroom.

Community Resources Plan

The community is a huge support system for Pinecrest Elementary. Without the community we would not exist. During my stay at Pinecrest, I was able to see the huge impact that the community has on this particular school. Once a month, they hold a birthday lunch that was hosted by South Main Baptist Church. The church also brought lunch for all the teachers, faculty, and administration. This was one of their ways to show their appreciation for all the things the school does for the children in the Greenwood community. South Main Baptist also hold the Good News Club every Tuesday after school for students. The Good News Club is a religious based club that students are allowed to attend with parental consent. Pinecrest host a fall carnival for its students and lots of community helpers come out to volunteer and support the students. The local fire department was there. They

Victoria McDonald TWS-10 were really a huge hit with the students. For Veterans Day this year, we had the opportunity to have a veteran come to Pinecrest and speak to everyone about the important day and all that it truly stands for. This was amazing for the students because many of them were unfamiliar with the term veteran and to actually have the opportunity to meet one in person was great. State Representative Lewis Gene Pinson was a great inspiration for the students being that he is a community leader and such a positive influence on young lives. During my stay at Pinecrest, I had the opportunity to become more involved with the community by joing the Piedmont Reading Council. The allowed me to meet with other teacher within the district and learn lots about literacy. Also, anyone that joined the Piedmont Reading Council got a free jeans pass from our principal, Mrs. Susan Bucahanan. Being apart of the reading council will help me grow as a teacher, while also providing me with amazing networking opportunities. Extra Curricular Involvement Pinecrest Elementary had a spirit day were they hosted a pep rally that was ran completely by the Greenwood High School band, football team, and cheerleaders. For this event each grade level had to come up with a cheer and being a former cheerleader the third grade teachers nominated me to create this years cheer. We had lots of fun participating in the pep rally and it really got the students pumped up to learn. Math is essential in everyday life and at Pinecrest we try to promote the growth in the field of math. Food Lion of Greenwood teamed up with Pinecrest to host a math night. This night allow students to come out with their parents and complete various math questions that involved them walking up and down the isles of the grocery store to assist with finding the answers. Students received prizes while there and door prizes were given out periodically. This was an extremely fun event that allowed students to work on grade level math in a real world atmosphere.

Victoria McDonald TWS-10 Title 1 Open House- Parental Involvement

Victoria McDonald TWS-10

Victoria McDonald TWS-10

Fall Carnival- Students Dancing Around

Piedmont Reading Council