10. Communication and Collaboration (LO 4.

1) (APS 10)
.

Prompt
A. Family Communication

1. In my classroom I will be communicating and collaborating with parents and guardians

throughout the year about academic progress and any behavior issues there may be with

my students. I would like for the parents to know who I am as a person so that when they

contact me or I contact them they will feel comfortable doing so. At the beginning of the

year I will send out and post an introductory letter on the school webpage of myself to all

parents and guardians. Through this letter, parents will be informed about who I am as a

teacher, my educational background, and also who I am outside the classroom. Parents

will have the opportunity to contact me at any time through email, text message, or phone

call.

2. Parents will receive a daily behavioral log regarding the students behavior in the

classroom. They are required to sign off on the log and communicate with me as needed.

If the parent would like to discuss an issue, set up a time to have a conference, or give me

a phone call about anything, they will be able to write this on the log that is sent home

daily. Students are responsible for taking this log home every day in order for the parents

or guardian to sign off on the log.

3. Parents will receive a note home regarding parent-teacher conferences that take place

after the first 9 weeks of school. For parents to receive their childs report card, they have

to set up a time for a conference. I will send home available times enough time in

advance that will be attached to the students daily behavior logs for parents to sign. At
 parent-teacher conferences, the childs MAP scores will be discussed, academic progress

overall, areas that need improvement, and child behavior in the classroom. Parents should

feel free to ask any question they may have for me regarding their child.

Example of introductory letter:

Example of daily behavioral log:

B. Communication/Collaboration with Colleagues

I will also be communicating with my colleagues throughout the year to ensure that we

are on one accord with the content area of our lessons that we will be teaching as a team.

One way that I will communicate with them is during the mandatory weekly PLC

meetings and faculty meetings. In these meetings, colleagues and I meet with the

principal, vice principal, and sometimes reading coaches to discuss IEP plans, student

progress to determine whether or not they should be placed in a resource class, or to

determine whether they will be moving up to the next grade level or retained. During

these meetings, my colleagues and I will discuss content areas of the lessons we have

taught or will teach to make sure that we have made adequate progress in doing so.

2. Another way that I will communicate with my colleagues is to hold grade level

meetings two to three times a month to make sure we are on the track in all subject areas.

These meetings will also be beneficial for upcoming events in the school year such as

plans for teacher work days or early release days, special days or weeks such

Rotation/Spirit Days, Red Ribbon Week, End of Year celebrations, etc. Communicating

this way with my colleagues will ensure that we are always on one accord.

3. One last way that I will communicate with my colleagues is through email and text

message, which will go for any teacher or staff administrator in the school. If another

teacher needs anything, or if I need anything, we will make an agreement to not hesitate

to ask for anything. Since we all have the same goals in the classroom, communicating

with one another should be key to maintaining the classroom effectively. If

communicating through email does not always work, text messaging will be an

alternative option as well.

Example of faculty meeting agenda: