Communication

and Collaboration

Whitney Mae Brown 1 TWS

Teacher and Parent communication and collaboration is very important in

my future classroom. In my 429 clinical at Mathews Elementary, I communicate with my cooperating teacher, colleagues, students and parents. I have spent many hours working along side my students. I have learned

many things about their behaviors and characteristics in an academic aspect. I plan on communicating these factors to their guardians and parents. This semester I sent home an introduction letter telling the parents and guardians things about me including my academic life and personal (attached). This is important to begin the semester off because it helps the parents know more about who is going to be influencing their children. The second way of communication I have been apart of is participating in PTO. I attended a PTO event on Feb. 5, 2013 (photo attached). I met many of the parents in person and was able to communicate with them in a more personal way by talking face to face. I was able to talk to parents about the content we have been discussing in class and what we have planned in the near future. The third way of communication is during private meetings. I had the opportunity to meet with a mother and daughter to discuss fact families in math. The student was having difficulty processing the information from school to homework at home. I was able to teach the mother how to conduct fact family and a way to work at home with her daughter using counters. Communication between my cooperating teacher and me is essential for me

to learn how to teach in a successful and effective. Everyday, I am included in conversations that involve planning the next activity and lesson. Before I began

clinical with Mrs. Owings, I sat down with her and drafted a contract (attached). We agreed on a set time for me to attend her class and an emergency contact plan incase something hindered me from attending. It is vital I attend class when I have committed because Mrs. Owings and the students are depending on me. I have been able to help with running records and documenting progress of a childs reading. I have also attended a grade level meeting that involved discussion of the next weeks lesson plans. I was able to add to view the lessons including the activities, objectives, standards and assessment plans. A great opportunity for me to communication with my colleagues is when I attended a grade level meeting involving the administration staff and outside resources including psychologist and speech pathologist. The meeting was called Team Time (attached). During this meeting we talked about the good thing in place already including a new writing program and class data charts. The most important factor in the meeting was talking about placing students in Tier IIB. I was able to record data and fill out a form to propose having a child tested in speech and illusion classes. This was a great way for me to learn the requirements for student placement and the process to have a child tested.