Standard 8 Collaborative Relationships The competent teacher builds and maintains collaborative relationships to foster cognitive, linguistic, physical,

l, and social/emotional development. This teacher works as a team member with professional colleagues, students, parents/guardians, and community members.

Description To demonstrate my commitment to collaborative relationships, I have include an example of the blog posts that are a conventional method of communication between students and myself. I utilize the blog as both a tool for building and maintaining relationships with my students, as well as providing assignments that bolster technological literacy in the classroom. The blog shows a conversation between students and I that coincided with our current Language Arts unit. Students were to discuss their heritage with their parents and share that information with their classmates by generating a new blog post. The students thoroughly enjoyed the lesson, and it started a conversation between us all that was both educational and highly motivational for the students. In our class, I attempt to utilize the blog often enough to maintain student interest, but not so frequently that it loses its ability to motivate students. Conceptual Framework My use of a blog in the classroom honors the University of St. Francis's tenet of Serving Others. Among the necessities required of a teacher, there is perhaps no greater one than building relationships with students. These relationships serve as a bridge to learning for all students, but especially those that struggle. In my experience, sometimes the positive feedback I give to a student may be one of the few positive remarks they hear. So much more can be achieved in the classroom when students follow you, rather than trying to give them a push. With a solid understanding of each student, and the time to let them know that you are there to support them in every way, students will do just that. A child won't care to learn if they don't know you care.