Brian Lyda EDUC 461 TWS 10 Communication and Collaboration

TWS Standard The teacher communicates and collaborates effectively with families and colleagues. The teacher demonstrates the ability to access community resources and participate in extra-curricular activities that benefit all students. Task Create a plan and provide examples of different ways you communicated regularly and effectively with families and other professionals concerned with the education of your students !n addition" provide evidence of accessing community resources and participating in school#$ased extra#curricular activities and events Prompt Provide a plan for communicating regularly with parents/guardians. During the 461%666 experience" you should document communication with parents on at least a wee&ly $asis 'ritten language should $e professionally worded and grammatically correct (his communication could ta&e the form of introducing yourself to parents%guardians" providing updates a$out activities in the classroom" share information a$out a student)s academic progress" and%or provide documentation of a systematic plan to contact parents%guardians via email%phone%home visits *rovide at least three examples of different ways that you communicated during the clinical practice experience Provide a plan for effective communication or collaboration with colleagues. During the 461%666 experience" you should colla$orate with colleagues on a daily $asis Document your communication and%or colla$oration with other teachers" administrators" and%or community mem$ers Depending on your content area this might involve communicating a$out students for whom you share instructional responsi$ilities" an attempt to coordinate a special program or field trip" or a need to systematically communicate with guidance" social wor&er" or special%regular educator concerning a student with exceptional learning needs or an English Language Learner *rovide an example of at least two forms of written communication 'ritten language should $e professionally worded and grammatically correct +ote, -ive .ttachments needed, /0 examples of communicating with parents%guardians and 1 examples of communicating and%or colla$orating with other professionals or community mem$ers2 Provide a plan of ways to incorporate the community or community resources into your teaching. During your 461%666 experience" provide a plan explaining how you can involve the community resources into your students) learning experience (his could involve a field trip" guest spea&er" or other community resource 3ou will need to utili4e community resources at least once during your experience 5ne attachment, Community resource%involvement Provide a plan for e tra!curricular involvement that will positively enhance your teaching. During the 461%666 experience" you should $e involved in school activities and events (hese could include sporting events" student organi4ation involvement" *(5 or 6chool !mprovement Council participation" fundraisers /$oo& fair2" year$oo&" or after school special events /math night" etc 2 *lease articulate your involvement in at least three such events including how these experiences impacted your teaching and your students) learning

Brian Lyda EDUC 461 Parent/Caregivers"

#ntroductory $etter" Before ! $egan to ta&e over responsi$ility for planning and teaching any su$7ect" ! communicated with my students) parents through an introductory letter ! typed this letter and sent it home with each child for them to give it to their parents ! also sent home a small slip with the letter simply as&ing the parent%caregiver to sign and return the slip" therefore ac&nowledging the receipt of the letter (he letter was to clearly explain my role in and expectations for their child)s class this semester %See Attachment 1 .1& Wee'ly (ewsletter" Each wee&" ! send home a newsletter" which ! staple in each student)s agenda (his newsletter includes a synopsis descri$ing what we are currently studying in each su$7ect !t also has the wee&)s homewor& assignment explicitly written out as to eliminate confusion among students" parents" and teachers .ny important upcoming dates or events are added to the newsletter in a section la$eled reminder to &eep everyone on the same page %See Attachment 1 .!& )genda/*raded Papers" Each wee&" ! send home any papers that have $een graded and recorded ! usually place a slip of paper on it descri$ing what they are and reminding parents of my contact information if they may have any 8uestions or concerns (his communication is vital in letting parents &now exactly what we are doing and how well their child is doing in specific areas !f 8uestions arise" it is good to reference the graded papers that have $een sent home as a way to remind parents that they should have already $een aware of such pro$lems .gendas are a good way to communicate with many parents (his is where parents will find the newsletter" homewor& assignment" and any notes ! may write to communicate a$out their child !f a child has had a $ad day or an exceptionally good day" ! can simply communicate this through a written note in the child)s agenda %See Attachment 1 ."& +pen ,ouse (ight" 'ithin the first month of the year" the school held an open house night%cele$ration night (he cele$ration was for last year)s school grade and scores (he open house was a chance for teachers" students" and parents to meet and mingle 6everal parents attended this night and were very open and &ind to the idea of having a student teacher (his type of communication is a great way to gather some insight into the lives of students !t can help you sometimes understand why students may exhi$it the $ehaviors that they exhi$it !t is also a great time to esta$lish open communication lines with parents !f you can ma&e a positive impression and express your desire for solid communication" it can go a long way throughout the school year

Brian Lyda EDUC 461 Colleagues"

-mail" (eaching is $est done within a school through colla$oration among all faculty and staff Communicating with fellow teachers" especially your grade#level teachers" is of the utmost importance Email is a great way to stay connected ! have found out that grade#level teachers are constantly emailing one another for a variety of reasons 6ome of those reasons include the following, a 8uestion a$out a content area" to share a good resource that one teacher has found" to share an already#made assessment on a specific content area" and to share thoughts%concerns on upcoming activities and%or content !t has also $ecome aware of the importance of email when communicating with administration and other staff 5ftentimes" the principal will send emails with re8uests and other valua$le information !t is important to chec& this and stay up to date with the information and the re8uests -inally" email can $e used to communicate with the guidance counselor or special education teachers a$out specific students and concerns that you may have 5f course" face#to#face communication is the most effective form of contact" $ut as any teacher &nows" there is not enough time in the day to get done everything that needs to get done -or that reason and the others mentioned a$ove" email is a wonderful tool when communicating with colleagues %See Attachment 1 .#& *rade!level meetings" ! have come to greatly value grade#level meetings (his is a great way to colla$orate and communicate with some of your most important colleagues in the school During these meetings" you can discuss a variety of topics (hese could include upcoming lessons" how students are doing with specific topics" trou$le one may $e having in a content area or with a child" and upcoming events such as field trips or parent%teacher conferences 9rade#level teachers are constantly colla$orating and sharing thoughts and ideas (his grade#level meeting is a time to sit down face to face and discuss these thoughts and ideas !t is a short time each wee&" $ut it is extremely valua$le %See Attachment 1 .$&

Community .esources" South Carolina State ,ouse and *rounds" (his is another great site at which we can explore 6outh Carolina :istory (he third grade made the trip this 5cto$er to the 6outh Carolina 6tate :ouse and 9rounds in Colum$ia" 6C 'hile the unit in social studies involving this portion of 6outh Carolina history is yet to come" we have now esta$lished a common experience on which we can call when discussing the topics in the future .ll students have now $uilt schema a$out the 6tate :ouse and its history -urthermore" science curriculum was also present at this site !n science" third grade discusses the uses of earth materials" one of which is for $uilding (he state house is made mostly from two of those earth materials" mar$le and granite /$lue granite to $e exact2 6tudents got to see how earth materials could actually $e used .lso" the grounds are covered with $eautiful plant life" including seed plants .nother portion of the third grade curriculum involves the life cycle of seed plants (his entire experience provides a wonderful $asis from which to teach several points within the third grade curriculum /usgrove /ill ,istoric Site" !n third grade social studies" students explore 6outh Carolina :istory 5ne unit that students will explore is the .merican ;evolution (here is a $attle sight right outside of Clinton" 6C &nown as <usgrove <ill (he Battle of <usgrove <ill too& place

Brian Lyda EDUC 461

here during the .merican ;evolution . vastly outnum$ered *atriot <ilitia outlasted the Loyalists to earn a surprising victory in the war :aving students explore an actual $attle sight would $e an excellent experience for each student to have (hey could $ecome the lesson instead of reading a$out it in a text$oo& . guided tour will $e provided $y re8uest (his would $e a fun" educational event for all involved http,%%www southcarolinapar&s com%musgrovemill%history# interpretation aspx 0oe )dair +utdoor -ducation Center" (his site is an outdoor education center that serves Laurens 6chool District == and =6 !t only ma&es sense to use such a resource" especially for third grade (he science curriculum covers ha$itats and adaptations during the third grade year (his site has great activities that are all led $y guides that are educated in environmental content (he students get to experience the outdoors with an educational undertone :aving students explore the natural environment improves engagement in science content as well as encourages exploration

- tra!Curricular #nvolvement" 1oo' 2air" Clinton Elementary hosted a $oo& fair earlier this semester !t coincided with 5pen :ouse night as well 6tudents poured in to find the $oo& /and oftentimes the poster or toy2 they so desperately desired ! attempted to assist students and parents in locating $oo&s amidst the chaos (his $oo& fair extended throughout the school days that wee& as well 'e would often stop $y as a class and have time to explore the selection of $oo&s 'hen students loo&ed for $oo&s" they &new exactly what they wanted and why they wanted it !t was very valua$le in promoting the 7oys of reading (he selection was massive" so students could most li&ely find a $oo& with su$7ect matter that interested them 'hen students are choosing $oo&s to read" they are more li&ely to read them and to $egin to en7oy the activity of reading (his can do nothing $ut $enefit teacher and student ! wish ! had ta&en more advantage of the sale $y purchasing some $oo&s for my classroom :aving $oo&s within the classroom that interest students will help me promote reading as a 7oy rather than a 7o$ +pen ,ouse" .s mentioned a$ove" Clinton Elementary hosted an 5pen :ouse +ight in 6eptem$er (he night was designed to allow parents to visit the school and mingle with the teachers !t was also designed as a cele$ration of last year)s achievements (he school district ran&ed first in the state last year in achievement relative to the poverty rate of the surrounding community (he cele$ration too& place in the cafeteria" and then parents went throughout the school !t was fun $eing a part of the cele$ration although ! did not contri$ute to the achievement !t was easy to see the value of a strong connection with the community (o cele$rate positive achievements has a positive effect on the students as well (hey want to cele$rate some more" so they will strive to achieve highly again ! &now from this experience that ! will strive to have my students learn as much as possi$le and reach their full potential" so we can cele$rate their learning ! also ta&e away from this experience the importance of sharing such achievements with the community Pro 3ids Show at the ,igh School" During the school day" we had an assem$ly to watch a group that had come to tal& a$out the importance of character education (he program is &nown as *ro >ids (he show uses humor and magic to teach the importance of character education

Brian Lyda EDUC 461

(he same night as the show" a family night had $een planned at Clinton :igh 6chool (he *ro >ids group was going to put on an extended show for &ids and their families (he teachers went to support the students and the community (hrough optical illusion" it appeared as though the performer had shrun& the principal)s head !t was 8uite entertaining" and it was a fun" enlightening event for families in the community 6tudents gained &nowledge of the importance of strong character and the importance of a good laugh ! also reali4e that ! would li&e to incorporate character education into my classroom more effectively (he show has pushed me to research how ! may do so in the future