Running head: COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION 1

Effective Communication and Collaboration

Kimberly Witham

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 496 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2017

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Introduction

In order to be an effective teacher, it is critical to maintain communication between

students, parents, colleagues, administrators, custodians, and other coworkers in the building.

Communication is vital to building positive relationships and being able to have appropriate

conversations when needed. Another crucial element an effective teacher must obtain is the

ability to collaborate with others. This is important because it benefits both the teacher and the

students.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

For my communication artifact, I have included a letter that I sent home to parents and

guardians introducing myself as their childs student teacher. It is important to keep parents and

guardians up to date on what is going on within the walls of the classroom. I wanted to introduce

myself to the parents and guardians to let them know about my interests, my experience, where I

am attending college, etc. I let them know a little bit about the process of student teaching in case

they were unfamiliar with it.

It was important to let the parents and guardians know that Ms. Tipton would still be in

the room during this eight week time span. I also included my email so that if they had any

questions or concerns, they could reach out to me. I chose this as an artifact because I believe

that having open communication with parents or guardians is essential as a teacher. It is also

beneficial to make small deposits of positive communication before having to address any

negative communication with parents or guardians.

The second artifact that I chose was notes that I took during the collaboration between

Ms. Tipton and the music teacher, Mrs. Leigh, during the science lesson on sound. Ms. Tipton

and Mrs. Leigh discussed the lesson in length. Ms. Tipton teaches science to two classes at
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different times, so she would need both classes in the music room during this time. This meant

that one of the classes would miss art. They decided on ways that they could work together to

demonstrate how smaller instruments make higher pitches. Mrs. Leigh explained to Ms. Tipton

that she still needed to get part of her lesson in, so she would combine it with her original lesson

she had planned on teaching. They met the next week to work out the details. In the end, the

lesson went very well, and the students came away with a better understanding of sound than

they would have had if they had to read about it or be told about it.

I selected this artifact because it clearly demonstrates that collaboration is vital to being

an effective teacher. By collaborating with others, teachers will grow and become more confident

in their teaching. This artifact shows what happens behind the scenes, not just in the classroom. It

demonstrates how sometimes schedules have to be changed, and approval is needed in order for

collaboration to occur. This artifact is significant because it is not just a copy of notes, but it

demonstrates collaboration in action.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

Effective teaching requires the ability to be able to both communicate and collaborate.

Both are essential in order to be successful within the classroom. Without communication, the

teacher would be unable to build relationships with students, parents, colleagues, administrators,

specialists, custodians, etc. Each day would be more difficult than the previous one, and nobody

would grow or succeed. On the other hand, if communication takes place within the classroom,

with parents, and within the school, there is a tremendous opportunity for growth and success for

everyone. Teachers and students can begin to build trustworthy relationships, teachers can begin

depositing nuggets of positive communication to the parents, and teachers can begin building

relationships within the school.

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While attending Regent University, the practice of communication has been instilled in

me on a regular basis. Many professors have said that building relationships with students is the

most important role a teacher has, and it starts with communication. Regent has provided me

confidence to be able to walk into a building and greet each and every person I meet. My

professors reminded me that every person has a value to that school and should be treated as

such.

Communication does not just start on the first day of becoming a teacher. It started the

first day that I stepped into a classroom and continues while I am student teaching. Radford

(2013) states, The most important part of the supervision relationship is communication.

Remember that relationships with either your supervisor or cooperating teacher involve give and

take (p. 49). I am finding that during student teaching I am relying on communication more than

ever to help me learn, grow, and succeed.

Regent also emphasized the importance of collaborating with fellow teachers. The

professors stressed that the benefactors of collaboration are the students. Killion (2015) stated,

The quality of teacher collaboration positively influences teacher performance and student

achievement (p. 62). After seeing collaboration take place from beginning to end, I now

understand the significance of what my professors were trying to convey to the class. I

understand that teachers work together for the sake of the students.
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References

Radford, C. P. (2013). Strategies for successful student teaching: a guide to student teaching, the

job search, and your first classroom. Boston: Pearson.

Killion, J. (2015). High-quality collaboration benefits teachers and students. Leaning

Forward,36(5), 62-64. Retrieved January 21, 2017, from

https://learningforward.org/docs/default-source/jsd-october-2015/high-quality-

collaboration-benefits-teachers-and-students.pdf.