Running head: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION 1

Effective Communication and Collaboration

Kirstie Robison

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Fall 2017

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Introduction

It is vital for a teacher to have effective communication and collaboration with others. A

teacher needs to be able to communicate with parents and other staff members. More and more

schools are going to collaboration between grade levels. If a teacher cannot work well with her

grade level it can cause divisions between teachers. In order for a school to operate at its best,

there needs to be unity. Students can sense when there is tension and it can affect the welcoming

environment of the school. A teacher needs to be able to communicate with parents. When there

is communication between parents and teachers, it can avoid many problems that come about

due to miscommunication.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

The first artifact I chose is a lesson plan for a lesson that I co-taught. I have a gifted

cluster class, so there are days where another teacher in the building will come in a teach an

enrichment lesson. I collaborated with her to come up with a lesson for the students. This is the

lesson that we worked together to teach my students. We taught comparing and ordering

numbers. We stretched it be allowing them to look up places they want to visit and order the

numbers. This made it apply to their life. I chose this lesson plan because it took collaboration

and communication to complete. We communicated and talked ideas through to see what would

work and what would not work.

The second artifact I chose is a picture I took at a grade level meeting. White Oaks

Elementary School is focused on collaboration between teachers. Everyone should be on the

same page. The fourth grade team meets once a week to collaborate and create the lesson plans

for the week. We are always free to edit the lesson plans when we teach it, but it helps keep the

teachers on the same track and pacing schedule. I chose this artifact because collaboration is so
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important in schools. It is important that the teachers are unified. It also helps bring out

everyones strength. At collaborations we can talk ideas through and come up with what will be

the best way to teach a topic to the students.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

In class, I was taught communication is key. It is important to be in communication with

parents about their child. In order to be an effective teacher, a parent needs to be involved and

informed about the classroom (Keeping Parents Informed, 2017). One way to do this is send

home updates about what the class is learning that month. A parent needs to know what their

child is learning in order to reinforce it at home. When communication is lacking, that is when

problems tend to arise in a classroom. It is important to contact parents when something happens

in school that needs to be addressed. Communicating with parents is the best way to help a child.

They need to feel supported by both their parents and teachers.

It is important that a teacher can clearly communicate to his or her students. Students

need to be clear on what they are learning. If a teacher cannot communicate clearly, then there

will be confusion when it comes to directions and what they should be learning (The

Importance of Great Communication Between Teacher and Student, 2016). This will lead to the

students not learning or accomplishing what they need to and objectives not being met. It also

can lead to behavior problems in the classroom. When students are confused, they can begin to

get out of control.

A teacher cannot handle everything on his or her own. He or she needs to be in

collaboration and communicating with others in the building. Engaging in these practices has a

positive impact on teacher effectiveness (Meador 2017). Each person is gifted with different

strengths and weaknesses. Through collaboration a teacher can each share his or her strengths
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with the rest of his or her colleagues. This helps every teacher do their best in the classroom

which ultimately affects how the students learn.

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Reference

The Importance of Great Communication Between Teacher and Student. (2016, October 26).

Retrieved November 22, 2017, from http://hallr.com/great-communication-teacher-

student/

Keeping Parents Informed. (2017). Retrieved November 22, 2017, from

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/keeping-parents-informed/

Meador, D. (13 May 2017). The Importance of Effective Teacher to Teacher Communication.

ThoughtCo. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-importance-of-effective-

teacher-to-teacher-communication-3194691