TWS 10: Communication and Collaboration

A. Family Communication
Parent letter: Beginning of the school year
In the beginning of the school year I will send home an informative parent letter. This
letter will be given out at the open house prior to school starting or in folders the first
week of school. I feel that this is a very important letter because it tells a little background information about myself. An example of an introduction letter is attached.
Student Agenda: Daily throughout the year
Students have an agenda that they fill out and take home daily. Students record
homework, assignments, and important messages that parents need to see. I look at
agendas each morning and place a smiley face to show that I have looked over the
students agenda. This serves as a source of communication because I can write and
read messages that parents have included.
Newsletter: During the school year
Each month I will send home a newsletter that informs parents about things going on in
our class. This provides an opportunity for me to communicate with all families. I have
the secretary translate a copy of the letter into Spanish. Some families do not have
technological resources to use as a form of communication. By sending out a monthly
letter, all families will have a chance to know what is going on in our classroom. I have
attached an example of a letter that was sent home this winter asking for classroom
supplies.

B. Communication and Collaboration with Colleagues

I plan to communicate with my grade level colleagues so that we can all work together
and provide instructional support for one another. To meet the needs of all students, I
will collaborate with my colleagues for advice and information that can benefit all
students. I also plan on communicating with members of the community to ensure that
my students receive real world connections in their learning. The following are examples
of ways that I will communicate with colleagues and members of the community. An
example of an email that discusses a PLC meeting and a field trip are below.

Email
I will communicate with my colleagues by using e-mail. E-mail is a fast and easy
approach to send a message or attachment to colleagues. Documents and
lessons can be sent through e-mail and saved to another teachers device or

printed out. All teachers have a computer or device that allows them to check
email.

PLC Meetings
I will communicate with my colleagues through the use of PLC meetings. PLC
stands for professional learning community. This is an opportunity for my grade
level to meet and discuss ways we can help each other as a team. We will
discuss how we can plan instruction as a team and we will also share lessons
and ideas. PLC meetings will take place twice a month to provide teachers with
support throughout the semester.

Community Resources

Field Trip
I will communicate with members of the community in order to provide my
students with real world connections. By reaching out to members of the
community, I can find ways to integrate lessons into real life scenarios or even
field trips. An example of this is the Diamond Del field trip that students
participated in during the month of March. This field trip went with the science
unit about rocks and allowed students the chance to work with rocks hands on.
This involved sending home information and contacting Diamond Del about
coming to the school.
March of Dimes Fundraising
Another community resource I engaged in is my class working with the March of
Dimes fundraising. We sent home a letter to families explaining that students
could bring in loose change to fill up a baby bottle that goes to march of dimes.
This involved teachers, students, and families working together to raise money
for a good cause.
School Easter Egg Hunt
The school and teachers are taking up donations and are in need of Easter eggs
to use for the Woodsfields Easter egg hunt. This also involved reaching out to
the local community and families because their contributions and donations help.
I explained what was going on and read the letter to students that they would
take home to their families.

C. Extra-Curricular Involvement
PLC Meetings

I have attended several PLC meetings during the course of my student teaching
experience. PLC stands for professional learning community. This is a meeting
that usually takes place every Wednesday during each grade levels planning
period. We have discussed several different things that have contributed to my
professional development. During one meeting, we discussed different
interventions and accommodations to help with students. This was very helpful
because I gained several new ideas on things I could do to help students. This
impacted me as a teacher, because I now have more information and resources
that I can use to meet the needs of all students.

Trainings & Professional Development Days

During my student teaching experience, I have attended several different

professional developments offered to help teachers. These usually take place
when students have half days. I have attended several different trainings
regarding the new standardized test called the ACT Aspire. These trainings have
provided me with resources and information to use when teaching testing as a
genre. This impacts me as a teacher because this information is applicable to
any grade level that takes a test. This training provided me with valuable
strategies and lesson ideas to use when teaching testing as genre.

Extra-curricular events

During my student teaching experience I have engaged in several different extracurricular school events. I helped chaperone the father daughter dance in
February. This consisted of helping to set up the event and decorating. Once
students started arriving we helped get everyone dancing and having fun. I also
helped clean up. I also attended several performances at school. An example of
this is the Black History month performance that several of my students
performed in. I also attended a performance put on by the schools after school
program. This impacts me as a teacher because it provides me with a chance to
get involved with families and the community outside of the classroom. It is very

important for the community and school to work together with these events

February 2015
Dear Parents/Guardians,
As we approach the second half of the year, our
class is running low on supplies. Due to the amount
of sickness we have experienced this school year, I
ask that you send a few things to help keep our
class well. We are also in need of school supplies
such as pencils and glue sticks. I have included a
list of the things we need.

Pencils
Erasers
Glue Sticks
Hand sanitizer
Clorox wipes/Lysol spray
Tissues

Thank you,
Mrs. Larsen & Ms. Cash

Email Communication with a colleague and PLC notes:

To: Nashari.Brown@Lander.edu
From: Amanda.Cash@Lander.edu
Date: March 5, 2015
Subject: PLC meeting this week & upcoming field trip
___________________________________________________________________________
Greetings! I was thinking it would be a good idea for us to get together and
compare notes from the PLC meeting. I have some things that I had some
questions about and I thought we could collaborate and discuss what we met
about this week. Also, as you know we have an upcoming field trip scheduled
for next week. I thought it would be a good idea to plan together and
schedule our times for the Diamond Del mining. The available times are
10:00, 10:30, and 11:00 we can work this out to go along with your science
lesson!

Community Resource/Field Trip Communication

Community Resource

Extra-Curricular Events Artifact