Running Head: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION

Effective Communication and Collaboration

Sierra Allen
Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 496 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2016

Content Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Curriculum

Introduction
As a new teacher, there are two vital steps to ensuring that I am a competent part of the
school community: showing what I am capable of and absorbing as much information as possible
from those around me. Collaboration among teachers is a great opportunity to gather new ideas
and concepts from experienced educators. Each person coming to the table has a unique point of
view and can see possible benefits and pitfalls to any course of action. The ability to
communicate efficiently and effectively is the basis for all good learning environments. Along
with knowing how to communicate, it is also important to know who to reach out to. Elementary
schools are filled with many resources that are there to promote learning and teamwork.
Teachers should not be an island unto themselves, but an educator who knows how and when to
use the resources around them.
Rationale
The first artifact chosen for this activity is a letter that was sent home to the parents of my
school during my first week of student teaching. I knew it was important that my parents were
aware of who would spending time with their child, teaching them and making important grading
decisions. I wanted the parents to know they could trust me with their childs education. The
letter told them who I was, what experience I had, where I was educated, and how I excited I was
to be working with their child. This letter helped clear up any confusion parents may have had
about who I was. Throughout this placement, I have had multiple opportunities to meet parents
in conferences, administrative meetings, and run-ins before and after school. Whenever they
actually meet me, they are comfortable because they already know something about me more
than just what their children tell them after school.

Content Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Curriculum

The second and third artifacts chosen are notes taken during collaboration meetings with
other teachers and specialists. The first page is comprised of notes and ideas written down while
planning with the other third grade teacher who has a gifted class. The meetings would start off
with talking about where we are and where we need to be. They would decide what should be
accomplished throughout the week, then break it down. My notes are an outline of what we I
needed to plan for that week.
The second page is from our Friday planning meeting with the gifted resource specialist.
During this meeting, she tells us when she is able to come to our classroom, usually twice a
week. Then, we talk about the areas we need her to fill in. Some weeks she helps with content,
other weeks she does language arts. On this particular week, she was helping us finish up the
ancient Rome unit and plan for the museum, where students display what theyve learned. My
notes from this meeting help me plan for when she will be there and what I can do to supplement
her teaching.
Reflection
There are three areas of communication that an educator needs to be effective in:
communicating with the students, communicating with the parents, and communicating with
other educators. With students, a teacher has to know how to convey information in a way that is
appropriate to the age and academic abilities. Young students cannot sit down and learn from a
30 minute lecture. They need to be consistently engaged in the material. In Understanding by
Design, a textbook focused on creating instruction that fosters deep understanding for students, it
says that, By engaging, we mean a design that the (diverse) learners find truly thought
provoking, fascinating, energizing. It pulls them all deeper into the subject and they have to
engage by the nature of the demands, mystery, or challenge into which they are thrown.

Content Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Curriculum

(Wiggins, 195) Students need to be taught in a way that involves them in the process and
captures their minds.
Communicating with parents gives one the ability to utilize resources and form a team for
student achievement. More often than not, parents want to be involved in their childs education,
but do not know how they can be useful. It is a smart idea to reach out to the parents and let them
know how important they are to the classroom. In my own classroom, I plan to take it further by
involving the parents in the classroom. Letting them come in to read to the class or share their
knowledge on a related topic can foster a sense of community, while building trust with the
family.
Lastly, no new teacher can be successful without reaching out to other teachers and
administrators. This can be simply through collaborative planning and working together on
projects for the class. Or it could be through mentorship, which is very common for new
teachers, and a requirement in many school districts. It is important to be open to new ideas and
willing to try approaches you may have never heard of before. Invite teachers whom you
respect to observe your teaching and provide suggestions for improvement. Let the observers
know which areas you are seeking to improve Dont discount their views and become
defensive. (Partin, 270) Every day will be an opportunity for me to learn from those who have
been teaching much longer than I have. The ability to communicate and to listen to guidance and
ideas can transform an average teacher into an excellent educator.

Content Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Curriculum

References
Wiggins, Grant P., and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1998. Print.
Partin, Ronald L. Classroom Teacher's Survival Guide: Practical Strategies, Management
Techniques, and Reproducibles for New and Experienced Teachers. San Francisco, CA: JosseyBass, 2005. Print.