Description: What is/are the artifact(s)? My artifact is a welcome letter used during my summer practicum experience, and a journal used during my student teaching experience. The welcome letter introduces my students’ family to my classroom. The letter also alerts families about what students will be learning during the summer program as well as some requirements of the program such as, a nut free lunch. The journal states my experience during report conferences. Interpretation: Provide a rationale for choosing the artifact(s) The welcome letter shows how I communicated with the families at the beginning of the summer program. The letter mentions how I will continue to communicate with the families throughout the summer through a daily note. In the daily note, I will give provide families with a description of what occurred that day and how their child behaved. In the letter, I give families some requirements of the program such as, a nut free lunch. The letter also provides some suggestions such as, applying sunscreen/bug spray before coming into the school, having an extra …show more content…
The journal explains how I had the opportunity to interact with families during report conferences. I meet with half of the students’ families and I provided input on their child’s progress. I also demonstrated how students have progressed and what they have been working on by creating a portfolio for each of the students. The report card conference was a chance to connect home and school life. The journal explains how there was a mutual respect among the teaching staffs and the families. The journal shows the importance of collaborating with families because of the huge impact families have on student learning. The journal also mentions how I played an active role in helping my cooperating teacher and other staff choose students for several awards for the first marking
With differentiation in mind, I came up with a daily schedule of learning and instruction time for my students. Entry 4 artifact 3 is a copy of my daily schedule and lesson plan format for instructing my students. I begin my day of learning using whole group instruction with a whole group instruction reviewing the calendar, music/movement activity, and read aloud. During these activities, I ask the students question based upon their ability and grade level. The students are really engaged during our introduction. They get to move and meditate to reflect on their day.
There assembly as a whole provided a familial sense to the school in addition to showcasing what we as a group and as individuals mean to these kids. One of my initial impressions of the kids came when one ran to hug and hold onto Jamila. In that interaction I saw love and the lasting impact she had made on the child. Looking around the room throughout the assembly, I saw the eagerness of several kids to interact with the Cornell students or how receptive they would be when we interacted with them. Additionally, despite the knowledge coming into the school of the relative revolving door when it comes to teachers, I was pleased to see so many positive and seemingly genuine relationships between teachers and students led by the principal
The Essential Conversation: what parents and teachers can learn from each other, written by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, focuses in on the “essential” discussion that occurs between parents and teachers when it comes to a child’s education and life while looking further into the hidden meanings behind this exchange. Lawrence-Lightfoot describes how often times the dialogue that occurs between parents and teachers has hidden undertones such as anxiety along with parental ghosts from the past along with several other trajectories that may impact how effectiveness of parent and teacher discussion/collaboration. The theme of Lawrence-Lightfoot’s book can best be summed up in a quote she shared about parent-teacher conferences; “Beneath the polite surface
This is just some of them. Teachers will learn much that is applicable about the general characteristics of children at particular ages, stages and grade levels; but are effective with each child, additional information is needed. Each child comes to the classroom with a history-year of reactions, experiences, and characteristics styles of behaving that are unique. Teachers who blind effective communication with families are less likely to be frustrated while working with the many unknowns in children and are more likely to meet realistic goals for each child and support each family in reaching their own particular goals. When teachers are open to learning from families there is much knowledge about the particular aspects of living with children that can be learned. Because it is the children that bring families and teachers together, the benefits for children alone should be motivation enough to work to create effective partnerships. (Chapter 9: Informal Communication with Families)
Family involvement plays a major role when helping students prosper in the school setting. In order for children to be successful, as a teacher, we have to provide support to the parent’s to make an effort in wanting to play apart in that success. Communication plays a major part in the effective relationship between families and school. Giving the parents a sense of idea as to how their child is doing in school is built through the student’s academic needs.
Many schools want to incorporate a powerful and positive parent involvement community, yet face a challenge in how to implement effective strategies to involve parents in helping students reach academic achievement. I believe parents want the very best for their child, even if they do not know how to go about helping their child reach success. Students come to school with countless attributes that I may or may not acknowledge, yet parents know the many accolades about their child that I must embrace. As I build a partnership with families, we become a partnership in their child’s education. We begin to collaborate to ensure the student maximizes
Rita, Lella, and Cathy wanted to study how materials can fuel ideas and thinking. To begin their investigation the ladies warned their student’s parents that their children would be requesting materials to
My first artifact is a copy of an e-mail I sent to one of the parents whose son was struggling in school. In this e-mail I analyzed his needs and tried to establish parameters for solutions to the problem. This shows my ability to frame issues and suggesting action plan.
As a result of the location of the school in a suburban community, the parents are very actively involved in the school. As a result of the active of the supportive parents in the community, the students arrived every day with a smile on their faces and generally prepared for learning. However, as with
During the placement I was able to spend time observing interactions between parents, children and staff. I witnessed many positive aspects in the schools approach to engaging parents and was particularly impressed by their open door policy for parents and the support provided to families in times of need by the learning mentors. As part of the admission process to the school, staff visit the parents and child at home and discuss the implementation of the home-school agreement (appendix 1.b). This agreement sets out the expectations of each of the parent, school and child in regard to their actions and attitude towards their time in school. This is often one of the first interactions teacher and parents have and Grayson (2011) suggests most teachers report these home visits to have a lasting positive effect on the child and parent-teacher relationship. During the school’s inspection in 2014 Ofsted identified relationships across the school and with parents as a key strength.
In February, Galaviz will be traveling to the NEA Foundation Gala in Washington, D.C., to receive $10,000 and the NEA Foundation’s Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence. As one of only five recipients in the nation, this prestigious honor really reinforces Galaviz’s devotion to continually going above and beyond for her students, something that, for her, starts long before the start of the school year. Every summer, Galaviz goes door to door, meeting with the families of her incoming students. As an educator, she believes that knowing about the student, their family dynamic and their home helps her to be a better teacher. “I
Identify an artifact that embodies or refers to ethical values, and write a sentence stating what the ethical connection is. Examples of such artifacts are provided in the resources this week, but they may also be found in literature, other forms of music, live performing arts such as theater, and other visual arts.
Albert Einstein once said, “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” This quote describes the responsibilities and standards of teaching children. I believe that teachers should be held to high standards for being the foundation of a student’s education and well-being. For my future students, my responsibilities as a future educator include supplementing the growth of a variety of students’ knowledge and creativity, abiding as a role model for students and colleagues, and understanding the issues in the foundations of education.
Although it is important for families to be involved with their child’s school, school personnel should also strive to create a positive interaction with families of students. Carl Dunst (2002) states that school and parent collaboration is necessary, and if schools take on a more family-centered approach, it will help create a supportive environment and help to strengthen a family’s capacity to enhance and promote a child’s development and learning.
The symbiotic relationship between teachers and parents is crucial to the educational success of a student. Parents must be involved with their child’s education through consistent attendance of IEP meetings and advocate for their child and their needs at school. Teachers can encourage parent involvement through, traveling notebooks home and note home programs which establish an open line of communication between teacher and parent. Parent-teacher conferences are a great way for teachers and parents to be involved in the success of the student's educational experience.