Running head: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION 1

Effective Communication and Collaboration

Lydia Hicks

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 496 Field Experience E-Portfolio, Fall 2017

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Introduction

Communication and collaboration are two very important aspects of teaching.

Communication with parents, students, and colleagues is constantly happening in ones work as

a teacher. Collaboration with specialists, colleagues, and even parents makes the jobs of

planning, preparing, and managing behavior much easier. Teachers need to have open avenues

for effective communication and they need to have relationships built to collaborate successfully.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

My first artifact is a set of notes I took during a collaboration meeting with the language

arts specialist and the fifth-grade teachers. I chose this artifact because it represents the

resources, knowledge, planning, and discussion that takes place during collaboration meetings.

There is a wealth of information available to teachers. These notes represent the acquisition,

synthesis, and application of this information. These notes were the foundation of my plans for

the week following the meeting. I was able to summarize the main goals and ways of attaining

those goals and organize them into a weekly lesson outline.

Furthermore, these notes represent collaboration and planning that takes place informally

between educators throughout the day. I made a note to talk to a colleague about a writing

project we wanted to create for the students. I also took note of resources that my cooperating

teacher informed me of while students were completing independent work. Last but not least, I

took note of what I needed to create and share with my fellow teachers. Planning and

collaboration would be much more difficult without the teamwork of teachers and specialists.

My second artifact is a set of screenshots showing an instance of parent communication

during my first placement of student teaching. I communicated with parents in several ways
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during this placement, however, I chose these screenshots because it shows my belief that

communicating positive feedback to parents is just as important as communicating behavioral

problems or class updates. In these screenshots I have captured messages between me and the

parents of individual students. I used ClassDojo to message parents a note of encouragement and

a compliment to their child. Several parents responded within the day because of the quick and

easy format of ClassDojo. Communicating to parents is easy and effective with ClassDojo

because of its instant and focused messaging compared to slow parent folders or distracted email

inboxes.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

Throughout my experience at Regent, I have learned that to be an effective teacher, you

have to be able to communicate effectively with those around you. As an educator, people are

the number one thing you work with. Teachers communicate expectations with students, class

information and student updates with parents, procedures of the classroom administrative

information with staff and administrators, and ideas and resources with grade-level teachers and

specialists. These are all ways teachers are tasked to build relationships and maintain

communication with individuals and groups around them. These relationships build the

foundation of collaborating with these groups and individuals in order to effectively manage a

classroom, plan for student needs, and focus instruction on intended goals.

Thomas Lickona advises that teachers establish good relationships with parents and

communicate values of the classroom and student expectations (1992). Parents play a pivotal role

in how a student behaves at school. Being in communication with parents and proactively

seeking parent endorsement and reinforcement of classroom values and goals is one way to

effectively communicate as a teacher. Bergin and Bergin report that when parents are actively
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involved at school, students tend to be more social, well behaved, and accomplished, and that

positive parent involvement at home improves student skills and motivation (2012). They note

that it is important to establish a regular forum for communication and when involving

parents, help them remain positive (2008, p. 557). The time taken to establish positive parent-

teacher relationships is worth the return.

A teacher has many different jobs to do for her classroom. I cannot imagine someone

doing it all on their own. The relationships within the building and with other teachers within the

wider community are imperative for learning, growing, and seeing outside of your own ideas.

Radford encourages student teachers to build trusting relationships with colleagues and to

connect with the wide education community (2013, p. 6). Taking advantage of the educators in

your building and in your life enables you to be exposed to new teaching strategies, content,

resources, and materials that you might not always have time to find on your own. Collaboration

with other teachers is an enormous time saver and thus makes for more effective teaching since

you will have more time to prepare and tailor ideas to your class.
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Resources

Bergin, C. C., & Bergin, D. A. (2008). Child and adolescent development in your classroom.

Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Lickona, T. (1992). Educating for character: How our schools can teach respect and

responsibility. New York City, NY: Bantam Books.

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

job search, and your first classroom. New York City, NY: Pearson.