Dylan Brooks-EDUC 429-Fall 2013- Dr.

Gardner

TWS 10: Communication and Collaboration A. Family Communication Beginning of School Year: During a semester the parents should remain up to date with their students academic and behavioral progress. An introductory letter will be sent home for the parents at the beginning of school. An e-mail or mailing list will be obtained from the office. This letter will introduce the teacher with contact information and give a brief, positive message about the years goals (See Attachment 1). Attached will be the classroom rules, procedures and other information that the student and parent need to know before coming to school. During School Year: A bi-weekly newsletter will be sent home to parents. This newsletter will contain the upcoming weeks curriculum and what the students will be learning in each subject area. Test dates will be included for parents so that the student will know when and what to study. Other information can include general classroom announcements; i.e. reminders for behavior or other procedures at school, field trips, and projects. Each day the students will be required to write their homework assignments in their agenda and parents should initial their agenda to acknowledge what the student is responsible for that evening. For immediate behavioral problems and/or issues with a specific student a note will be written in their agenda (See Attachment 2). Parents will always be encouraged to contact me and if necessary set up a parent-teacher conference. End of Each Semester: Each parent will set up a private conference with the teacher in regards to their students progress. At this meeting, the teacher will have prepared the necessary materials to fully discuss their childs progress in each subject area. This could include MAP scores, test scores, teacher observations and student work samples. The parent and teacher should come up with a plan to help improve the child and make suggestions as to how each party can help support that students needs. B. Communication/Collaboration with Colleagues Professional Learning Community Meetings: Grade-level teachers should meet bi-weekly with the schools principal to discuss students progress and specifically students that are in RTI. The topics that need to be elaborated on is each students progress and if that student needs intervention, evaluation for special needs, or needs to be taken out of intervention and moved back into the general education classroom. I believe these meetings would improve monitoring students progress and give a support group for teachers with students in RTI. Other school staff that could be involved in these meetings would be the guidance counselor, resource teachers and interventionist teachers. Grade-Level Meetings: Grade-level teachers will meet weekly to discuss the curriculum and share resources. Another benefit to these meetings is that they will be able to remain on the same pace in the curriculum. For instance, in mathematics each teacher will be teaching how to round numbers at the same time. This is beneficial because teachers can collaboratively make data-driven decisions that ensure student achievement. Teachers can work together when planning goals for that year. These goals can help determine how and when to teach content. When teachers share resources for teaching the content, then it is more likely that teachers will be able to use research-based methods of instruction. Monthly Meeting with Resource/Interventionist: These meetings are solely for the classroom teacher and the resource/interventionist teachers who pull students from the class. These meetings are for the teachers to collaborate and discuss a particular students progress. Each personnel will describe what he/she is doing in the classroom to help the student improve. There needs to be close communication so that the strategies taught in each classroom in either math or reading directly supports each other. This

Dylan Brooks-EDUC 429-Fall 2013- Dr. Gardner

also gives the teachers time to collaborate about different ways that they could better help the student and a possibility of increasing their time in the resource or interventionists class. These meetings will be personally set up by the classroom teacher through email (See Attachment 3).The students parent could also be invited to attend these meetings so that can be aware of how to better accommodate the student at home.

Dylan Brooks-EDUC 429-Fall 2013- Dr. Gardner

Attachment 1
September 2013 Dear Parents/Guardians, As the new school year gets underway, I would like to start off by introducing myself. My name is Mr. Brooks and I am a senior at Lander University. This opportunity is the last requirement before I start student teaching in the spring of 2014. I am very excited to be here at Springfield Elementary school and to be working alongside Mrs. Lewis. I am looking forward to getting to know you and your child in the upcoming weeks. We will have many wonderful experiences and opportunities to learn and grow in the days ahead. Please feel free to contact me at anytime with any questions or concerns. You can contact me by phone at 864-419-4585, or by email at dylan.brooks@lander.edu Sincerely, Mr. Brooks

Dylan Brooks-EDUC 429-Fall 2013- Dr. Gardner

Attachment 2 Example of agenda note to students parent: Joseph had to walk at recess today because he has had difficulty following directions. He is a great student and I know that he can do better! -Mr. Brooks This message is brief and explains why the student was forced to walk at recess. The note is also ended with a positive note and compliment so that the parent is not only hearing negative feedback from the teacher.

Dylan Brooks-EDUC 429-Fall 2013- Dr. Gardner

Attachment 3 October 16, 2013 To (appropriate personnel), Joseph Pendergrass is a low performing student in reading in my class and meets with you three times a week for reading intervention. In order to better meet his needs, I believe we need to meet regularly to discuss strategies that can improve his reading ability. These meetings can allow us to discuss and support the strategies we are teaching. Please let me know when you are available to meet with me. Thank you, Dylan Brooks 3rd Grade dylan.brooks@lander.edu