Running head: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION 1

Effective Communication and Collaboration Artifact Rationale and Reflection

Bailey Yates

Regent University
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Introduction

Communication and collaboration is an essential element to have in every part of

education. Not only with the other teachers, but also with the students’ parents and in PLCs. In

modern education no classroom is an island, every student is going to have mulch major

influences in their education from a number of teachers just within a day. As the general

education needs to be able to communicate and collaborate effectively with everyone involved.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

My two artifacts that display my communication and collaboration this week are first,

notes from my PLC. My kindergarten PLC meets every Wednesday after school for an hour or

two to go over, in-depth, everything about where their class and their classroom is at. This

involves not just lesson plans, but also Benchmark testing literacy rates, what the class is

planning to do for the spring concert, the next field trip, coordinating recess times, and more.

Anything and everything is discussed and shared. I found this PLC to be incredibly helpful, there

was no lack of communication at all. Every teacher and member of the PLC was incredibly blunt

and open with their feelings and progress while still being kind and respectful to everyone

involved. I can tell that this team of teachers has worked together for a good amount of time

based on their comfortability and honesty with each other.

The second artifact I chose for this competency is a behavior management chart. As this

is a kindergarten classroom, grades and parent communication look a little different than it often

would in other classrooms. For one thing, parent communication is happening a lot more often

than I have seen in other classrooms. Parents are very concerned about their child's first year in

school and want to know everything. The first step is making sure parents know that you want

the best for their child. “The basis of effective communication with parents also starts with trust.
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It’s essential for parents to trust their child’s teacher. When speaking to parents, assure them that

everything you discuss is confidential and that as an elementary school teacher, you always have

your students’ best interests at heart.” (Walden University, 2019.)

Reflection on Theory and Practice

This behavior management chart is a way of communicating with parents with effective

specifics. Instead of messaging or emailing a parent with some generalizations about their child

and any academic success or shortcomings, and behavioral issues, they get a chart that details

what exactly their child’s behavior was, when it took place, and how often. This is also helpful

because being positive behavior can't go on this chart as well. I believe this takes a meaningful

step towards earning the parents trust. “We must form relationships with parents and support

them not only academically, but with other services, too. This is becoming more controversial as

schools are transforming from primarily an academic setting for a child, to an education and

health center for a family and the larger community.” (Konen, 2018, pg. 1) When

communicating with parents you don't want to only ever be presenting that child's issues or areas

needed for growth, you also want to be able to show that you are proud of that student and where

their strong points are and when they have good days this behavior chart goes home with

students everyday, and comes back in the morning for us teachers to continue to work on. So,

parents can see this as a kind of living and growing document. As this is a Title I school, a lot of

the family dynamics are very different, and most of my students have very unstructured home

lives. As Van Nieuwerburgh noted, “Each change affects family relationships and, ultimately,

children’s development. While family transitions have always existed, they appear more

numerous and visible today than in the past. Rapid social change has intensified pressure on the

family.” (2018, pg. 134) Another reason I liked this chart so much was because all though it may
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seem old fashioned, it is effective. Many of the parents of our students have unreliable methods

of communication with the school, or they fluctuate often. With this they can see what happens

on Monday and Tuesday and the progression of behavior all the way through Friday. I think that

this is a wonderful implementation of constant parent communication and feedback as it can

incorporate positives and negatives and is daily. It can really display the either growth or need

for growth of a student behaviorally and socially.

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References

Nieuwerburgh, V., & Christian. (2018;2012;). Coaching in education: Getting better results for

students, educators, and parents (1st ed.). London: Routledge Ltd.

doi:10.4324/9780429473036

Communicating with Families. (2018, February 19). Retrieved March 28, 2019, from

https://www.teacher.org/daily/communicating-with-families/

Walden University. (2019, February 14). 9 Ways to Improve Parent-Teacher Communication.

Retrieved from https://www.waldenu.edu/online-bachelors-programs/bs-in-elementary-

education/resource/nine-ways-to-improve-parent-teacher-communication