Professionalism, Leadership, and Advocacy

Artifact Description: I got the opportunity to student teach at the school in which not only my colleagues saw me grow, but also students and their families. I created this letter and sent it home with students. Although a majority of the current students in my placement I taught in Kindergarten as a classroom assistant, I created this letter to share with parents/guardians my contact, my favorites, and an update on my education background as I spent sixteen weeks with their child’s second grade classroom.

IPTS Connection: This letter connects with the ninth IPTS and performance indicator “communicates with families, responds to concerns, and contributes to enhanced family participation in student education" (9L). I created this letter with the intention of communicating with families and providing my email as a form of communication.

What I learned: Creating a relationship with parents/guardians since the beginning was strongly enforced and demonstrated throughout my education journey. This helps communicating with parents become more fluent and less complex. I’ve learned that by sharing your favorite things to students, such as your favorite sport, favorite food, or even your birthday, students build stronger connections with teachers and the learning environment becomes more effective. 

Artifact Description: My cooperating teacher and I had the privilege to meet with our student’s parents and professionally discuss their child’s areas of strength and areas of growth. Each student received their glow and grow sheet along with completed classwork/assessments and their report card for the 3rd Quarter of the 2022-2023 SY.

IPTS Connection: This conference sheet connects with the ninth IPTS and performance indicator “collaborates with other teachers, students, parents or guardians, specialists, administrators, and community partners to enhance students’ learning and school improvement” (9N). Prior to the conferences, I discussed the strengths and areas of growth of each student with my cooperating teacher. If the student accompanied their parent(s) to the conference, the student also imputed their strength and goals for the next quarter. If a student was not present during the conference, the student completed this portion upon their return to school.

What I learned: Throughout these 15 minute meetings, I’ve learned that it’s important to have a set structure and organization when leading conferences. By using this artifact, I was able to practice leadership and professionalism when leading parent teacher conferences.