8. Collaborative Relationships

This is a email I sent to a parent in regards to their student.  This child had been turning in assignments blank.  It looks like the homework is done, but when you click on the assessment, it is empty.  To mom, it looks like the student is doing all of their homework.  I wanted to make mom aware of the situation. 

A teacher should "Develop professional relationships with parents and guardians that result in fair and equitable treatment of each student to support growth and learning" (Performance Indicators 8P).  An important part of being on a team making sure communication exists to keep all the members in the loop.  Mom was not aware of what was going on in this situation, so I had an obligation to communicate with her.  

This email helped me learn how to kindly reach out to a parent who has a struggling student. I made sure to implement the sandwich method (positive, negative, positive).  Mom was very responsive to this letter, and we now have an action plan going forward.  By working as a team, we will be able to ensure this student receives all the support he needs. 

This is a lesson plan I wrote when I was working in a classroom with 1 other teacher and 2 para-professionals.  We worked as a co-teaching team so that we could offer students the most differentiated experience possible.  

A teacher "participates in collaborative decision-making and problem-solving with colleagues and other professionals to achieve success for all students" (Performance Indicators 8K).  The students in this particular classroom had very diverse needs.  We had gifted students that needed challenges.  We had students with 504s and IEPs who struggled to get through the reading.  By working as a team, we were able to meet the individual needs of each of these students. 

This experience taught me to work in a co-teaching environment.  I learned how to delegate parts of a lesson, and also step up when another teacher needed assistance.  The students were able to receive instruction geared specifically for their needs. Overall, I learned that teaching is a team event where the goal is the success of the students.