Artifacts
This artifact was created during my student teaching experience in a primary special education resource classroom. I wanted to inform parents about who their children would be interacting with and educating them for eight weeks. I wanted to begin by establishing collaborative relationships and getting parents to tell who was in their child's classroom. The letter consists of presenting myself, telling them a little personal stuff about me and what to expect from me.
Connection to the IPTS standard
This artifact is significant because it fosters a professional relationship between the teacher and the parents in the classroom. "The competent teacher develops professional relationships with parents and guardians that result in fair and equitable treatment of each student to support growth and learning," states Illinois Professional Teaching Standard 8 Performance Indicator 8P. By introducing myself to the parents, I demonstrated my willingness to collaborate with them to support their child's academic success and learning process.
Description of what was learned
This artifact taught me the importance of informing parents about events in the classroom. I also discovered that introducing myself created a bond between myself and my parents. Parents recognized me and trusted my teaching. They allow me to attend their child's IEP meetings and parent conferences. They made me feel very welcome. As a teacher, I believe that communication with parents is critical. I plan to use various communication systems in my future classroom to allow parents to stay informed and contact me quickly.
Artifacts
During my student teaching, I collaborated with my cooperating teacher to develop a math lesson aligned with the school's curriculum. She explained how we need to look at the curriculum, follow what the students are working on in the classrooms, and plan from there. She was an advocate for the math problems I was going to provide for the students. She reminded me to modify some of the numbers and wording in the word problems too. My artifacts demonstrated collaboration as well as excellent examples of teamwork.
Connection to the IPTS standard
8B) understands the collaborative process and the skills necessary to initiate and carry out that process;
During both lessons, I collaborated with others to create an effective lesson for the students.
8G) understands the various models of co-teaching and the procedures for implementing them across the curriculum;
During student teaching, I worked with my cooperating teacher to create an effective lesson for the students.
Performance Indicators – The competent teacher:
8J) works with all school personnel (e.g., support staff, teachers, paraprofessionals) to develop learning climates for the school that encourage unity, support a sense of shared purpose, show trust in one another, and value individuals;
During both lessons, we worked as a team to make sure that we could deliver effective/engaging lessons while valuing all of our students.
Description of what was learned
It was fascinating looking at the curriculum and enforcing the math lesson. I learned that working as a team with the student's needs and accommodations required for many lessons is preferable. We discussed how we could make the lessons more engaging for the students.