Portfolio Assignment B

Planning for Home-School Communication (25 Points)

Parent Letter and Communication Plan

1. Write a parent letter that will be given the first week of school. Provide
information about yourself and give a summary of your
plans/goals/expectations for the year. (Attached at bottom)

My plans and goals for the year is to make every student feel successful as well as
heard. I also want to create amazing relationships with each student. I will always
have an open line of communication as well as a welcoming environment. It’s my
goal to create a community in my classroom because I want a working team of
students. It is also my goal to make sure students know I am always here for them
anytime or anything. I also want to create a nurturing environment for students
to be successful as learners as well as take action in their own learning as well. My
goal is to have open discussions as well as hand’s on activities in order to engage
students further. As your teacher, it is my goal to understand students as well as
give everyday my all. My expectations for your students are to give it their best
everyday, and know that I’m so excited to have them in my classroom!

2. Describe the parent-teacher communications procedures you plan to

establish in your classroom. Include a sample (daily/weekly notes home,
monthly newsletter, parent signature on daily assignment log, website).
Also explain how your communication plan will strengthen your
relationship with students. How will you communicate and manage
instructional expectations? (Examples attached at bottom)

As I’ve been in various classrooms, I’ve noticed that each teacher takes a different
approach on how they communicate with their parents. To me, it is important to
have open communication always. This ensures that as a teacher I can understand
and learn about various goals and concerns from parents about their students
learning experience. (Pg. 215) This means I need to give opportunities to allow
parents to be involved in their student’s school life. As a teacher it is important to
learn parent’s culture, values, and ideas in order to create and strengthen the
relationship with the student as well. One way to accomplish this is positive two-
way communication. This allows for teachers to communicate information as well
as support of student learning. (Pg. 215) by having positive two-way
communication, parents can learn about what is going on in the classroom and I
can learn about a student and parents home life as well as community. The
procedure I plan to use for communication is Class Dojo. This is an amazing app
that allows you to communicate with parents as well as use in class as well. It
gives parents as well as me the accessibility to communicate instantly. Although
I’m still a student, I don’t have complete access to classroom Dojo but the sample
I attached down below is communication between a teacher and a parent. I will
also use classroom dojo to communicate instructional expectations by posting on
the online classroom. I will also use the dojo monster icons they provide for each
student. This allows students to see where they are each week with behavior as
well as classroom expectations. If students are having a hard time with
instructional expectations then I will communicate directly in order to inform
parents on what’s going on in the classroom. I’ve also thought about “what if the
student doesn’t have access to internet at home?” it’s not fair to expect every
single student to have it. That is why I will send home weekly notes home to every
student. The reason I want to do both is because I want parent’s to know how
important their student’s learning is to me as well as I care about them as a
human being. As a future teacher it is crucial to have two-way communication in
order to have the best possible relationship with students and parents.

3. Finally, our text identified three communication skills for addressing

student conflict directly (Chapter 10- Communication Skills for Teaching in
Evertson & Emmer). Please identify and discuss the skill you are most
comfortable utilizing and the skill you feel you need to develop most.

The skill that I’m most comfortable utilizing is Constructive Assertiveness. This
means “describing your concerns clearly, insisting that misbehavior be corrected,
and resisting being coerced or manipulated” (pg. 204) the reason I am confortable
with this skill is because I am a very confrontational person and like to solve
problems when they happen. When I’m trying to solve a problem, I want the
person I’m speaking to know the problem and why I’m bringing it up as well as
how I want to resolve it. When talking to a student, it is important to point out
what is good behavior and what they know is the appropriate behavior and how
to solve it. It’s important that it is constructive and not deconstructive. This
means being supportive and helpful rather than being hostile and creating an
argument. It is important to create assertiveness so students know that you are
serious, but still respecting the student and everyone involved. (pg. 205) The skill
that I need to develop most as a teacher is listening and empathetic responding.
This means being able to be empathetic while listening to students. This can also
help with problem solving and dealing with students that need behavior change.
My biggest challenge is not showing my emotions and responds with positive
solutions rather then makes the situation worse. However, empathetic
responding compliments constructive assertiveness. (pg.207) This is because
constructive assertiveness is the teacher’s viewpoint, whereas empathetic
listening is the student’s point of view. I can be stubborn or hard headed but it is
important to work on this skill in order for students to feel they can communicate
with me rather than be scared. Empathetic responding allows students the
opportunity to change as well as allow students to express themselves.
Rubric:
Criteria Criteria Not Meets Criteria Exceeds
Met Criteria

1-Letter is well written with no spelling or 0-3 Points 4-5 Points 6 Points
grammar errors. Information about teacher goals
included and reflects thought.
2 –Complete communication plan with details for 0-5 Points 6-7 Points 8 Points
providing consistent, two-way communication.
Sample is included and reflects professionalism
3—Reflection on skills is thoughtful and complete. 0-3 Points 4-5 Points 6 Points
Response demonstrates knowledge of reading
from text.
4—Writing Clarity and Form 0-2 Points 3-4 Points 5 Points
Note home Example: (I would probably handwrite)

Hey! I just wanted to let you know how Billy did this week. As we worked are way
through shapes and geometry, he did an excellent job on cooperating and asking
questions when needed. I also noticed that Billy is having a hard time wanting to
read, is there anything I can do to support at home? Are there a specific type of
genre Billy likes I can get? Overall, we had a successful week and cant wait for
your suggestions!

Thank you,

Miss. Alcorn