Communication and Collaboration As a future teacher, I realize it is going to be of the upmost importance to communicate with parents and colleagues

about students, school work, and what will be occurring in the classroom throughout the year. There are many ways to incorporate communication in order to have parents playing an active role in their childs lives and for other teachers to be able to collaborate well with my classroom. A. Family Communication a. To keep communications with the students parents continuous, I will begin by welcoming them to a parent meeting at the beginning of the year. Beforehand, I will send a letter home to invite parents and guardians to the parent meeting and to introduce myself. The letter will include a Clue Me In form for the parents to fill out about their child, a supply list, and a wish list for the classroom. I will emphasize to the parents that the items on the wish list are not in any way mandatory and that they do not have to be involved if they do not wish to be. I want to make sure parents are aware that help is always welcome and if they are unable to help, they do not need to feel obligated. If parents are able to help, I will make sure to send a thank you note to ensure that the help is greatly appreciated. When parents do come to the classroom, the environment will be comfortable and inviting in order to establish the beginnings of a good relationship with each parent that will last the entire year. (See attachment 1)

Dear Parents and Guardians, My name is Acacia Garcia and I am extremely excited to be your childs kindergarten teacher this year. I would love to tell you a little about myself. I graduated from Lander University with a B.S. degree in Early Childhood Education in April 2014. I love spending time with my family and my boyfriend of five years. They have always been a great support group and they are always willing to help if I need them. On August 21, 2014 there will be a back to school night function for all parents and guardians to attend. I would love to see you there in order to meet you and for you to see your childs classroom. As this school year begins, I would like to get to know more about your child. There is an attached Clue Me In form that I would love for you to fill out and r eturn on back to school night. I have also attached a school supply list and a wish list for the classroom. Any and all donations will be accepted. Please do not feel obligated to donate if you do not want to participate. I would also like to let you know that help in the classroom is always welcome. If you want to volunteer or talk to the class, please let me know by sending a note, emailing me, or calling the school and leaving a message. Once again, I am excited to be teaching your child this year and I look forward to meeting you and getting to know your child in the year to come.

Thank you, Acacia Garcia acacia.garcia@lander.edu

(864) 941-5680

Childs Name: ___________________________ Nickname:

____________________________

Please Help Me Get to Know Your Child

As your childs teacher, I would love to learn about your child in order to make this school one to remember. The more I know about your child, the easier it is for me to meet their personal needs. I would appreciate it if you could take time to answer the questions below. If you do not feel comfortable answering a question, please feel free to skip it. Please return this form to me when you are finished filling it out. 1. List all of the children in the family, along with their names and gender.

2. What are your childs strengths?

3. What are your childs weaknesses?

4. Tell me about your childs interests and after-school activities.

5. How does your child get along with other children?

6. At certain times of the year, our class may discuss various holidays celebrated in the United States. Do you have any objections to your childs participation?

7. List any special health needs or food allergies your child has.

8. Is there anything else that I should know about your child in order to provide an appropriate learning environment?

These questions were answered by: _______________________________________________

Supply List 2 boxes of Crayola crayons (24 count) 2 pkg. of #2 pencils (No mechanical pencils) 2 bottles of glue 8 glue sticks 1 box of washable Crayola Markers (8 count) 1 pair of scissors (rounded point) 1 clipboard 1 plastic two-pocket folders without prongs 2 jumbo erasers 3 marble composition notebooks 1 one inch hard cover 3-ring binder Wish List Tissue Hand Sanitizer Black Sharpies Scotch Tape Glue Sticks #2 Pencils

b. As the year progresses, at the beginning of a unit I will send home a parent newsletter explaining our new unit and what accomplishments I am hoping for with the unit. In addition to keeping the parents up to date, the newsletter will also give parents a chance to help in the classroom. If the parent has anything to share or add to our unit, they will be given a time and day that they can come in to share with the classroom, being flexible and working around parents schedules. At the end of each unit, student work will be sent home with an evaluation on the student for the parents to review, make comments if needed, and return back within a week. If parents have not returned the evaluation within a week, I will email or call the parent to make sure they have received their childs work and request that the evaluation is returned as soon as possible. By involving the parents in each unit that their child works on, they are able to see the whole picture of what our class undertakes throughout the year. (See attachment 2)

Ms. Garcias Classroom Newsletter

October 2013
Upcoming Events
October 3 & 4 - School Pictures
October 4 - Oct. Birthday Lunches October 18 - Spirit Day & Carnival October 18 - Pepsi Fundraiser Kickoff October 21 - 24 Red Ribbon Week October 23 - 24 ITBS Testing October 22 & 24 - Parent Conferences October 24 - Fall Parties

What We Are Learning

Mathshapes, their sides, and their angles ELAcreate their own books and continue learning the letters in the alphabet Sciencelearn about the life cycle of an apple tree and the characteristics of a pumpkin Social Studieshow to share in the classroom and outside of school

Help Wanted
If there are any parents available to help in the classroom or come in to speak about our unit, please let me know. Our class would love to have you join in on our learning experiences.

Red Ribbon Week

October 21-24 Monday: My Future is Too Bright for Drugs Wear bright, neon colors and sunglasses Tuesday: I Am Dressed for Success, I Dont Have Time for Drugs Dress to impress! Put on your best outfit. Please make sure clothing is within the guidelines of the school dress code Wednesday: Stomp out Drugs Wear mismatched shoes and socks Thursday: Wear Red Day Wear RED from head to toe

Contact Information
Feel free to contact me by: sending a note to school, emailing me at acacia.garcia@lander.edu, or calling and leaving a message at school (864) 941-5680

c. As well as a parent newsletter, I will send home progress reports on each student. The progress reports will be sent out at the end of each semester and will give parents a summary of how their child is doing in the classroom. If a student is not performing well, a conference will be requested with the parent to talk about the students behavior and/or performance in the classroom. Conferences will be held with parents at least twice a year to ensure that the parents know how their child is doing in the class. B. Communication/Collaboration with Colleagues a. In order to effectively communicate with colleagues throughout the year, a healthy relationship should be formed. When a healthy relationship is formed, being able to have a conversation in person or through email is less likely to feel awkward and more likely to be informative. By creating a strong relationship with colleagues, communicating with them will occur more often and there will be a respect towards one another. b. Communicating with colleagues can occur in different ways. Having meetings with colleagues about lesson plans, managing the classroom, ideas about field trips, and upcoming events at school will ensure that everyone is on the same page when working with their students. During teacher meetings, lesson plans can be exchanged, explained, and altered in order to accommodate different classes. Working together, more ideas will circulate which in turn will generate a better lesson. Meeting with other teachers can also be helpful when trying to find the best way to manage situations in the classroom and what field trips will be educational and fun for the students. c. When planning for a field trip for multiple classes at a time, the best place to start is to talk with colleagues about what best suits the unit that will be taught in the lesson. A field trip should be fun but it also needs to be informative for the students. When a location is agreed upon, a planning package must be filled out and cleared by the superintendent. If the plan is cleared, the next step is to communicate with the principal about the field trip and receive permission to go. When talking to the principal, explain what will occur during the trip, where the field trip will be and what classes will be involved. Make certain to follow any criteria given by the principal. When permission is given, communication with the trip site can occur and the field trip can then be integrated into the classroom program. (See attachment 3)

Email to the Principal Mr./Mrs./Ms. _____________, As the school year begins, I would like to discuss the possibility of planning a field trip with the other kindergarten classes. The field trip would take place at the Greenville Zoo in March 2014. I have a plan set up with key details about the field trip and hope to plan a meeting with you and the other kindergarten teachers to go into more depth about this trip. Please let me know a day and time that you are able to discuss this trip. Thank you for your time, Acacia Garcia acacia.garcia@lander.edu

This is a plan explaining what the field trip will entail. In the meeting with the principal and other kindergarten teachers, the topics will be talked about more in depth and if there are any questions or concerns, they will be answered or found within the meeting time. Greenville Zoo Field Trip Education about animals and wildlife New experience for some students Exercisewalking around the zoo and P.E. programs during the day Cost will be $5.00 per studentincludes the zoo admission and an education program Sack lunches will be needed along with water for students Chaperoneswe will need 4 extra adults, $5.00 per adult Transportationbus, arrive at school at regular time, leave by 9:00 am, arrive back at the school at 2:30 If a student does not have the money for the trip, depending on how many, I will pay for them in order for them to be able to participate If a student is unable to participate, they will be scheduled to go to a different classroom with work to do

d. At the beginning of the year, there will be students that have different IEPs. When finding out about the IEPs, the first thing to do is to talk to the educator that will be over these students and talk to them about what will occur throughout the year with this student. This will be a good time to ask if they will be pulled out of class, if they need any extra accommodations, or if there are any concerns with the student. This will give insight about what to expect as the year progresses and how to handle the IEPs. C. Communication in ECED 429 Clinical a. At the beginning of the 429 clinical, I sent out permission forms to every parent to ensure that taking pictures of the students would be okay to use in my teacher work sample. Every parent responded by writing their childs name and including their signature to let me know that they knew the pictures would only be used for Lander University purposes and that they were okay with their child being photographed or videotaped. b. While in the 429 clinical, I was able to participate in a field trip with the class to a pumpkin patch. I was able to meet one students mother and many other teachers throughout the school. During the field trip, communication with each class had to be on key to guarantee that no student would be hurt, left behind, or lost during the trip.