Running Head: Effective Communication and Collaboration 1

Effective Communication and Collaboration

Moriah Telfer

Regent University
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Introduction

As a former student and current student teacher, I felt it was important to start off my

experience strong with communication. As a parent, I would like to know when changes or

something is happens within my child’s classroom. Communication and collaboration can take

form in many different ways but the most effective form is reaching out to the parents and

administration of the school and simply introducing yourself and letting them know, out of

courtesy, why you are there. This competency includes providing evidence of communication

and collaboration with the students and families. With my artifacts, I will be showcasing my

choice and way of communicating with the parents and how I have collaborated with the

administration.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

Below, you will find my two selections of artifacts that I feel best showcase my

communication and collaboration with the students, parents, and administration.

Email from January 24th, 2021

“Dear Parents and Students,

My name is Moriah Telfer.  I am a student at Regent University and I will be in your child’s
classroom as a student-teacher this semester at Great Bridge Primary until April 24 th.  My plan is
to become a teacher as soon as I graduate in May!
I feel very fortunate to be able to practice my student-teaching during this pandemic
and teach/work alongside Ms. Dean.  I will use every opportunity I have to learn as much as
possible, and become the best teacher that I can be.
I started in Ms. Dean's classroom on January 21st and am finalizing my degree in
Elementary Education. I am 24 years old and l was born and raised in Chesapeake, VA. My
favorite things to do are spend time with my family and fiancé as well as being outside!
I look forward to meeting and speaking to you all soon. I am excited that I can spend the
next few months getting to know and teach your students in Ms. Deans class. If you need
anything, please do not hesitate to reach out. Thank you so much!”
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Moriah Telfer
Student Teacher
Regent University

At Regent, I was taught that communication and proper citation of what you are doing in

the classroom is very important. As someone new coming into someone else’s classroom, the

right thing to do is adhere to their rules and regulations, and offer a spin and offer ideas to help

make the space even better. My cooperating teacher and I were able to collaborate for both of

these letters, as well as get the Principle involved to help us create the best possible message to

send these parents.

The reason I chose these two artifacts is because they show my willingness and team

effort to do what is right in the classroom. In the first letter, I start out by introducing myself and

giving a full background of where I came from and what my purpose is in being in this

classroom. I also wanted them to know they could contact me any time of the day with any

questions or concerns or to ask me more in detail why I am doing what I am doing. To me, this

letter was written to put everyone’s mind at ease and to address why I am in the classroom and

let him or her know how excited I am.

The next letter I chose was the first weekly newsletter I sent out. I came up with this idea

on my own because I felt there needed to be more excitement and interaction between teacher

and parents. The second grade unit sends out a newsletter but this newsletter detailed what

specifically we are doing in our classroom rather than just a general overview of the whole

second grade. In this newsletter, I again re-introduce myself and thank them and their child for

being so welcoming and praising the students for how kind they have been. Then following, I go
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right into the exciting topic of what we are learning in social studies right now which is

economics. In my letter, I detail the process of how we are going to conduct a game to help their

children understand the process of buying, selling, producing, trading, etc. To me, this is a

effective form of communication because there was no detail spared. The parents are in the know

and should feel like they are apart of the class even though they are not there.

My cooperating teacher collaborated with me on this letter as she felt she wanted to add

and take away some things. From there, we had another second grade teacher review and make

any changes she felt important, and from there we did a final review and sent it home with the

students.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

In my classes at Regent, one thing I feel my student teacher teacher prides herself on is good

communication. Throughout this whole process, weekly updates are sent to us and when I get

those updates in my email, there is a sense of peace knowing she is rooting for us, she cares

enough to check in, we are on her mind for her to send updates, and that she believes in us and

does not mind if we contact her. While writing this newsletter and welcome letter, I wanted the

parents to feel the same way. Put their minds at ease that their children are in good hands,

especially with someone new.

When my teacher sends out these email updates, I am able to generate my thoughts and

write down what is most important on my list, and what I need to be looking forward to. It is a

reminder of what has happened and what is to come. I implemented that in both my letters in the

way that in the first welcome letter, I explained why I am here and ultimately what is the goal. I

let them know I had been in the class for a week and when my end date is. In my newsletter, no
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detail was spared in sharing what we as a class get to look forward to in the next couple weeks. I

also reassured them that I would be doing this weekly, which demonstrates good communication,

as I want them to stay in the know and allow them to feel connected.

There is also always room for improvement, which I strive for on a daily basis being in

this classroom. I crave my teacher’s feedback and criticism. That being said, two other teachers

helped collaborate on this letter so I was able to learn where my weakness in letter writing was,

and be taught what to say in these types of communication with parents. Going forward, I hope

to improve every week on my newsletters and want to reiterate that if the parents, students or

administration have any questions or concerns to not hesitate to contact me. Overall, I feel that

communication is important and finding the right words to say is key.

Below is my second weekly newsletter to the parents of my class. My second artifact is a weekly

newsletter that I began sending out to the parents weekly.

Newsletter from February 18th, 2021.

Ms. Telfer and Ms. Dean Newsletter!

Hello all!
First, I wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying being your
children’s classroom. They have welcomed me with open arms and I can’t believe
we are already getting ready to go into week 6! Going forward, I will be sending
out a weekly newsletter highlighting what’s going on as well as important and fun
things that are happening inside our classroom.
Let’s get started!
In social studies, we are working on economics. Your child will be learning
all about scarcity, bartering, selling, buying, producing, consuming, goods,
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services, capital, and human resources in this unit. Ms. Dean and I have some fun
things planned for this. Your child will be given a bag of play money. Then your
child will have the opportunity to purchase resources from the “class store” and
produce goods or services for their peers to purchase and barter. They will have to
use their money and create a budget and set prices based on their service or
produced goods. So be on the lookout for what your child decides to produce at
home and we cannot wait for you to hear all the fun stories that we have and will
experience in this unit.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to
Ms. Dean, or myself. My email is Moriah.telfer@cpschools.com. Have a great rest
of your week and a great weekend and I will send out another letter next week!
Best,
Ms. Telfer and Ms. Dean