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EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION

Anna Whalen

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2021

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Introduction

In any organization, regardless of what field, some degree of communication and

collaboration is crucial to the success of the entire group. In teaching, it is absolutely critical.

From my very first days in this experience, communication and collaboration have appeared

daily, whether it’s weekly planning sessions amongst the grade level, IEP meetings, weekly and

monthly newsletters, email updates to parents, or even the occasional phone call home about a

student. In a classroom with a teacher, special education teacher, and two teacher’s assistants,

collaboration has to happen almost constantly in order for the classroom to function properly and

smoothly. The artifacts I chose for this competency display communication to the parents and

collaboration between myself and the teachers within my placement classroom. The artifact I

chose to primarily display communication was a letter we sent home to the parents before a set

of asynchronous learning days, outlining and explaining all of the activities we had assigned to

their students. The artifact I chose to show collaboration is a seating chart that I created

alongside the other teachers within the classroom to best meet the needs of our students while

also following the school’s COVID guidelines. Each of these artifacts, although seemingly

simple at first glance, both show my ability to communicate and collaborate with others as a

professional in the classroom.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

The first artifact I chose was the second letter I sent home to the parents. Throughout the

month of February, we had several asynchronous support days scheduled to support staff

vaccination appointments in mass numbers. To prepare for these days, we planned a combination

of virtual and offline assignments for the students. As a person that was not as familiar with the

work some of the students would be doing, I looked over the plans and associated worksheets
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and asked myself, “What would I need explained if these worksheets were dropped in front of

me?” With that idea in mind, I wrote our plans for the students in a letter.

I began with greeting the parents, letting them know that I was enjoying my time with

their children. I then laid out expectations for the students; what time they should be logging on,

how long our meetings were planned to last, and how soon they should finish assignments. For

the other virtual days, these were all issues in some fashion, so I decided to go ahead and address

it so everyone was aware of the expectations. I then included a checklist for the parents. The idea

for the checklist was to clearly lay out the list of assignments in one place and explain a few

things in further detail. With assignments on paper, in Schoology, and in Seesaw, I knew items

were likely to be missed; the checklist put everything in one spot, along with links provided to

anything external. I chose to include additional information for several of the assignments

because some of the worksheets had minimal or no instructions. Many of our students are not at

a level that they can read, comprehend, and then act on instructions at the top of a page. Because

of this, instructions are often lacking or left off entirely. I knew this would be challenging and

frustrating for the parents, so I took the time to explain everything in plain language. This helps

the parents understand what their child is supposed to be doing, as well as how they are supposed

to be doing it. Practices today are not the same as they were 20-30 years ago, so it sets everyone

up for failure to just assume the parents would look at a summarizing sheet and know exactly

what to do when their child does not remember what their teacher told them.

My second artifact is a seating chart. This is not just a “Billy and Sally talk too much

when they’re next to each other,” seating chart. This seating chart achieves multiple goals: lunch

staggering, strategic placement for students in need of more support, reading group arrangement,

and special education supported grouping. At the beginning of the new semester, we lost three
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students to the new class they created. That same week, the school installed shields on each desk,

making the room feel even tighter with fewer students. My cooperating teacher and I decided to

create a new layout for the desks that followed all COVID precautions, but was also functional

for us.

We were told to group our students by reading level in the classroom so we could resume

small reading groups, so we began to do so. When moving the students around, we also had to

keep in mind our lunch arrangements; half of the students eat lunch in the classroom while the

other half goes to the cafeteria. The students that stay in the class for lunch cannot sit directly

next to one another.

We decided to remove the three desks we no longer needed, opting to have as much space

as possible. We left a gap in the front of the classroom, allowing for more instructing space, as

well as a small clearing in the back of the classroom between the students’ desks and the

teacher’s desk. This clearing became the perfect spot for our special education teachers to focus

in; it gave fairly direct access to the three surrounding desks, which was perfect for the three

students in greater need of support. The fourth student receiving services was only one desk over,

still easily accessible compared to other desks in the classroom. With the special education

teacher’s approval, we placed their students in those desks and moved forward from there.

Three other students that regularly required more attention- for academic or behavior

reasons- were placed in the desks closest to the teacher assistant’s desk. This was also a

classroom management tactic; I knew by placing these three students closer to the TA, I would

have a smaller likelihood of having to stop instruction to redirect those students if placed

elsewhere.
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From this point, I worked with the TA and my cooperating teacher to identify which

students regularly bought lunch; those students would take priority in eating lunch in the

cafeteria. Being still new to the class, I also needed their input as to who needs to be closer to the

front, who cannot sit next to each other, and who would do alright in the back of the room. After

coloring each student name box by reading group, starring the students that needed to eat in the

cafeteria, and fixing the seven students in certain areas, I began figuring out how to get this

Tetris board to work. After six or seven drafts, I arrived at the configuration that I thought best

supported all of the needs we had while also adhering to the guidelines the school had set forth.

This has been our seating chart for two months now, with a few minor adjustments as we have

moved forward. We plan on adjusting it again soon as we no longer have the need to group

reading groups together and those reading groups have since been updated anyways.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

As previously stated, effective communication and collaboration is necessary for a

classroom to be successful. In a classroom with multiple teachers, occasionally even extending

that to include parents as teachers for virtual school, it is critical that everyone is communicating

with one another and working towards the common goal; the students’ education.

Even though it can be challenging to facilitate effective, two-way communication with

parents, it is important that the teacher at least does their part to keep the lines of communication

open. Communication is so important because it “acts as a bridge to engagement and, ultimately,

strong parent partnerships,” (How Two-Way Communication Can Boost Parent Engagement,

2019). By communicating with parents, we show that we not only care about our students, but

our students’ parents as well. Furthermore, by communicating with parents, studies show

educators can improve the grades of their at-risk students, improve the performance of students
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overall, and improve the parents’ view of their child’s classroom (How Two-Way

Communication..., 2019). Not every parent is going to be involved in their child’s education; that

is an unfortunate reality of our society, sometimes by choice and sometimes by circumstance.

Just as we Christians are to continue spreading God's word in spite of the enemy turning God’s

children against us, we must maintain an open line of communication with each child’s parents

or guardians. We must also choose our words wisely when communicating with parents.

In my letter, I chose to begin on a positive note and then simply state what was expected

for the asynchronous days, instead of complaining about issues or problems we had had in the

past. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but

only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who

hear.” I wanted to make sure that the letter I wrote was going to be constructive in nature, not

corruptive. My guidance also took the same tone; I chose to encourage the parents to push their

children to complete work independently instead of criticizing the parents for helping their

children too much.

Just as important as communicating with the parents of one’s students, a teacher must be

able to collaborate with those around them. As a relatively inexperienced teacher coming into a

school midyear, it can be difficult to find a spot on the team; many have situated themselves in a

role and you have to find where you fit. I have been blessed to have been placed with a team that

has truly welcomed me with open arms. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us “Therefore encourage one

another and build one another up,” which is exactly what a good collaborative team should do.

When teachers use all of their knowledge and experience together, not only does it lighten one’s

individual load, but it enhances the students’ learning experiences. Author Lauren Davis writes,

“think of teacher collaboration as the journey. Collaboration is not a task to complete then move
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on, it’s an ever-changing, ongoing process,” (Davis, 2020). The seating arrangement I have

attached to this document was only the beginning; we have since moved students around as we

saw fit, and we will be adjusting the entire seating arrangement soon as our reading groups

situation has changed. Collaboration, especially in a classroom setting like ours, has to be a

continuous process in order to be effective. By working together throughout all aspects of the

classroom, we are able to, “tap into various perspectives and ideas,” as well as, “share

responsibility for our students’ learning,” (Davis, 2020). With more experience and perspective,

we can collectively give our students the best academic experience possible.

Communication and collaboration are critical facets in today’s classroom. Without

communication or collaboration between a teacher and parents and other staff members, that

teacher is doing a disservice to their students. I believe that the artifacts I have selected

demonstrate my ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with parents and staff

members alike.
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Artifact #1- Letter to Parents

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Artifact #2- Seating Chart

*Names have been blacked out to protect the identities of those within the classroom.*
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References

Davis, L. (2020, February 1). Teacher Collaboration: How to Approach it in 2020. Retrieved

March 29, 2021, from

https://www.schoology.com/blog/teacher-collaboration#:~:text=Teacher%20collaboration

%20occurs%20when%20members,teacher%20collaboration%20as%20the%20journey.

How Two-Way Communication Can Boost Parent Engagement. (2019, March 13). Retrieved

March 29, 2021, from

https://www.waterford.org/education/two-way-communication-parent-engagement/