10.+Community

< Back to table of contents //**10.**// **COMMUNITY PRINCIPLE** //**:**// //The teacher candidate fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents/ caregivers, and agencies in the larger community to support students' learning and well-being.// //In this section of the portfolio, you need to make the case, with supporting evidence, that you have achieved each of the following proficiencies:// //**10.1. Candidates value and seek out parental and community involvement.**// Having parents involved in their child’s education is one of the best ways to effectively benefit the student’s learning process. When the teacher establishes a good relationship with the parents and families, both parties are offered more support as they can work together to promote a healthy and beneficial environment for the student in and out of school. As Johnson, Pugach and Hawkins (2004) put it, “without an active partnership with families, schools always will be limited in what we are able to accomplish. Developing partnerships is one of the most important goals that our schools can undertake” (Johnson, Pugach & Hawkins, 2004, p. 11). I learned to understand how valuable it is to have parents involved with their children. Beginning with camp, I knew it would mean so much to both the parents and the children if parents were able to attend the final camp presentations. In order for the parents to see what the students had been working so hard on all week, and to give their children to support they were seeking, I designed personalized invitations for all 25 students of the Get Real! Science camp to take home to their families (10.1.a). It was the students’ time to showcase all they had learned and I wanted to encourage parental involvement. During my student teaching placement at School Without Walls Foundation Academy, I was introduced to Expeditionary Learning and the extraordinary projects that the students were involved in where they solved issues in their community. As teachers, we had to get in touch with experts from Clark Paterson Lee construction company in Rochester to help us plan and implement this expedition. I came to learn how beneficial it was for learning to take place in the community and for the community to be involved in the child’s learning, making it more interesting for the students and giving them the feeling they were doing something worthwhile. During my time at SWW, while the students were working on their first expedition, we took them to LollyPop Farm to explore the site in order to learn about the concepts and area they would be working with (10.1.b). The expedition allowed students to go to a career fair and choose a career area of their choice, environmentalism, marketing, engineering, architecture, or interior design, as they worked together in interdisciplinary companies to design and advertise a new shelter for the animals at LollyPop Farm (10.1.c). The students’ feedback on this project made all of us teachers remember how active involvement in the community through which learning can take place, fosters more interest and dedication from the students who were able to work with real companies and experts, to feel as though it could benefit them for the future and also feel as though they were doing something that had meaning to it. Once the expedition was completed, we looked to include the parents more in the celebration of the students’ work. We planned a night for parents to come see the students’ work and to hear a presentation from them about what they studied and developed (10.1.d). With the excitement that had surrounded these expeditions all semester long and the many notes that had gone home, many parents were in attendance after school one night to hear the accomplishments of their children. My interest in involving community in students’ education became a topic I wanted to further explore. As a teacher, I felt it was important to find ways to effectively involve the community, what it might look like, and the positive outcomes it could have. In the Fall I went with Dr. Hursh and some other students to Ithaca to visit The New Roots school, an expeditionary school that recently opened (10.1.e). I kept in touch with Dan Weiser, the science teacher there, who was able to provide me with some more detailed information (10.1.f) about the benefits of expeditionary learning, which helped me write my final paper for Dr. Hursh’s class ED 404, called, “The Impact of Connecting School and Community.” (10.1.g). My presentation included a powerpoint (10.1.h), key points and stories from my research paper, and I movie I created in iMovie (10.1.i), highlighting some of the comments that my students’ had as a result of their own expeditions. Having realized the impact that community has on students’ learning and motivation, I proceeded to apply for teaching positions at expeditionary schools, and will be working at one in Baltimore this upcoming school year. Wanting to use what I had learned from my expedition experience at SWW, I again wanted the students in my East High placement to be studying something that involved their community. With the topic of acids and bases, the I created a guided inquiry lesson where students were able to investigate the acid rain issue in Rochester, one of the cities in the country where it is most prevalent and most acidic, being able to find meaning in their studies as it related to their own community (10.1.j). Another example of this was during the Get Real! Science camp when we got students involved in investigations where they were exploring their own beach to find out why it was closed so often. Providing students with opportunities to explore and learn about their own communities deemed invaluable to their learning experiences. In my ED 451 class, we attended a professional noticing session where George Moses from the Freedom School took us on a walk of the Freedom School neighborhood (10.1.k). We were able to explore the community on foot to get a better sense of the areas in which our students live. Along the way we were also informed of the incredible changes that were occurring in the community, the drug houses that had been turned into homes for college students, the burnt down house that was torn down and will soon be replaced by a field of sunflowers, and the reading parks that will replace 7-11 markets. To hear the dreams and see the reality of changes that could result from the amazing effort and determination for a community who wanted to transform the environment in which their children are growing up was a very powerful experience. I truly enjoyed walking through the neighborhood, seeing the community for what it was and what it will be, and getting to know the people that George introduced us to along the walk. I believe that getting familiar with the community in which you teach can be very valuable in learning where your students come from and how to understand them so that you can teach them. Additionally, at SWW I participated in different events which allowed the students to get out in their community and be included in activities that were around them. During rock climbing and ice skating events, the employees at these businesses were able to involve the students in goal setting and community building activities to enhance their motivation work ethic as individuals and teams through fun activities. In trying to get to know my students and be a part of the larger school and community, I grasped opportunities to chapperone a school dance, attend the students’ talent show, as well as attend multiple school basketball games to cheer for one of the students in my last period class. This exposure to my students’ community allowed me to meet and interact with families, become acquainted with siblings, and show my support for their lives outside of just the classroom. Taking the time to meet people in the community, get involved in communal opportunities, and allow for parents to get invovled in their children’s education is a wonderful experience for everyone involved. I jumped on a few other opportunities such as getting involved in the City at Peace musical, created by teens, helping the students and directors out at their final showing. I have been volunteering weekly at Lynn Gatto’s camp for Horizons youth, and I also chose to be a portfolio reviewer for two high school students at School Without Walls, being the community member who sat and reviewed their work with them, as well as a reviewer for several students at the foundation academy that same week (10.1.l). As a teacher, this involvement in the community helped me to get to know my students, develop good relationships with their parents, and to explore and use the resources I had around me in the community to enhance the lessons and units from which the students were able to learn a lot and enjoy. 

//**10.2. Candidates are able to communicate effectively with parents/caregivers and colleagues.**// During my experiences at Warner and throughout STARS and student teaching, I was able to gain experience in effectively communicating with parents and colleagues. After my first attempt during camp to get students and parents to come to the final showcase event, I took a step further for STARS to adamantly call families until I got in touch with them, praising their child for all they had done all week long, and personally inviting them to the STARS presentations and student-run stations. Having gotten in touch with a parent of each family, I was very proud the next morning when all of the members of our half-team were in attendance. I also offered to drive one of the team members after requesting and receiving a signed permission slip from her father saying I could drive her. My conversations with the parents were wonderful experiences, as I was able to witness them get so excited and proud of their child’s accomplishments. Being able to meet and talk to a couple of my students’ parents at the presentations allowed me to again convey specific comments I had about the student and her work ethic or enthusiasm which contributed greatly to the rest of the team. The reactions of the parents and seeing the look on their faces that showed they were so proud were priceless. Outside of the classroom I was able to meet one of my student’s uncles during my student teaching placement. My student worked for this uncle’s bakery down the street, and when I realized that the student was not going to be allowed to go on the school’s ice skating trip with everyone, I offered to drive to the bakery so we could at least obtain permission and a signature from his relative. Having done so, I was able to go out into the community and meet one of my student’s relatives, having a relatively short, but positive talk with his uncle who was so grateful I was doing this for his nephew. In my first student teaching placement I often had the chance to communicate with parents on the phone and in person. Parents were often calling for me to provide more information about why their child needed to stay after school and to talk about the reasons they needed extra help. I would first always talk to them about the good experiences their child was having and his or her strengths that were contributing positively to the class as a whole. I would explain certain pieces of work that the student was struggling with or needed more time on, and offered ideas I had to help their student, whether it was trying to provide more help to him during class, breaking it down more, having him come after school, etc. Parents were appreciative of the support I was providing as well as the dedication to stay with the child during lunch time or after school to ensure he would improve. I was able to communicate with parents again during the expedition presentations that happened after school. We talked about the students’ experiences and accomplishments and I shared the progress that the student was making in my class. I had one class during my first student teaching placement where two students were constantly trying to distract other students and had behavioral issues. Other teaches were constantly sending negative notes home. One day, after realizing how simple it was to get these two boys to engage in the activities by breaking down the directions for them, my co-teacher and I decided to construct positive-notes for the students to bring home with them, hoping they would translate them since the parents did not speak very good English. The students reported back home the next day saying how extremely proud and surprised their parents were, to the extent that one even got a new cell phone. This obviously went to show that positive remarks about these students were not often said to their parents, and how effective communication and detailed stories about their great behavior and effort in class can go such a long way for parents. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In my last student teaching placement I had a few parent-teacher conferences where I was able to communicate with parents who were concerned about their child’s performance, and another who wanted to be sure her son was getting challenging enough work. We talked about their work ethics at home and in class, their extracurricular activities, and their leadership and willingness to participate in class. It was wonderful to work with parents, regardless of some challenging interactions, because I was able to get to know more about what the child was experiencing at home and also hear the wants and visions that the parents had for their student, so that I could set that expectation and goal for them as well as my own high expectations. I also attended a CSE meeting for a student in one of my inclusion classes and was able to get to talk with her mother. Her mother was very caring and supportive of my students’ education. She was proud of her accomplishments and progress in her first year of inclusive settings, and was happy to hear my stories about how well she was working with other students and standing up for herself as well. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In my experiences I was able to effectively communicate with colleagues. During my time at SWW, I was in a paired teaching placement. Kaitlin and I worked extremely well together, developing ideas and units that were better than anything we were able to come up with on our own. It was important for us to be respectful yet honest with each other, ensuring that we were only challenging each other’s ideas to make sure that they resulted in the best possible experiences and learning opportunities for our students. We spent much of our free periods and nights working on our planning, whether it was in person, on the phone or online. We were also able to collaborate with the other ninth grade SWW teachers, as we planned the interdisciplinary expeditions and were also rescheduling our class times in order to fit in extra activities with the communities, etc. During my second placement at East High School, I communicated very much with my CT, constantly reflecting about my lessons, seeing what I had to work on, how I could improve, how I had improved, and also developing new ideas for lessons or asking questions on whether or not I would be able to implement something, etc. Also, I was constantly borrowing equipment from Michael at Wilson during the Fall, as well as from the Physics teacher at East during the Spring. We were consistently in communication about activity ideas and how the students reacted to them. During faculty meetings at East, there were times when our small learning community (recently formed at East) met to talk about their community departments and engage in community building activities. I worked with a woman from the English department to come up with an idea for an interdisciplinary unit on career planning, where students would be able to work together to start a business, conduct interviews and be interviewed themselves, and review and write cover letters and resumes. After working with this colleague, we then shared this idea with the larger group who also had been working together to come up with their own interdisciplinary unit ideas. While in Warner I also had the chance to work closely with my other cohort members as we co-taught different groups. Aside from working closely with Kaitlin at SWW, I was able to collaborate and develop lesson plans with my camp group and STARS group (10.2.a, 10.2.b). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**NSTA STANDARDS:** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**10.d Candidates interact effectively with colleagues, parents, and students; mentor new colleagues; and foster positive relationships with the community.** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learning is not something that can nor is supposed to happen solely in the classroom. Being able to have the support of parents and community can provide wonderful opportunities that would not otherwise be possible. The collaboration between teachers, community and parents is crucial to constructing a supportive environment for students where all of their needs can be met. I had great experiences working with colleagues in my paired teaching placement, other ninth grade teachers in the school, my CT, the Physics teacher at East, those teachers in my small learning community, and the other Warner students with whom I taught camp and STARS. By respecting each others ideas, complementing each other’s learning styles and instructional strategies, and by dedicating much time, we were able to construct meaningful experiences for students. In a couple of the UTL seminars, we also brought with us a problem of practice, a problem we were faced with in our teaching regarding a student or group of students, which we presented to a small group of peers and came to a solution for. Working together and sharing the facts of the situation and the background of the student, we were able to build off of each other’s ideas until we came up with something that we felt may alleviate the problem and benefit the student(s). In addition, in ED 446 we have talked much about collaborating with other teachers and parents, and even creating and discussing Collaborative Team Problem Solving Issues, where we collaboratively discussed what we might do if we came across problems with other colleagues, problems with students, and how we could effectively solve them. We also discussed the importance of working with other teachers, and even paraprofessionals, and how to encourage positive collaboration where everyone knows their role and can contribute to the education of the students in the best way possible. Lastly, for ED 446 I wrote a Collaboration plan stating my views on collaboration and how I plan on using collaboration in my teaching (10.d.a). I believe collaboration with colleagues to be extremely important, because two minds are better than one in the classroom, and the ideas that two people can generate, and the support that they students can receive is greater than if there was just access to one adult. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was impressed with the number of chances I had to interact with parents as well. In school at conferences or after school at presentations, I was able to have conversations with parents that addressed their child’s strengths and contributions and also more in depth conversations that considered additional help or changes they might need for instruction and learning. In ED 446, we were able to role play different situations with parents and teachers, being aware of the collaboration that was used, as well as whether or not the conversation was dialogic or monologic, authoritative or internally persuasive, imposing values or considering frame of reference, colonizing home/family time or considering expertise and experiences, as well as the levels of commitment, equality and respect. All of those aspects are important to be considered in conversations with parents, and we had the opportunity to practice this and act out three different parent-teacher meetings in class. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I believe I effectively interacted with students in all settings I was in. Regardless of the lesson or unit, I constantly showed interest in the student as an individual, hearing about their day or their weekend plans, making sure each student was able to participate equally, and also giving them roles that made sure they were a contributing member of their class. I also was not afraid to ask students what they would like to see done different, knowing it could benefit me as a first year teacher, and also benefit them if they could give feedback on what would help them learn. Students were also comfortable around me, and as shown through my evaluations and recommendations from my CT’s, I formed good relationships with my students who were able to come to me on advice for anything. My supervisor once asked one of my student’s what he liked best about my teaching. After a pause, he replied to Jim by saying, “I liked how she comes over to me and says, ‘Do you understand this?’ She actually cares and wants to make sure I get it, and some other teachers couldn’t care less.” My interactions with students were able to foster motivation, and my dedication to staying after school with them, going to their extracurricular activities and sports, inquiring about their days and other classes, and displaying my beliefs and confidence with them and making sure they understood the material, helped create good relationships. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was limited in my chances to mentor new colleagues, yet I did experience a new student teacher in my classroom who was getting ready to student teach once my placement was done. I was able to help her get to know the students, how the school worked, where things were, and so forth. This mentoring opportunity gave me the chance to share ideas with her for when it was her time to teach, as well as gain ideas and work together to create activities for the students. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I fostered positive relationships with the community having visited places my students worked, getting to know their families and neighborhoods, and taking that professional noticing walk that enabled me to see the transformations and efforts that were going into making these neighborhoods better places for the students. I also got in touch with members of the community who were able to be part of the students’ expeditions, help increase their knowledge and interest in certain careers, and also other businesses that offered them activities to enhance their goal-setting and community building. Through design models that truly offer the community a place in the child’s education, students are able to learn about their community as they explore different aspects of it and help solve different issues that can benefit more people than just themselves. Having student taught at an expeditionary school as well as taking the time to go to students’ extracurricular activities and meeting members of the community as well as being an active member myself, I believe I fostered a positive relationship with the community and used the resources and opportunities it had to offer.

Appendix: [|Picture_13.png] [|Picture_12.png] [|Picture_11.png] [|Picture_9.png] [|Picture_8.png] || ED 404 Final Paper, "The Impact of Connecting School and Community" || || East High Acid Base lesson || <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
 * **Evidence #** ||< **Embedded or Linked Object** || **Description** ||
 * 10.1.a ||< [[file:20090729-CampPresentationInvites-MSaunders.pdf]] || Get Real! Science Camp Invitations to Parents ||
 * 10.1.b ||< [|DSC07468.JPG] || Student images from LollyPop Farm Expedition ||
 * 10.1.c ||< [|DSC07442.JPG] || Career Fair Images ||
 * 10.1.d ||< [|DSC07670.JPG][|DSC07670.JPG] || Student Presentation to Parents ||
 * 10.1.e ||< [|14657_541202249278_8702406_32165965_6824352_n.jpg] || New Roots School ||
 * 10.1.f ||< [[file:new roots school teacher questions.doc]] || E-mail Correspondence with New Roots' Science Teacher ||
 * 10.1.g ||< [[file:ED404FinalPaper-MSaundersDH.doc]]
 * 10.1.h ||< [[file:2009123-ED404FinalPresentation-MSaunders.ppt]] || Final ED 404 PowerPoint on Expeditionary Learning ||
 * 10.1.i ||< <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 0px;">[] || ED 404 Expeditionary Learning iMovie I created ||
 * 10.1.j || [[file:20100331-EastHigh-MSaunders (2).doc]]
 * 10.1.k || [[file:20100711-ED451Response2-MSaunders.doc]] || ED 451 Freedom School Neighborhood Walk reflection ||
 * 10.1.l || [[file:SWW portfolio questions.pdf]] || SWW Portfolio Review Questions ||
 * 10.2.a || [[file:20090803-EDU486UnitPlan-MSaunders.doc]] || Get Real! Science Camp Unit Plan ||
 * 10.2.b || [[file:20091129-EDU434StarsLessonPlans-MSaunders.doc]] || STARS Lesson Plans ||
 * 10.d.a || [[file:20090803-EDU486UnitPlan-MSaunders.doc]] || ED 446 Collaboration Plan ||

References

Johnson, L., Pugach, M., &, Hawkins, A. (2004). School-family collaboration: A partnership. //Focus on Exceptional Children//, //36//(5), 1-12.

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