How This Artifact Demonstrates My Competence on the Standard 2: Taking both the Literacy and The Teacher Leadership courses have helped me understand the differences between individual learners, cultures, and communities. my eyes were opened to how important families are to school success. I learned about the research on how children who come from families that support and value learning often learn to value these things themselves, and that this paves a path towards success. I learned that the communities and family cultures need to be acknowledged and celebrated. Through student teaching, I saw a wide range of parental involvement. In my second-grade placement, most parents didn’t show up for the informational meeting like curriculum nights, parent/teacher conference at the beginning of the school year, and parents rarely came into the school to volunteer. When my cooperating teacher would send e-mails or notes, her efforts often did not gain a timely response.
Although parents were invited in for special events, only a few consistently showed up. It was in this placement and my interaction with these parents that I got to experience what collaboration with families was like, and how beneficial it is. Creating family relationships is extremely vital to me, but I also believe that it is imperative to keep in mind that it is not always possible to build these relationships.
There will always be families that resist an attempt at communication or collaboration. In some schools, that may end up being most of the families. Educators need to keep in mind that this may be something that might be a challenge for them, and the children in their classrooms. They need to be ready to find what way works best to communicate with families, or when to respect the walls that parents may put up and do their best with the information and access that they have.
As result of these experiences, I am now better equipped in creating inclusive learning environments for each individual learner. My classroom plan layout is provided as an example. Future Impact: Based on what I have learned from some of my professors in the MAT program. There is no doubt that the process of educating a child is a shared responsibility that involves the school, parents/guardian, and the community. As an educator I will try to the best of my ability to improve communication and collaboration between the school, the student’s home, and the community in order to promote trust and understanding and establish partnerships with all sections of the school community. I will also pursue solutions and encourage community contribution in the student’s education
