TCHLRN 310 Portfolio B

Alicia Taylor
Tch Lrn 310

Portfolio B
1. Parent Letter
Dear Parents or Guardians,

Welcome to 4th grade!! I am so excited to have your child in my class this year, and I am
looking forward to a very successful year and I know you are too. I want to take this opportunity
to introduce myself and express my excitement about working with your awesome child this
year. I am from Mill Creek, WA, but had the chance to grow up all over the world. I have lived
in Washington D.C, South Korea, Thailand, California, and Washington. I have spent most my
time in Washington, so I consider it to be my home. I got my Bachelors in Elementary Education
with an endorsement in ELL from Washington State University… Go Cougs!! This is my first
year having a class to own, but I cannot wait to get to know all my students and be able to learn
and explore all together this year.
I have high academic expectations for your child and I will do everything in my power to
help your child achieve those expectations. Loved ones are an important component in a child’s
education. I want all students in my class to be LEADERS.
 Learn new thing everyday
 Everyone works as a team
 Always prepared for class
 Doing our very best
 Encouraging and helpful
 Respectful to others
 Showing Responsibility
I feel teacher-parent and teacher-student communication is of vital importance as well. I

hope to be getting in contact with each family individually within the next couple weeks, to more
formally introduce myself and answer any questions you may have about the upcoming year. I
will also be sending home a parent survey with your student. If you could take the time to fill out
all the information regarding best ways to get in contact with you, things you want me to know
about your family and your student, and if you would like to be a parent volunteer in the
classroom this year. Please try to send those back as soon as you can. I will also be sending out a
monthly newsletter telling you about some of the activities that we have been doing in class.
I would also like to extend an invitation for you to contact me at any time. I can easily be
reached through the main office at school or via email. If you would like to talk in person, I am
available to make appointments either before school or after school. Please do not hesitate to
contact me with any questions or concerns.
I cannot wait to meet everyone and for the school year to start!
Sincerely,
Miss Taylor
2. Parent-Teacher Communication
When it comes to parent-teacher communication, in my letter I told my parents that I will be

available before school, after school, by phone and by email. I want parents to feel that they can
come to me with any sort of question or concern that they have about their child or the class.
When it comes to communication procedures that I want to follow, I want to send out a monthly
newsletter to each family that highlights fun things we did in the classroom that month (Sample
template included at the bottom). I plan to take pictures and have students write their thoughts
down as well. This is a fun way to keep the families up-to-date with what is going on in class. I
also plan on having a classroom website. On the website, there will be a calendar of events as
well as due dates for assignments, book recommendations, and pictures of the class. I also plan
to use Classroom Dojo, and allow parents to look at their students work. In terms of weekly
communication, I plan to specifically communicate with student’s families if they are struggling
in class academically or socially. If I notice some changes in their academics or behaviors, I will
be in contact with those parents just to let them know what I have noticed and talk about what
actions need to be taken.
I think communication will strengthen my relationship with students because students will
not have to keep guessing what my expectations are from them, they will be verbalized for every
activity that takes place in the class. This way, students do not get confused, and they can start to
build a routine in the classroom. When explaining instructions for any activity, I will let my
students know how long they have to do the activity, if they will have extra time to work on it if
they do not finish, or if they have to do it for homework, and I will answer any questions the
students have before starting the assignment. I will also be available during work time to answer
any questions, as I plan to walk around the room for a bit to monitor and assess students. This is
something that I see being done in my practicum class. My teacher is always walking around and
working with students individually. She also does a great job at having all her expectations be
met by a majority of the class.
Template retrieved from:
https://www.template.net/business/email/classroom-newsletter/
3. Communication Skills
The three communication skills identified in our text were, constructive assertiveness,
empathetic responding, and problem solving. The skill that I am most comfortable utilizing is
empathetic responding. When I was a kid, I always felt like no one was listening to my side of
the story, and I was always the one getting in trouble. Empathetic responding does not imply that
the misbehaving of a student is okay, but it allows for the student to see that the teacher
understands where they are coming from in order to reach the desired solution. I feel that I am
most comfortable using this skill over the other two because I genuinely listen to students when
they come to me with problems. I acknowledge their problems, I keep constant eye-contact, and I
make sure I am at eye-level with the student. I try my best to let them know that everything will
be okay and that it will be worked through together.
A communication skill that I need to work on is problem solving. Problem solving
usually results in mutual satisfaction from both ends of the argument. Sometimes when a student
comes to me with any sort of problem, even though I do not mean to, I lean towards one
direction, when I should be trying to find a happy-medium. I think this comes from growing up
with two older brothers. I always found myself needing to side with one of my brothers because,
“strength in numbers”. Instead of leaning toward one side of the argument, I need to do a better
job at listening to both sides fully, and talking through the problem with everyone involved to
find a solution where everyone is happy.

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Alicia Taylor

Tch Lrn 310

Dear Parents or Guardians,

I feel teacher-parent and teacher-student communication is of vital importance as well. I

When it comes to parent-teacher communication, in my letter I told my parents that I will be

Template retrieved from:

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