Being Involved in Community and School

Date: January 26, 2015 - March 27, 2015

Artifact Description:
These documents are materials I have prepared to promote family involvement in the
classroom. Also a few school calendars that showing the days kindergartener classroom hosted
church masses/ events.
Wisconsin Teacher Licensure Standard Alignment:
This artifact best aligns with Standard Ten from the Wisconsin Teacher Licensure
Standard Alignment. Standard Ten states that, The teacher fosters relationships with school
colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support pupil learning and wellbeing and acts with integrity, fairness, and ethical manner. During my student teaching
experience at Holy Ghost- Immaculate Conception I was able to connect with not just the school
but also with the community. Every Wednesday the students would attend mass and also lead
pray services during lent. These services were open to the public and the school; many
community members came to worship and support the students in their faith. The students were
able to flourish and really build on their speaking skills because the community/school supported
them. Not only that, but when the kindergarten class lead a Stations of the Cross prayer service
many of their family members attended this program. Many students participate more and were
more willing to practice rehearsed lines because the students had fans in the audience cheering
them on. Also during the course of my student teaching, the kindergarten class invited dads to
come in for donuts. We were focusing on the letter d that week and to involve the families we
invited all the dads to come in. It was a very special day in our class all the dads had come and

we had created a fun bingo game for the students and dads to connect. It was amazing to see how
the parents were connecting socially to each other and creating a bigger community. In
kindergarten many of the families are new because is this the first year of school, so many
parents to not know each other, by having a dads and donuts day we created a non-threating way
for parents to socialize.
UW-Platteville Knowledge, Skill, Disposition Alignment:
I believe this artifact best aligns with KSD4.c, communicates with families: The
candidate is able to provide frequent, sensitive, and appropriate information to parents and
students about students positive and negative progress with the instructional program and
successfully engage families in the educational process when appropriate. While hosting these
events parents are able to see the progress their student is making in school. Not only that but it
gets the parents more involved in the students educational life. Also to keep parents involved
with behavior at the end of every day the teacher and student would fill out a number box. Each
number represented how the students behavior was that day. The parents could easily see every
night if the students were behaving. If it was a lower number the teacher would write a brief
description about the issue. By engaging in families with fun educational events it built a
stronger connection between the parents and me. By the end of the quarter I did feel very
comfortable sending notes home and talking with the parents because I had so many interactions
time with them.

Secondary Alignment:

SD4.d.CONTRIBUTES TO THE SCHOOL AND DISTRICT

KSD4.e.GROWS AND DEVELOPS PROFESSIONALLY
KSD2.b.ESTABLISHES A CULTURE FOR LEARNING
Personal Reflection:
What I learned about teaching/ learning from this experience
From this experience I learned that school districts and classrooms have to be family friendly.
When a family and community are behind a school supporting students the students perform
higher. Students will try harder and put more effort in when that support system is there. I also
learned that most parents want to be involved in their childs education but dont always have the
time or resources. By creating events ahead of time or having the option to bring any family
member it allows more options for every student to feel special.
What I learned about myself as a prospective educator as a result of this experience
I learned many things about myself, as a prospective educator, as a result of this experience. One
main thing I learned is to stay in contact with parents. If a teacher and a parent are on the same
page, the student will only better themselves in school. I also learned how important it is to reach
out to the community and make the connections with local business/ people. Many places and
people are willing to donate their time and or resources if they feel connected to a certain group.
For a teacher that is important because different resources or having a speaker come in can really
enhance student learning.