Artifact 1: School Safety- Bully Prevention Project
Rationale:
At Dexter Regional High School it is an important part of our school culture that our teachers work together. We have a wonderful bond, where we work hard to collaborate on school policies, best practices in the classroom, curriculum topics and professional development. Proposition 5 states how all of these are important for teachers to do. This Bully Prevention Project keynote was done during an assigned school safety project for one of my UNE classes, however, I decided on Bullying Prevention because it was a hot topic in our school at the time. Myself, the Principal, the head of the Advisory Program and a couple other teachers had already begun working on ways to prevent bullying in our school. This project shows how we have worked together as a staff, while also engaging parents and students. We recently have asked outside agencies to come in to speak about bullying as well. Proposition 5 states it is important for teachers, students, parents and communities to work together towards a common goal and this project proves that. Reflection:
I am very thankful for the opportunity to take this work we had done at DRHS and put it into a presentation for a UNE class. This keynote has since been used in our school to educate staff, while also being available to parents and students. Working together with other staff members was a great way to ensure we were all on the same page when it comes to bullying prevention and that we are doing what we can to stop it. Since I shared this keynote with the head of our Advisory program, she has begun to incorporate more bullying prevention activities into our weekly advisory meetings. Without collaboration and being able to work together, this would not have been possible. I hope we can continue to use this Keynote to share information with students and parents. |
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Artifact 2: Parent Letter
Rationale:
An indicator in Proposition 5 states that NBCTs need to work with parents if students are going to be successful in school. I find that sending home this parent letter at the start of each school year shows my willingness to work with parents. I try to express to them the importance of teachers and parents being on the same page if students are going to get out of school what they should. By providing my email and phone number, I am opening the lines of communication with parents. I find many parents utilize this communication and many thank me for sending this letter home. It allows them to feel a sense of connection with their child's teacher. Reflection:
This parent letter has been a huge success. I have been able to make connections with parents that may not have happened. I think I could edit it a bit to make it more specific to each grade level. This could be a good letter to send home with 6th grade students as that is the first year I see them. Then I could make each letter more personal to the grade level, or even each student. By allowing the parents to see who I am, what I expect and what I will do to help students is a great starter for relationships with parents. The unknowns are out the window and parents are more willing to work with me, instead of against me, when it comes to their child's education. |
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