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Fostering Effective Relationships
A teacher builds positive and productive relationships with students, parents/guardians, peers and others in the school and local community to support student learning.
Letters/Notes to Students (PSII)
(a) demonstrating empathy and a genuine caring for others;
This artifact is about the letters and notes I sent to all of my students as a mode of communication and developing relationships with individual students. On the second day of my practicum, I sent each student a note in response to their answer on each student's "About Me" pages. The first two pictures are examples of responses that I received. I also ended my practicum by writing a personalized letter to each one of my students. The third picture is one sample of a letter I wrote to a student.
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I chose to include this artifact because one of my main goals was to ensure empathy and genuine caring in my relationships with my students. I used writing as one mode of communication between my students. Whether it be giving students a little note or written feedback, writing was a central part of demonstrating and communicating empathy and care to my students.
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From this artifact, I learned about the importance of building relationships with students through active communication and interaction. Writing was a way for me to touch base with individual students and for students to express their questions, concerns, or comments. Providing channels of communication that fit the needs of all students was important in ensuring that I demonstrate care in my teaching.
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The way(s) in which I grew or changed as a teacher as a result of this artifact is/are how my focus was centered on content instead of relationships. I was able to reflect on how important building meaningful relationships with students were when it came to the teaching profession and was able to shift my focus to place each student at the center of my teaching practice, rather than the delivery of content.
Online Photography Exhibition (PSII)
(c) providing culturally appropriate and meaningful opportunities for students and for parents/guardians, as partners in education, to support student learning
This artifact is about an online photo exhibition I made for students for the photography unit. Students completed two lines in a "photography bingo" page and explored how to portray specific themes of their choice through photography. Activity units were a way for me to provide meaningful opportunities for students to engage with each unit of study and for students to share their learning with their parents.
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I chose to include this artifact because Activity classes were one of the main ways I could connect with students in a more relaxed environment (ex. outdoor activities), provide students with an opportunity to express themselves (ex. photography), develop new skills for the 21st-century learner (ex. website building), and for students to share their interests and passions with their classmates (ex. travel planning).
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From this artifact, I learned about how students could play an active role in creating meaning in their learning through space to explore and come out of their comfort zone, to provide choice in what and how students learning, and to support students in their learning journey.
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The way(s) in which I grew or changed as a teacher as a result of this artifact is/are how I could mix essential skills and student choice in the process of learning. Students were tasked with one overarching objective and a few guidelines to structure the activity, however, the freedom to explore personal interests and to communicate their learning was ultimately in the hands of each student.