Some the best advice I have ever received was from my teacher from my first placement this semester. I was originally placed at Dunbar Intermediate School in Mrs. Wallace's fourth grade classroom. She told me "Some days are going to be extremely difficult. Parents, students, and/or others may say things that make you feel inadequate or small. However, you must always be strong and keep the peace and kindness. Rise above." ~ Emily Wallace. I will never forget this. I have it on a fading piece of notebook paper that you see above. In the education field those words ring so true, there will be many times where we must ~ "Rise Above". This applies to so many people you will encounter in education but also in your everyday life.

        When I first go to any placement I always send home a letter introducing myself. I feel that this is is a great way for me to begin communicating with families and lets them know who  is in there child's classroom. This placement, since it will be all year, I decided to do an All About Me page. I would normally send this home at open house. I will always communicate with families as much as possible. It is important for students to have support from home and school. As a teacher, I need to be sure to get to know each students and families so that when I reach out it is in a culturally sensitive manner, with students contributing to the communication. I want my students to be involved in family communication, it is extremely important. I will respond to family concerns professionally, and try to get our families engaged in what is happening in our classroom, frequently and successfully.

        I started at Richmond Elementary the day of Parent-Teacher conferences and it was nice to meet some of the parents and the students that came as well. I respectfully asked if they would mind if I sat in on the meeting and they were all very kind and said yes. I feel it was an important step for me to be there and be able to introduce myself in person to whom I could.