Week 8 Blog

Good-byes are always a hard thing to say, especially when you have collaborated with such a great group of colleagues as yourself. Communication is one of the most essential parts of life and having productive communication skills is imperative. And I must say that I have inquired these skills from you (my colleagues) through reading your blogs, discussions question responses and feedback. Collaboration occurs anytime people work together to achieve a goal (Winer, M., & Ray, K. (1994). We all have worked together to support, encouraged and motivate each other to become more productive human-beings in the way we communicate with others.

I wish nothing but the best for each and every last one of you, as we continue through our educational journey. Beginning our specialization courses is better sweet, because most of us are specializing in different areas; whereas we may not collaborate again. And yet we are no longer continuing our educational journey together, we are so close to receiving our ‘common goal’ which is obtaining our Master’s in Early Childhood Education Studies. If there is ever a time that you need an encouraging word or an ear to listen, please feel free to contact me. My daughter says that I now listen more and talk less, and this skill is all because of the information I have learned while taking this course. 

  

There is really no one or two particular people I want to thank; for all of you have made a difference in my educational journey with Walden. Each person brought their own unique ideas, thoughts, suggestions, and opinions to the course and I thank each one of you for that. God Bless and Good Luck.

Carrie Bell

Email address is carrie.bell@waldenu.edu

Personal email adress is 30004@live.com

Reference

Winer, M., & Ray, K. (1994). Collaboration handbook: Creating, sustaining, and enjoying the journey. St. Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance. "How Do We Set Forth?" (pp. 21-41)

Week 6 Blog: Adjourning Stage

I would have to say that transferring my job from Minnesota was one of the hardest things I had ever done. I had built close relationships with the women there. I felt as though I was leaving my family. We worked as a team at all times, and supported each other when needed. This has been one of the first of many jobs I had that I can say that each teacher was very supportive of one another. I can truly say that it was not just one person who ran the center, but all the teachers as a whole.  My support system also can from my church family as well. I was an active member for ten years with the children ministries and the woman of faith ministries. The Women of Faith ministries were the support system to many women in the church that had been in abusive relationships, or single parents raising their children. My relationship with many of these women was very close, and being a part of the church family for ten years was quite difficult to leave. These were projects that came to an end, but I learned many valuable things from these groups that will stay with me throughout my educational journey, career, and friendships. And knowing that I was a part of something good that impacted women lives in a positive way is always something to remember. When you know that you have worked on a project as a group/team and it has effect the lives of children, families, women or etc., then know that you have made a difference; therefore, I see adjourning as positive aspect.

    

I do believe high performance groups are the hardest to leave; reason being, when you work on a team with people who are productive, professional, considerate, understanding, respectful and the list goes on, you have no choice but to feel a sense of hurt when you depart from these individuals. You have gained not just a group/team, but a partnership sort of speak, and a friendship; which has effective your life in a positive way. And who wants to depart from positive people? People you feel that you can relate too and have so many things in common. At the end of the day, you have built trust in these people and vasa-versa.  Trusting relationships/friendships is something no one ever wants to come to an end. The good thing with adjourning; is that you take what you have learned and use that with your next team/group in hopes of building the same form of relationships in the future.

I have learned so much from Instructors, and my colleagues since being a student at Walden and being the Master’s program. My colleagues has allowed me to think outside the box, and my Instructors have been that support system in saying, “You can do it, if you work hard and dedicate yourself.” Being in the Master’s program, you open your mind to a whole new level of understanding; which puts you in a place where you want to excel and achieve your highest and my colleagues has challenged my thinking in doing so.

Adjourning is an essential stage in team work because you grow, and learn from each group/team you work with, and these skills stay with you for a lifetime. Even though you may experience some form of unproductivity when working with some groups/teams members, but this allows you to make better choices and decisions next time around. I truly believe in order for a person to grow, you have to experience things that will make you a better team/group player in the future. Whether you endured good or bad experiences while on a team/group; it is still fair to say that “All good things must come to an end,” because you will take something out of that and use it to an advantage the next time around.            

Week 5 Blog Assignment: Conflict Situations

My supervisor is a very sweet person, but I feel too passive to be in leadership. The incidents that she allows to take place in the center should not be acceptable. About a month ago, a child went home and told his parent that another child in my classroom hit him, so the next day the parent came to me upset and very disrespectful. After about ten minutes into the conversation, I could see that she did not want to hear what I had to say. The situation was getting out of hand; therefore I felt she needed to address her concerns with the Director. She went to speak with the director and about five minutes later the director came and got me. While meeting with the parent and director, I sense that the director had already taken sides. My director stated, “I should have been watching the kids in the first place and never allowed this incident to happen.” I stood there with disbelief on my face as to what she had just said to me. I already felt that she handles things very inappropriate and this incident was a prime example.

I’m not a confrontational type of person, and when I feel that I have to defend myself from a parent, colleague or any one for that matter; I intervene my director. It is her responsibility to resolve or deescalate a situation from happening or escalating into something bigger. And this particular day, she did not follow the procedure of an effective communicator. I would have allowed the parent to speak and express her feeling and later set up a meeting where we all should have been heard. This would have given the parent time to calm down and maybe rethink, before she spoke. But to come and get me out of my classroom to speak with this parent the same day; that happens to be already angry was not the way to handle this. In other words she escaladed the problem, by having this meeting with her being angry, and to add insult to injury, she made comments in front of this parent to make her feel that she was right and as the teacher, I was wrong. She gave this parent ammunition to believe she had power over the situation and that I was wrong for purposely allowing another child to hit her child. How ridiculous is that? When one person has power over another, that dynamic can cause one or both of the people to handle conflict unproductively (O’Hair & Weimann, pg., 201 2009).

If I was the director, I would have heard both sides individually, and then had a meeting with both parties in hopes of finding the best solution to resolve this issue. Instead she added more fuel to the fire.

Colleagues, how would you have handled this situation?      

  Resource

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2009). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

              

Week 5 Blog Assignment: Conflict Situations

My supervisor is a very sweet person, but I feel too passive to be in leadership. The incidents that she allows to take place in the center should not be acceptable. About a month ago, a child went home and told his parent that another child in my classroom hit him, so the next day the parent came to me upset and very disrespectful. After about ten minutes into the conversation, I could see that she did not want to hear what I had to say. The situation was getting out of hand; therefore I felt she needed to address her concerns with the Director. She went to speak with the director and about five minutes later the director came and got me. While meeting with the parent and director, I sense that the director had already taken sides. My director stated, “I should have been watching the kids in the first place and never allowed this incident to happen.” I stood there with disbelief on my face as to what she had just said to me. I already felt that she handles things very inappropriate and this incident was a prime example.

I’m not a confrontational type of person, and when I feel that I have to defend myself from a parent, colleague or any one for that matter; I intervene my director. It is her responsibility to resolve or deescalate a situation from happening or escalating into something bigger. And this particular day, she did not follow the procedure of an effective communicator. I would have allowed the parent to speak and express her feeling and later set up a meeting where we all should have been heard. This would have given the parent time to calm down and maybe rethink, before she spoke. But to come and get me out of my classroom to speak with this parent the same day; that happens to be already angry was not the way to handle this. In other words she escaladed the problem, by having this meeting with her being angry, and to add insult to injury, she made comments in front of this parent to make her feel that she was right and as the teacher, I was wrong. She gave this parent ammunition to believe she had power over the situation and that I was wrong for purposely allowing another child to hit her child. How ridiculous is that? When one person has power over another, that dynamic can cause one or both of the people to handle conflict unproductively (O’Hair & Weimann, pg., 201 2009).

If I was the director, I would have heard both sides individually, and then had a meeting with both parties in hopes of finding the best solution to resolve this issue. Instead she added more fuel to the fire.

Colleagues, how would you have handled this situation?      

  Resource

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2009). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

              

Week 4 Blog Assignment

Communication Experience:

This week’s assignment had me to think long and hard about how effective are my communications skills. My daughter and I scored the almost the same in communication anxiety inventory and verbal aggression. My daughter says that I’m a good listener at times, but I have a tendency to rudely interrupt her as she speaks; of course I do not recall. I did score moderate in the verbal aggressive section; which means I attack the problem but not the person. This too me is not healthy because the word ‘attack’ sounds so bullying. I never want anyone to feel that their conversation or character for that matter is being attack. Having and building healthy relationships with my family, colleagues, children and their families are important to me, and in doing so effective communication is imperative.

In this case it is important to how others see me as a communicator. I’m in a career to help change, make a difference in the lives of children, and effective communication is the key in doing so. I have had many people to tell me that I’m a good listener and theory enjoy talking to me in regards to their problems; whereas this is where I did well on the assessment. I’m empathetic and concerned about the needs of others, which can cause me to have poor judgment, definitely me all the way.

Example: I can talk with a person and automatically give them the benefit of the doubt by trusting them, without even getting to know them on a personal level. I’m too trust worthy, which is not good because I’m putting myself in uncompromising situation that may cause improper judgment, and this is not healthy.

Public Speaking is another technique I need to inquire when working with children and families. My passion is to help fight children living in poverty; therefore, I may need to address many issues on a state, local and even international level. Public speaking to me is one of my greatest fears; a fear that I’m willing to take on to better myself and future career in the early childhood field.  

Effective communication can be rewarding in your professional as well as personal life. When you can communicate to other’s in a normal and sensibly manner than your communication style is effective. I believe effective communication is a life time commitment and forever needs to be enhanced; for as long as we live, work, interact, and meet people, we have to learn how to communicate with others.      

Week 3 Blog Assignment

Think about the cultural diversity you see in your colleagues at school, in your neighborhood, in your workplace, and also, possibly, within your family.

When I think about cultural diversity with my colleagues at school, neighborhood, workplace, and within your family; I can say that we share some of the same values.

*My colleagues are striving for higher education to enhance their lives and career.

*My neighborhood is diverse and most of us are working class families.  

*My co-workers are educators who support education to better the lives of children and families.

*My family is my cultural; we share the same norms, values and beliefs.

Consider all the aspects that make up culture, including race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, varying abilities, and so on.

Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?

In all honesty, I would have to admit that there are times I have communicated differently with other groups and cultural. I believe when people have different values, ideas, thoughts, feelings about certain beliefs than you will have different views points. I also believe that we have to respect others and their beliefs; whether we agree or disagree.     

If yes, in what ways do you communicate differently?

I have a co-worker who does not believe in Christ; whereas I do. She has made degrading remarks about the bible, religion, churches and etc. I feel she does not have to value or share the same beliefs as myself, but at least be respectful of my views. We have been working together for three years now so things between she and I have gotten better, but I’m still mindful of our conversations and viewpoints. In other words I chose not to speak to her about any of my personal thoughts, opinions, and beliefs

Based on what you have learned this week, share at least three strategies you could use to help you communicate more effectively with the people or groups you have identified

This week topic was based on the “Platinum Rule” and my theory of the platinum rule is to treat other’s in the way you want to be treated.

Strategies

1. Always be respectful of other cultural and their beliefs.  

2. Never judge or become bias of other’s.

3. Allow the person you are communicating with a chance to speak and be heard, and agree to disagree.

Week 2 Assignment 2

Learning about communication skills and styles

Volume down

The television episode that I watched was “Dallas,” even though it has been many years since the show has aired, and I was not a big fan than; it was interesting to see some of the same cast members now that played on the show years ago. I turned the volume down while watching the seen about JR and Bobby discussing a matter. It was so obvious that they were into a heated conversation just by the way both character’s facial expression and body language. I know when the show aired years ago, both brothers did not get along, but characters change with time.

I sense that both parties are in a disagreement while portraying anger and hostility through nonverbal communication.

Volume up

When I turned the volume up, JR and Bobby was in a very heated conversation about JR going over Bobbies head to dig oil on the family land, which Bobby was not agreeing with this at all. Bobby was very upset about this matter and JR was very cold towards him in regards to his feelings.

I do believe I would have been aware of what the characters were discussing in the episodes that I was familiar with; reason being, I’m usually aware of the characters demeanors in the episodes that I watch and most of the time I can tell what is going on in the episode due to their facial expression and body language.