Week 8 Farewell

I can't believe that this class has come to an end. I have really been enlightened by so many of my colleagues.  It has been an amazing journy.  I now understand the importance of effective communication in areas that I never noticed before.  The information that I have gained throughout this course is very valuable and is something that will be used personally and through my professional carreer. 

I would like to take this time to thank all of you for your support and your encouraging comments. I wish each of you the best as you continue on your professional journey.

Sincerely,
Martha

The Adjourning Phase

     As I began to reflect back to the groups or teams that I have worked with, the one that comes to mind is the year I worked with a team of teachers.  We were in my book the perfect team.  There were four classrooms and a total of eight teachers, all women.  However, we got along so well it was unbelievable. We worked together for four wonderful years.  I know that it was because each teacher had a passion for what she did.  We would meet once a week to brainstorm about activities.  We shared lesson plans and often tried to come up with exciting new experiences for our students. We did not always see eye to eye but because our communication was so strong, we always worked it out. The positive energy level was so high that even our parents began to work together; we had so much fun.  After working together for a few years the administrators decided to rotate some of the teachers and send them to different schools.  We were so heart broken because we began to feel like a family of teachers.  Even the parents were sad because some of them had children that were coming the following year.
     During the last week of school, we decided to have a big celebration.  Our parents joined together and helped the teachers out.  We had something different going on each day and on the last day we had a huge cookout that the parents planned.  It was awesome!  The teachers later met for dinner on another day and exchanged information and promised to keep in touch.  We did good for a while but with time, things eventually died down.  I do have one teacher that I still talk to today, after 15 years.  We have a special bond.  Every now and then we will run into the others.
     As I continue on this educational journey, I would love to be able to stay in touch with many of my collegues. I would like to thank all of you for your wonderful support and positive feedback.  It was encouraging to read your post and responses. I wish each of you the best as you continue on your wonderful journey as an early childhood professional.
   I would like to specially thank Dr. Hampshire for such wonderful support and feedback during this course.  I know that the information that I received in this course is something that I will reflect on on a regular basis.  I have learned so much about communcation and about teamwork. Take care and I wish everyone the best!

Managing Conflict

     As I began to think back, the most recent disagreement that I had was two weeks ago.  Although my girls father and I are no longer together, he seems to always find a way to spark a debate about the most simple issues.  At one time I could not understand why we could not have an decent conversation with out it becoming heated. But I soon found out that he wanted to keep me upset. Basically, he would spark debates on purpose. So in turn, I began to avoid direct conversation with him all together.  I know now that that form of management is called the escapist strategy (O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. 2012).  When it comes to our daughters, we often result to quick and simple resolutions.  It may not always resolve the issues but it has been the best solution for the both of us. I also had to learn to manage my emotions while communicating with him. I learned not to engage in the same discussions to avoid repeating the same situations.  I learned to speak calmly to show that I do respect him as my children's father.  Having very limited conversations has been the best solution.  Because he believes that he is right and everyone esle is wrong, I really don't see how any compromise can be made.

Reference

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York:

        Bedford/St. Martin's.          

Evaluating My Communication

This week I evaluated myself as a communicator and allowed others to also evaluate me. To my surprise there was a few interesting but not surprising oppositions.

The results are as follows:

When it comes to Communication Anxiety Inventory, I consider myself as someone who is often very nervous communicating with someone that I really don’t know or have just met.  When it comes to speaking in public, whether a small or large group, I will say that I often suffer from public speaking anxiety.  On the other hand, those that evaluated me stated that I seemed to speak very well in public and always seem so calm.

In terms of the Listening Styles Profile, I believe that I try very hard to listen with concern and often try to put myself in their shoes.  I believe that I also try not to judge before I know all the facts. Now on the other hand, those that evaluated me actually said it quite differently.  Yes, I do listen with concern, but there are times that I take a few words and run with it.  I don’t often wait for all of the facts before I jump to conclusions.

In terms of the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale, I see myself as someone that tries to be fair and respectful when communicating. I try very hard not to offend and I am very careful not to personally attack a person’s character.  I try to only address the issues.  On the other hand, my evaluators believe that although I do not attack a person’s character, I am very aggressive in my response to something that I don’t like.  I am often looked at as being too honest and straightforward in my answers or response. There are times that I may cross the line a little which attacks a person’s position if I don’t agree with them, which can be offensive.

This experience has really caused me take a step back and take a look at the way that I communicate. I know that I need to work on improving my communication skills. I really do want to be a better listener.  I feel that as an educator, it is important to know how to listen to the full story before jumping into any conclusions.  I was also interested in the fact that they felt that I was a little to straightforward in the way I approach conversations that will require an answer or a response.  I don’t want to offend anyone; however I always want to be truthful.  I just know now that I have to be more watchful when choosing my words and to try not to be so straightforward.  I have always believed that it is not always what you say it is how you say it.