Team Work

In my experience with being a part of a group the hardest one to leave was the high-performing group. It was the group that I took most of my ECE classes with in junior college. We were a team; we went from class to class as one and often were in other classes together. We inspired each other we planned activities and created lesson as a team. In our last together the teacher (who had been our teacher for most of our classes) gave us all a book that she had placed all of the activities, articles and games that we had all created over the classes into. It is a treasure that I still have many years later. I imagine that I will adjourn from my group of colleagues that I have formed while working on my master’s degree by continuing to follow their blogs. Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it shows that the group has completed the goals that it had set. Once the goals are meet it is time to move on to new goals.   

Two Strategies That Might Help Manage or Resolve Conflict More Productively

Two Strategies That Might Help Manage or Resolve Conflict More Productively

 

            Think about any disagreements, or conflicts, you have recently experienced or are currently experiencing at work with a supervisor or colleague, or someone in your personal life. Share at least two strategies you have learned about that might help you manage or resolve the conflict more productively, and why these strategies might be effective. I have learned so many strategies and have some that I already use reinforced it was hard to choose. I have been off work due to a disability so my experience will be based on my family whom I have been given the pleasure of spending more time with since I am unable to work.

 

The most recent conflict that I have experienced involves my second and third younger sisters (whom I also raised as my own from the ages of five and six) and me. The older one is mentally ill, she has fired her care-giver, had her doctor sign paper work stating that she is capable of managing her own affairs and money. It has come to light that she has not been taking care of her affairs, or going to her doctor’s appointments, or taking her medicine. She is also behind in her rent and her gas is turned off.   Being that I see her more as my daughter, the first thing I did was start to tell her all about the things she had done wrong and that she was not capable of taking care of herself and that she had proved it by the mess she had made. I told her I was not going to help her fix it, that she had to fix it on her own. My third youngest sister was there during all of these. She was the “middle” person trying to get each of us to see the others point of view. “That the goal is not to end or eliminate conflict but simply to transform the way it is expressed ¬ from destructive forms such as violence, abuse, and intolerance into constructive forms such as debate, dialogue, negotiation, and democracy.” http://www.thirdside.org/assump.cfm

 

The learning’s for this week has given me the following strategies that I can use when dealing with my second oldest sister:  I can channel my feeling from thinking negative about my sister and her behavior. I now know how to identify and express my feeling in a way that will not imply that I am judging, showing criticism, or punishing her.

 

 

The learning’s this week have also reinforced my knowledge that I need to look at the situation from an outsiders point of view even when it involves one of my own. The Thirdside.org explains it better than I could: This means seeking to understand all sides to the conflict, encouraging a peaceful nonviolent process for engaging deep differences, and supporting an inclusive outcome that addresses the essential needs of all. To gain perspective and see from the Third Side you need to Go to the Balcony. The Balcony is a mental place of calm and perspective where you can keep your eyes on what is truly important. Imagine that the conflict is happening on a stage and you are on the balcony overlooking the stage. Going to the balcony means taking a distanced view of close things. What do you see from up there? How does that alter your perspective? This is now what I do when talking or dealing with anything to do with my second oldest sister.

Reference

 

http://www.thirdside.org/assump.cfm

http://www.cnvc.org/Training/NVC-Concepts

 P.S. Happy notes sister  figured out how to correct all of her affairs. J

 

 

 

Communication Assessments

For your blog this week, think about the similarities and differences between how you evaluated yourself as a communicator and how others evaluated you. What is the one thing that surprised you the most?

The one thing that surprised me the most about how others evaluated me was how different my co-worker and my sister saw my communication skills. My co-worker knows that I do not like to speak in public and that it makes me nervous no matter what size the group is. My sister stated that I liked to speak in groups and that I rarely get nervous. They both pretty much agreed on my listening skills, they fell that I am the “perfect listener” and they both agreed that when they need to talk that they prefer to come to me than anyone else.

What other insights about communication did you gain this week? Choose at least two to share with others through your blog and consider how each might inform your professional work and personal life.

One thing that I learned this week is that I feel more comfortable communicating in groups whe they are made of my family and friends regardless of the size. I am not nervous when speaking to family members or people that are introduced by them. I have also learned that I am a good listener regardless if it is with my family, my co-worker or strangers; I just like listening to others. I feel that learning these things about myself will give me a better understanding of where I need to improve on my communication skills. I learned that I need to work on my communication skills at work.  I need to work on my speaking skills so that I will be able to speak to any size group and be comfortable doing it.

Strategies For Effectively Communication

 

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.

 

1.      Keep the message simple, but make sure it is deep in meaning. Establish its relevance with other staff members in a way that makes them care more about the subject matter and about the job they do with it. It should be at the core of your communications, a simple and inspiring message that is easy to relate to and understand. This will help them to connect their day-to-day efforts with the aim of the message.

2.      Be a "real person" that families feel comfortable coming to in their times of need.
Authentic messages from me will help families see that I am there to help them with challenges and opportunities that they may face and that I understand and care about them and their children.

3.      Listening is one of the most important aspects of effective communication. By truly listening to what parents, family members, co-workers, children etc. are saying I am showing them that I understand them, I am creating an environment where everyone feels safe to express ideas, opinions, and feelings, or plan and problem solve in creative ways.

 

 

 

 

Assumptions based on messages communicated through body language and facial expressions.

Watch the show with the sound turned off.

 

What do you think the characters' relationships are based on the ways in which they are communicating? What are they feeling and expressing based on the nonverbal behavior you are observing?

 

I watched the show Are We There Yet? In the opening scene there are two women that look like they are arguing with each other it seems that one is the supervisor over the other one. Then in the next one there are two children and a man sitting around a table they seem to be having a conversation about something that the man was working with one the table he seems to be their father. Then the man says something and the children looked scared. In the next scene thee two women are shown in a police department with one handcuffed and the other one looks like she is fussing. Then a man comes in to the police department and tries to talk to the police woman. She frowns and points to a seat, he walks away. Then he talks to her again and she is smiling and then the lady that was handcuffed walked out with the man. I gather from the way they were interacting that they are married and that he is trying to talk to her but she will not let him get a word in. Then they get to what is their home and their children and the man that was with the children said something and left.

 

 

Now, watch the show with the sound turned on.

 

What assumptions did you make about the characters and plot based on the ways in which you interpreted the communication you observed? Would your assumptions have been more correct if you had been watching a show you know well?

 

 

I assumed that the two women were arguing with each other and they actually were not, they were talking about a project they were working on. I could not tell if one was the supervisor of the other. I assumed that the man was the father of the two children and it turned out that he was not their father but a friend of the families watching them while their father tried to get their mother out of jail. He did say that he was looking for a suspected terrorist by the call sign off “the telephone terrorists”.  Which it turns out the kids are the ones that he is looking for. I assumed that this show was about a dysfunctional woman with troubled teens. I was very wrong, even though I believe that the mother needs to learn how to handle her stress and anger better when dealing with people she has to deal with. If this had been a show that I have been watching for a while like Grey’s Anatomy I would have made more accurate assumptions about what I was watching.   

           

Competent Communication

My sister Rae Ann demonstrates competent communication. She cares about others and her relationships with them. She understands that their perspective and needs are legitimate. She makes sure that the results of their communication are as satisfying as possible to all involved. She has the ability to view a situation from another person’s perspective and experience how that perspective feels. She shows a wide range of flexibility in attaining mutual goals. She has the skill of being adaptable to any situation or conversation that she is involved in. She encourages others to meet their goals without being pushy about it. I have and will continue to model spme of my own communication skills after her.  

 

Professional Hopes and Goals

Professional Hopes and Goals

 

One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds.

 

One hope that I have when it comes to working with children and families that comes from diverse backgrounds is that  I can learn about their culture and families so that I can help them to feel comfortable and secure leaving their children in my care. I also would like for them to feel able to talk to me when and if they need a little extra help with anything in their life.

 One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice.

 One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that all early childhood professionals be required to take a diversity class and have ongoing training every few years, so that they can stay up to date on how to be diverse teachers and not fall back into old school ways of thinking about diverse families and so that they can continue to learn about all the different changes that are continuing to happen within families and cultures.

A brief note of thanks to your colleagues

 I would like to thank all of my colleagues for their encouragement and support during our courses. It has been a great help knowing that I had that extra support. I wish all the best for all of you.