Collaborative Learning Community

At the beginning of this class I started off by reading my colleagues welcome post. This was the beginning of our collaborative learning community. I feel that in this time were beginning to learn more information on the people we are working with. Throughout the class I really enjoyed the sharing that this class had through our discussion and blog post. I feel the more I read about each one of us through our post I got more familiar with everyone. I love how this school sets up the class into small groups so that it is possible to get very familiar with our teammates. The thing that I gained the most from this class was the "Platinum Rule" This rule allows me to trust and respect anyone that I am communicating with. In this exchange of respect it allows everyone to get their point across and allows a positive exchange of information. This rule makes understanding communication easier. Thanks colleagues for all you have given me!

I feel that this picture displays how this class is now after going through this class. I do hope that this class opened the door for each one of us to continue to study more about communication!

Adjourning

Sometimes the worst part of a conversation is to say good bye. In these good byes you can never say enough how much you will miss someone especially when the time spent with them was unforgettable. When think of the phase Adjourning in relation with team building this can be the hardest time to experience. When I think of this phase I can relate many group experiences like this. The main one that I can think of is in each class a Walden during the eighth week how we have to say or goodbyes. Even though we don't work directly on assignments together a bond is still formed throughout the class time. We share our ideas and experiences in relation to the class topics and by the end of the class semester we are saying good bye. This has always been a bitter sweet time in each class that I have taken. I really appreciate the time that I get to spend with my classmates and I will take all the sharing experiences with me.
I feel that the hardest teams to leave are the ones that worked together and got to know each other in the process. It is so important to get to know your teammates initatlly to get to understand each persons streights. This is vital to distributing task throughout the assignment. When you have a team that has spent lots of time getting to know each other it is hard to break the bond because it was not forced but something that actually growed.
I closing rituals that I think of are the feedback's and gratitude that are expressed in the goodbyes. This time is a good time to just say thank you to all your teammates.
Every part of the team building process is worth  taking!

Conflict Resolution

Hello Colleagues,

I had a disagreement with my sister recently about how she disciplines her children In this disagreement my sister was not happy about what I was saying. She treats the oldest a lot harder than the other children and she forces them to all go with him when he wants to spend so time with his friends. As children me and my sister did not have a good relationship and now that we are close we see how that was very harmful to both of our lives. Now that my sister has kids she tries to ensure that they are not distant from each other and they are close. In this disagreement I shared my emotions about what she is doing and I also actively listened to her side of the argument. She left the conversation feeling very upset about what I said. I wanted us to come to a conclusion about what she could do better and how I could help but she took it as me saying she did not know how to raise her kids. I am not sure how the conversation got to this but the issue is not resolve. Could anyone help me with this situation?

How I communicate through others eyes!

This week we were assigned to take different inventories that evaluated how we communicate and listen. These inventories had to be taken by us and two other individuals. I chose two participants that are familiar with my communication skills. I chose one family member and one church member. I chose the family member because sometimes we communicate differently with family than out in the public. I chose a church member/friend because she has seen me speak in different ministries we are apart of. My score varied a little in number but all were in the same categories. I am a people-oriented communicator that is shy in some atmospheres when challenged to speak. These scores flex my communication challenges and gift exactly.

Two things I have learned from this exercise:
1. I learned that I am not always nervous in all speaking environments which shows me how to channel the improvements.
2. I learned the different types of listening skills and how they are important based on the atmosphere you are in.

In conclusion, I enjoyed learning about myself through the eyes of others!

Communication and Culture

Communication is a topic that is viewed differently based on culture. When communicating with others it is necessary to communicate differently based on the particular culture. When I observe my children in my classroom I notice how differently communication is displayed based on culture. When dealing with kids that speak in other languages I have to speak a little slower and I normally get on my knees face to face so that I am on their lever. I notice when communicating with kids it is important to get eye level. This shows them that you are engaged with what they are saying. When I am talking with other cultures that are adults I normally have listen more that speak. The reason I do this is to learn traits of new cultures. Sometimes if necessary I use a translator to ensure that I understand and can communicate effectively.
Effective communication is so necessary to when dealing wtih other cultures.


When I saw this picture I wanted to use it to display the importance of communication. We live in a diverse society and it is so important teach our children how to effectively communicate with each other. If we work hand and hand we can work together. Communication is key to crossing cultural barriers.

TV Interpretation

 

I chose to watch the show "Dog the bounty hunter". I have watched this show before and based on my pass experiences I felt that it would be hard to predict what was going on. I did not want to pick a show that would be easy for me to understand without sound. I wanted to be able to use my skills that I learned this week to help me in interpreting what the show was about.

Interpretation of Show with no sound.
In the scene I watched with no sound I noticed that Dog and his employees got a new case. I new this because Dog was at the dry eraser board with a new picture and he wrote down notes around the picture. I also understood that this person was a hard catch because one of the employees put his head down and started shaking it. I felt that this meant that this person they were looking for was maybe even dangerous. When they started to search for the person I saw that they had little help. No one would give up information. I drew these conclusions from seeing them walk up to people with the picture of the fugitive and they just shook their heads.

Interpretation of Show with sound

My interpretations were correct. The person the Dog was assigned to was a fugitive that was armed and dangerous and no one was able to capture him. This was frustrating because no one would give them a lead of where to find him. In the end they found him through many days of searching.

I felt this assignment helped me to use all skills that I have learned this week to decode the conversations going on in this show. It is so important to use all forms of communication when trying to reach someone.

Professional Hopes and Goals

As a EC professional I have one hope when thinking of working with families and childeren of diverse culture. This one hope is that I can position myself to learn as much as I can and I present myself to these families as being concerned and excited about learning about who they are. One goal that I have pertaining to diversity in early childhood is that I can show children how to genuinely appreciate each other and learn how they are all a part of the puzzle and without each other it is impossible to by whole.

I really appreciate this class and my colleagues for all the excellent information that was shared. I also appreciate Dr. Anthony Morgan for being so patient with me in my transitions.

I hope to see everyone in my next class and if not I hope to see everyone in graduation. Congratulations in advance on everyone academic journey.