Final post Week 8 EDUC 6165

Over the past eight weeks of this course; EDUC 6165, I have learned so much about communication and collaboration in the early childhood environment. During this time I have had the opportunity to read my colleagues blogs and discussion forums. My thoughts on the topics each week have been challenged and proved to have many different perspectives. My colleagues in this course have supported my learning experiences and have “shed new light” on the way I look at certain scenarios. As each and every one of you continue on your professional path into the specialty you have chosen I wish you the best of luck. Each and every one of you have brought a unique perspective into the field of early childhood and will do great in your future endeavors. I hope to see some of you in my specialty of Administration, Management, and Leadership. Good luck everyone you will do great and thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise with me.

Adjourning- Week 6 EDUC 6165

     One of the most difficult times for me to adjourn a group was when I graduated from SUNY Cobleskill. I had many adjournments that occurred; friendships, professors, co-workers, and employment that I had while attending SUNY Cobleskill. All of these groups were high-performing groups because it created a balance for me to learn and grow as an early childhood professional and a person. These high-performing groups were very difficult for me to leave as they became such a great support system that I could refer to and use in many situations. Of the groups I listed I would say the friendships built were the hardest to leave. No matter the situation we encountered we most likely all went through it or were going to go through it and we were able to support one another throughout this period of time in our lives. The closing ritual I experienced in this instance was graduation. It was an opportunity to reflect upon what we had learned over the years we spent at SUNY Cobleskill and give a sense of closure to our experiences.

     As I think about the colleagues I have formed relationships with through this online experience I believe it will be most difficult to not have that weekly opportunity to read colleagues posts and experiences that are very similar to mine. Reading these posts have helped me to realize that I am not alone in my learning experiences in the field of early childhood. We come from all different parts of the world. This group has shown me that no matter where one is similar experiences are occurring. I imagine adjourning from this group of colleagues will be through our final blog posts, sending special thank you notes to one another and appreciating what they have had to offer to this online experience.

            Adjourning in my opinion is an essential stage of teamwork as it shows the mutual respect and appreciation each person has had for one another in meeting a common goal. This online learning experience has demonstrated the common goal of receiving our Master’s Degree while expanding our knowledge and wisdom of the early childhood field. Adjourning will give us a chance to celebrate what we have accomplished and give closure to move onto the next phase of our never-ending journey. It is a sense that this is not the end of the something, rather a building block to our future endeavors.

Week 5 EDUC 6165

     In my role as a supervisor I have recently faced challenging conversations where I have had to speak with someone about a supervisory concern. This form of communication has been challenging for me as I am faced with many unexpected responses. When communicating with staff I have tried to think about the 3R’s and non-violent communication without knowing it. I have kept a calm voice, even if they raise their voice. I stick to the facts and if I do not have an answer for something right away I value what they say and tell them I will get back to them soon with an answer. In this instance I cannot suggest a compromise, but I can be respectful of what they have to say and when appropriate recognize their strengths. Sometimes it can be difficult to be respectful of and fully hear out what the other person has to say, but I know it is my responsibility to be responsive to what they are communicating. Have any of you had to address supervisory concerns if so how did the conversation go?

Communication Skills Week 4

This week’s quizzes on verbal aggressiveness, communication anxiety, and listening skills showed many similarities and few differences when I took the quiz vs. my family and friends taking the quiz.

 I had a friend who I have known for about four months take the quiz for me she had the same results that I had in all areas except for verbal aggressiveness. I scored a 64 and she scored a 69, but this put our results in different brackets. The 64 that I scored stated I was moderately verbally aggressive the 69 stated that I was significantly verbally aggressive. I believe the difference in these scores was due to the group of people my friend observes me communicating with. When I am with my friends I am more relaxed and we joke around a lot. When I completed the test I was thinking of myself as a whole; how I communicate with friends, family, and colleagues. I believe I am more verbally aggressive when I am around my friends in a light hearted joking manner.

The family member I chose to take the quiz was my mother. She rated the same as I had on all quizzes except for communication anxiety. She scored me at a 49 whereas I scored myself at a 43. This again put us in different brackets. She scored me at the moderate level where I may have higher communication anxiety. I thought this was an interesting outcome, because I believed she scored me more accurately than I scored myself. I believe this can be due to the fact she can observe this through my non-verbal and verbal communication cues and how long she has known me for.

My friend and I scored the same for communication anxiety and listening skills. My Mom and I scored the same on verbal aggressiveness and listening skills. From these results it was helpful to see how others perceive me similarly as I perceive myself.

After taking these quizzes and reading the course text this week I developed a stronger sense of self-concept and self-efficacy. Self-concept is developed by thinking about your strengths and weaknesses, observing your behavior in a wide variety of situations, and witnessing your reactions and how others react to you (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012). I found myself learning about the influence the results my Mom and friend had on myself. When they did not match what I had for a result I became concerned and then thought about why the results were different. The results were mainly different, because they were not viewing the quiz on all aspects of communication that I encounter. They were evaluating me based on the social contexts they observe me in. Self-efficacy is the ability to predict actual success from self-concept and self-esteem. By taking the quizzes this week I learned that I avoid situations where I feel my self-efficacy is low. I saw this in my choice of who I asked to take the quizzes for me. I purposely did not ask for colleagues to take the quiz for me because I was nervous to find out the results. I am sure they would have been fine, but I avoided the situation because I was fearing the unknown. Learning about self-efficacy and self-concept has made me more aware of myself and my choice of communication strategies. I will now be more apt to realize the situations I avoid and my self-concept and apply changes where necessary in both my professional and personal life.

References

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedfor/ St. Martin's.

Week 3 Blog

I find myself communicating differently with people from different groups on a regular basis. In my daily encounters I speak to children, colleagues, staff whom I supervise, family, and friends. The language I use varies based upon the group of people who I am talking to. When I am talking to my family and friends I use more slang language and I am not as cautious about my non-verbal communication. Talking with colleagues and staff whom I supervise the language I choose is professional. I do not use slang or words or profanity. I am also careful to be aware of my non-verbal communication. I do my best to use good listening skills and always consider the platinum rule when having a disagreement with someone. When communicating with children I am very aware of all of my communication skills. I use verbal communication I know they will understand along with introducing them to new words. I am careful to make sure to give them enough time to respond back to me and give time for them to express themselves in their ways of communicating. In regards to race, religion, political affiliation, and sexual orientation I do not find myself often communicating differently unless it is to express a sign of respect. 

Week 2 EDUC 6165 Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

The show I chose to watch was "Roseanne". When I first watched it with the TV muted there appeared to be many relationships. There were two girls who seemed to be friends. A middle aged woman and man who appeared to be husband and wife. There was another woman who appeared to be a friend of the husband and wife and another man who appeared to be this other woman’s spouse.

                The non-verbal communication between the girls seemed that one girl was annoyed with the other and what she was saying at first. Then it appeared to be they were keeping a secret when the mother walked in. Their non-verbal communication changed and rather than look of anger and confusion on their faces they had a look of fear. Therefore the relationship with their mother did not appear to be a good one. The woman who appeared to be a friend of the husband and wife seemed to be that they were talking about a problem that she had. When the second man walked in, he seemed to be the person they had been talking about and as the show went on the non-verbal communication showed they were angry with one another, but when they kissed showed they had loving feelings for one another.

                When I watched “Roseanne” with the sound I found I had made very few assumptions about what had been happening. The spot I was most off on was the relationships. The two girls I thought were friends were actually sisters. The person who I thought was a friend of the husband and wife was actually the wife’s sister. I found for this show the non-verbal communication accurately aligned with the verbal communication. I would be interested to find out if I did this for another show if it would be different. If I were watching a show I knew well I would have already known the relationships and had a better understanding of the relationships before I even watched it.

                This assignment helped me to understand that non-verbal communication can really help one to understand how one is feeling. Granted I could not tell you exactly what the problems were that had occurred in the show until I heard what they were talking about I still knew when there was an argument happening or when the two girls were keeping a secret. I will be interested to see if others in this class had a similar or different experience than I had.

Week 1 EDUC 6165

I have always looked at one of my best friends as a competent communicator. We used to see each other on a daily basis and she would always greet me with a smile, ask me how I was doing, or compliment me in some way. This immediately made it easy for me to talk to her. If I had talked to her about something in the past she would follow-up with me on the topic. I always like how she will remember what I have talked to her about. She also does a great job of having difficult conversations with other people. She does not make them feel belittled or like their feelings are belittled. She makes sure to validate the other person’s feelings and opinions while getting her point across at the same time. Every day I try to model my own communication behaviors after her. She knows how to effectively communicate in a positive manner without being offensive to the other person. This is a great quality and I strive to make sure I come across the same way in conversations I have with other people.