Week 4

Blog Week 4

·         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? Why?

The one thing that surprised me the most was that my husband evaluated me similar to what I evaluated myself. I speak out a lot more when I am around him so I thought that my communication anxiety would differ from his.  Another surprise was how different my husband sees me as a communicator than my coworker. My coworker sees me more comfortable in a larger group than myself and my husband. I need to work on my public speaking and becoming more comfortable with it because my job requires me to speak in public often and in large groups. I am working on gaining confidence to help calm my nerves down when speaking in large groups!

·         What other insights about communication did you gain this week?

I learned that I am a people pleaser and that could hurt me in my professional career. I am too trusting and need to keep my guard up a little because if not then it could bite me in the butt J Knowing this will help me in my professional life because I will be more aware of letting people run over me. I have also learned that I do not need to judge a book by its cover! I need to get to know someone before I make assumptions. I will be more aware in the future of doing that. Understanding both of these will help me in my professional and personal life.

Week 3

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

·         If yes, in what ways do you communicate differently?

 

·         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

I do find myself communicating with differently with different groups of people. For example, when I go into the classroom and interact with the children I am soft spoke and motherly sounding. When I interact with my colleagues I am more professional, and when I speak to my employees I am compassionate yet demand respect.

1.       Using the Platinum Rule

2.       Don’ t just withhold judgment from people who are obviously from a different culture than your own.

3.       3. Understanding culture differences

 

Reference:

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010).  50 strategies for communicating and working with diverse families. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. 

Week 2

For this assignment, again consider you have been learning about communication skills and styles. Then record an episode of a television show you do no normally watch. 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?

The show that I choose to watch is big bang theory. I have heard others talk about the show but I have never watched it. I turned off the sound. There are 4 guys and 3 girls that were mainly on the show when I was watching it. It seemed as all of the characters were just friends. It looked like 4 of the guys lived in an apartment next door to one of the girls. They all hung out in the guy’s apartment.

 

·         What are they feeling and expressing based on the nonverbal behavior you are observing?

The girl that lived across the hall often rolled her eyes at one of the guys on the show. She seemed to be annoyed by him. All of the characters laughed together and one of the guys had a confused look on his face at times.

 

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 being observed?

Once the sound was on there were only 2 guys that lived in the apartment beside the girl. The girl was dating one of the guys that she lived by. The other two guys just hung out at the apartment frequently and the other two girls dated the other guys.

·         Would your assumptions have been more correct if you had been watching a how you know well?

If the sound was on I would have understood that the girl was rolling her eyes at the guy she was dating because he was asking her if she was cheating on him. I assumed she was annoyed I just did not know why. The guy that I thought was confused did not speak English very well.

 

My “aha” moment was thinking about we often make assumptions about someone before we really talk to them and get to know them. We need to carry this lesson in life and really communicate with the families that we come into contact with.

WEEK 1

For your blog this week, think of someone (e.g., family member, celebrity, politician, friend, or professor) who demonstrates competent communication within a particular context. What behaviors does this person exhibit that make him or her effective? Would you want to model some of your own communication behaviors after this person? Why or why not?

The person that demonstrates competent communication is my father. He is a retired principal now but when I would watch him work I could see that his communication was effective with the students as well as his teachers. My father was the principal at my school so growing up I had it tough. One thing my father had with everyone he came into contact with is respect from his employees and his students.  They knew what he expected and they also knew that he cared. He was always there to listen.  I have always looked up to my father (I am a big daddy’s girl J). I try to model the person that he is and the morals that my dad shows. I try to communicate with my co-workers and the families that I come into contact with much like him. I want them to know where I stand but also to feel that they can come to my about anything.

 

WEEK 8 BLOG

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

I hope that each and every family does not have experience some of the “isms” that we have discussed these past 8 weeks. I hope that our society does not set a certain norm and think that is the way we should live. I hope that one day our world can see as God does, that is that we are all equal.

 

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

The goal that I would like to set is that we educate our young children on these issues so that we can work toward a society that works as a team and in different groups. I want our young children to not be taught “isms” and to love everyone for who they are.

 

·         A brief note of thanks to your colleagues

I would like to thank each one of you for sharing your thoughts and experiences. It has helped me grow personally and professionally. I look forward to continue learning with each of you.