This Journey End….But Not Over…(Week 1)

  As an early childhood professional, I will continue to grow and learn to create a change in the professional.  I will take what I’ve learned from this journey to the next chapter in my life…

Thanks,

Andrea

5 Stages of Team Development …. (Week 6)

5 Stages of Team Development

        The adjourning stage in team development is when the project or task has come to an end. I’ve been in several groups, and some of them have been the hardest to say goodbye because project went so well, and it was effective. There is one group in particular I was in at training where we had set roles in the project, and everyone had the same goals. Everyone had expectations, and it was followed through by everyone. One of the closing ritual was we reflected on what we could have changed before presenting it to the group. Everyone was still happy on the job we did. Also, we did exchange information in order to keep up the professionalism among each other. This training was almost a year ago, and only 2 out of 5 I’m still in contact with, I wish it was all group members.

              In this master’s program, I’ve became connected professionally to many colleagues. I would like to keep the professional relationship going because there are so many colleagues with great experiences and passion for children. I would like to continue to learn from my colleagues. The adjourning stage is very important as professional that want to continue to grow. As professional, it is always good to look back and reflect on the task at hand. Reflecting can lead to growth within yourself and having the opportunity to learn from each other.

Conflict Resolution….. (Week 5)

Conflict Resolution

          My colleague and I were had a conflict with our contract childcare center director about changing the diapering process in that childcare center. We have always used the ITERS Diapering Process, but the director wanted to change the process to one she came up on her own. The discussion went from bad to worse within 10 minutes. There were frustrated looks on everyone faces and feelings were becoming hurt. It seems like either side forgot about the issue at hand which lead into other concerns. After reflecting on this situation based on what I’ve learned, this meeting could have gone a different way. For instance, as a partnership in the childcare center, everyone should have looked at the situation as, what can we do to come to a solution? First I should approach the situation as trying to find a solution from a “win win “strategy. This is where both sides could have a compromise on the diapering process. We could have examined each process to see where could trade off. Also, my colleagues and I could have been empathic to the director’s needs. It would have been an opportunity to be an active listener; we could have gathered the information, and acknowledging by talking through the information. By using this approach, the center director would have been willing to resolve the problem.

       After talking with my colleague, we both agreed the conversation could have gone better. I shared with her some information I’ve learned in class, and she is open to using some of these conflict resolution methods. We are going to have another meeting with the center director on next week, and we will be using these new methods learned this week.

 

Conflict Resolution Network. (n.d.). CR kit. Retrieved from http://www.crnhq.org/pages.php?pID=12#skill_3

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



SIMILARTIES AND DIFFERENCES IN COMMUNICATION…. (WEEK 4)

SIMILARTIES AND DIFFERENCES IN COMMUNICATION…. (WEEK 4)

Surprising…..

Ø  On the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale, my mom scores me in the moderate level. She says I’m respectful and considerate of all view points, and I know how to argue fair. She reminded me as a young adult we would discuss things with my father, and I would listen to their side before making a decision. I believe my mom is able to notice these attributes, because she knows my personality.

 

Insights…..

Ø    It was amazing to learn how others see my communication skills differently from what I see for myself. I’ve learn that I’m a skilled communicator, but there are areas I need to improve to be an effective communicator to others.

·          I’ve learn I need to improve my communication skills with my particular context encounters to lower my anxiety level in my personal life, and professionally life to work effectively.

·         I’ve learn I need to improve my listening skills by focusing on more details in order to help my communication with my family members and colleagues.



Communicating in Groups……(Week 3)

Communicating in Groups

 I’ve always believe to keep my personal life and professional life separate. I believe you have to a level of standards of professionalism when interacting with colleagues. In my currently position, I’m a part of a management team which I’m the minority. During meetings, my communication is always professional using high language (formal) and gestures. In my home environment around my friends and family, my guard is down, and I’m more relaxed. I use more low language (slang) when talking to friends and family. Also, when I work with families in the early childhood profession, I try to avoid speaking to families use words that could be intimidating. For example, “YOU NEED TO……!” Using a phrase like that with families can set the tone of the relationship and hinder building a quality relationship with the family. Also, it gives the impression that I’m tell them what to do. In my family culture, I may tell my children, “You need to clean your room", which is acceptable in my family culture. So I believe communicating should be different based on the situation.

Communication Interpretation…..(Week 2)

Communication Interpretation…..(Week 2)

 

“”The Big Bang Theory” is a cable show I’ve never watched but seen so many commercial for it. I thought this would be a great opportunity to watch the show to interpret the communication. The show consists of friends that are scientists that are not the coolest guy to communicate with others outside the science world.

Watching the show without sound was very interesting; I started to play close attention to the nonverbal cues such as gestures, movement, and eye contact to interpret the plot of the episode. I could interpret the relationship between the characters are close friends and they had similar interest.  I could tell the expression between the characters is friendly and could be serious at times.

Watching the show with sound gave it a new light. There was a particular scene where one of the characters was actually telling a joke but his facial expression was so serious, but it was actually funny. Without hearing the joke I missed it the first time I watched the show. If I would have watched a TV show I was more familiar with I could have did a better job assuming on the plot and characters. The familiarity of watching previous episodes would lead me to interpret the show.

What “”aha”” moment I had during this experience was, everything is not what it seems. It is important not prejudge from a gesture or look, but to examine the situation. Verbal communication can bring new mean to a conversation.



Competent Communication….Week 1

Competent Communication

My fiancé sometimes goes on business trips where we have solely relied on technology to communicate. We send at least 3-4 emails per day so our competent communication is very important. His communication is very detail where I can decode his message without any problems. He will tell me about his day and I can almost visualize the moments by just reading his words. I strive to be a competent communicator. Sometimes when I email things he will say, “What are you talking?” Then I will have to send an email if I did not email something clearly. Talking to him face to face is different from email because you have to be more detail and clear on your message so the receiver can understand. I feel my fiancé’ does an outstanding job communicating with cognition ability to send a message able to be decoded. I strive to learn how to be a competent communicator in the same matter.