A Bond Like No Other

Oh my, I can’t believe it is already time to tell you guys thanks. This program is just flying by and I feel as though I am growing tremendously. I want to thank each and every one of you, who has taken the time to comment on my blogs and discussions. It is so helpful to know that there is a group of people out there that share the same goals and aspirations as me. I could not have asked for a better group of people to grow with. I think the best part about this class ending is knowing that as I have grown, you have grown as well.  I want to wish everyone a fantastic and blessed journey as you continue through it. Never look back and never ever give up. We have been given the opportunity to be a part of some of the most magnificent and amazing creatures on this planet, children. Keep striving.

Adjourning Teamwork

The group that I am thinking of that made the hardest to say good-bye is the 5^th grade class that left school for the last time on the last day. Our group was special because I got the opportunity to grow with the 5^th graders and they got the opportunity to see where hard work pays off. I do believe that high performing groups are the hardest to leave. Once someone achieves so much and gets the opportunity to experience it with someone else it means a lot more.

What I thought was really special and unique for the 5^th graders were that it was a tradition for the 5^th graders to be sent off by the rest of the school. Each other grade lined the hall way to create a pathway for the 5^th graders. Then the 5^th graders got to walk the halls for the last time with music playing and everyone cheering. It was an amazing experience to watch and I could only imagine what it felt like to participate in it. Once the 5^th graders passed by me, all I could do was think about the times we spent preparing for the statewide test and just learning about our history and everyday life.

When it comes to adjourning from my colleagues I become sad and happy. I am sad because for the last year I have learned and grew with some amazing people from all over the world. I feel as though I can have a place to go where at least someone understands what I am going through. I almost don’t know where I will go once we graduate to find colleagues and peers like I have today. Yet I know I will be extremely happy because we have all accomplished something that many people will never have the opportunity to do. We will have set goals for ourselves and will have reached them.

I feel as though adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it is a way to see where workings towards your goals have led you. For my 5^th graders we worked 2 semesters on preparing for the state test. When we received our grades from the practice test we had seen that our hard work had paid off. Yet this wasn’t the last step, and I had explained to them that it was time for the next group of teachers to lead them further. So adjourning is just another phase of reaching your goals in my eyes.

Work Conflicts

There is a conflict in my office that is an ongoing problem. At the drug and alcohol rehab center I work at, I am in charge of running and controlling the UA program. Here in the last few months our bill has risen and is causing a problem financially. So in order to help with this problem, I have started enforcing some rules that I have not been doing in the past. Well I am only a part time worker at the center, so when I am not there to enforce the rules, it seems as the counselors and other full time employees don’t care about the rules that have been put into effect. So for the last few mandatory weekly meetings I have brought to everyone attention the issues we are having. I have then asked to help me sole the problems, by coming up with ideas they think will help or even different compromises we can make in order to help bring down the cost of UAs.  So of course some of the main “complaints” my colleagues have had is that it’s not their job to worry about the rules and that they have their own job descriptions to worry about. So I have brought to their attention that because of the lack of “extra” money coming in we are not currently receiving bonuses, luncheons and things of that nature. Once I brought that to their attention, the idea of helping and compromise became the main topic at hand.

So the strategies that I used were providing evidence that with a high UA bill meant less money for the office to enjoy more things and then I was able to get them to the point to where they were more willing to compromise.

Communication Tests

At first I was unsure of what to expect of these tests. Once I did the first test, communication anxiety I was thinking “oh its one of these tests”, you know the ones that ask you the same question but 3 different times and 3 different ways. While I was doing these test, my cousin who is also a coworker was doing the test for me at the same time. We received our results about the same time. It was crazy because pretty much everything that I scored on my own, my cousin scored the same thing. It is didn’t surprise me at all. She knows me and I am very comfortable and relaxed around her. So for her to have the same results were normal to me. The second person I had take the test is my boyfriend of a few months. It was more interesting to read his results. Just by his results you can tell that I am still holding back some of my “realness” from him. I think that is normal as well for a relationship that is this new. I really learned about how much I hold back from people till I am truly comfortable with them. I feel this is a good and bad thing, but something I don’t look forward to changing.

Different Culture Communication

I think for sure I communicate differently depending on the person I am talking with. For example I am a 25 year old Black woman, and I have a wide range or colleagues at the elementary I work at. Yet I know that I “carry” myself differently when I speak to my colleague that is a 28 year old Caucasian woman who has been married to a Black man and currently dating a Black man compared to an older Caucasian woman. I knowingly approach each of these ladies differently. I speak in a different manner and if there is a conversation that I am having I use different examples or speech pattern when it comes to who I am talking to. Since the younger woman is someone I communicate with outside the school, usually my communication with her is more casual. I think as a professional though, you have to be able to relate and communicate to different cultures. It allows you to learn and understand who you are talking to in any situation.

Character Communication

This assignment was actually really interesting. I couldn’t figure out what show I wanted to see. All of my favorite shows just seem so animated. I recently became interested in Glee and all of the pretty music. So I wondered what the show would “look” like with out the music.

The characters in the show expressed the same interest as they did with music and sound. They all made eye contact and you knew the ones that didn’t were mad at each other but that only lasted a few minutes. The emotion that Finn and Rachel have for each other is expressed all of their faces. Even when Rachel sang a love ballet to Finn, the cast in the background portrayed just by their actions and expressions how much the two cared for each other.

The feelings and expressions they seemed to be experiencing are happy yet confused. You can tell by the way Rachel and Finn look at each other and the way Finn grabs her that he cares yet it seems that every other encounter with each other they have looks of anguish on their faces.

When I turned the sound back on of course I was right about my assumption. Although in this episode the two lovebirds were discussing marriage and what a happy thing it can be, there were still moments of “what ifs”. This played a major role in their communication skills and their actual and true feelings for one another.

I do believe my assumptions would have been correct if this had been a show that I had watched a little more. It had all the hand holding, smiling, tears, and hugging of any other show that was revolved young love. Maybe the emotions are true and do relate to real life communications.

Competent Communication

The profession that I think is the most competent in their
communication is educators. It is one think to provide children and their
families with information, it is another think to teach and educate them. Not
everyone has the same learning style or understanding skills, so educators have
to be able to adapt and be flexible when it comes to teaching others. With that
being said an educator has to have a huge “bag of tricks” to work from.

 

Educators have different types of behaviors they can
exhibit. Most importantly they have to be flexible and heave a passion in order
to be an effective educator. The great educators are great because they have
compassion for others and enjoy watching as others excel in their developments.

My professional goal is to be a competent communicator. I want
to be that person in someone’s life that has paved a path for learning. In my
own personal experience, my favorite teachers were the ones who didn’t just
teach to the class, but they taught to each student. Learned everyone’s
strengths and weakness and then watched them excel. I would love to be an
educator with them behaviors.