Blog Assignment: Stage of Development

There has only been one group in my life, which was hardest for me to leave. That group consisted of me, my best friend/twin Lakeshia, and my best friend Tomeka. We first met each other when we were in middle school and instantaneously we were joined at the hip. People and teachers always assumed Lakeshia and I were twins, so we went along with it and surprisingly people did not find out the truth until the day of 8^th grade graduation. Every other week we would stay after school, go to the candy store, and sit out front the school and talk about life. We each had a unique story, which made us very close because we all knew what pain felt like. On the day of graduation we cried until our eyes swelled and vowed to always keep in touch, which we did for a little while, but eventually over the years we were hear from each other every blue moon. Tomeka and I were the exception; I was there for her when her grandparents passed away and she would come to my church every youth choir anniversary and hear me sing.

            Tomeka and Lakeshia were the greatest best friends a girl could ask for but about two years ago, Tomeka became ill and was hospitalized. Classmates would keep me informed and abreast of her situation due to me being off at school but on February 15, 2011 at the age of 23, I lost one of my closest friends in the world. I look back and wish we had more memories together and I wish I could go back to the good old days in middle school when we would sit on the brick wall outside of school and chill and talk for hours. Leaving and adjourning from any group can be painful, but the experience that I went through with losing my friend, I do not take for granted the people in my life. It is my hope that my colleagues and I see the true importance of connecting over these several weeks and build lasting friendships. I wish us all the best and remember to keep your eye on the prize and I cannot wait to possibly meet you all on graduation day. 

Conflict Resoultion

In my classroom, I work with two other teachers both of whom are Teacher Assistants, where I serve as Lead. Recently I was afforded the opportunity to add another teacher into my classroom and since doing so I have noticed that there have been conflict and verbal exchanges between the two teachers. One day as a team we needed to come up with a fundraiser idea for the school and all I noticed was that sparks began to fly. The two teachers could not agree and so I decided I would make the final decision as to what fundraiser we would complete. I have made it known to both teachers that I am not picking sides and that their behavior has influenced the classroom dynamics. I decided that it would be best if I tried to resolve the conflict before taking it to my supervisor. I found that the strategies I learned in classroom management such as become the delegating and neutralizer could benefit me in trying to have both teachers see the importance of working as a team. I have seen some improvement since the initial talk and will continue to be neutral in their disagreements, enforce that respect for each other and the classrooms is given and use communication skills by authors O'Hair and Wiemann to effectively communicate with my entire team

Blog Assignment: Evaluations and Surprises

What surprised me the most after looking over the evaluations is that I am considered a people person, which is the contrary to those who really know me. I have always disliked being in the spotlight and being around people I do not know, and so when the evaluations concluded that I was people-oriented that took me off guard and got me curious about how I am people oriented. I also learned from the evaluations that communication affects my relationship and allowed my girlfriend and I to see that I shut down quite frequently and at times do it out of habit. I also learned that nonverbal behaviors also influence how others perceived me and influence how effective I am in communicating with those around me. I hope this course will continue to allow me to grow in insight on how to become a better communicator. I hope that the newfound knowledge that I have will allow me to be better equipped to communicate with the different family dynamics and families of the new generations

Blog Assignment: Communication and Cultural Diversity

As a human being I can admit that at times I find confusing things and people I don’t understand. Through my continued education in the education field I have been using those lessons and strategies taught to better understand those around me, children, families, and even colleagues. Before learning different strategies I would only have basic communication exchange, your name, profession, and small talk.  When communicating with people of different cultures, I would myself getting shy and putting up a block because I did not know how to effectively communicate which made those around me look at me as if I was a mean person. I also found it very difficult to effectively communicate because at times even families would have up this wall and I had no clue how to knock that barrier down.

            The three strategies I learned this week that I feel will better help me in communicating with persons of different cultures are as follows:

·         Recognize my own patterns of nonverbal behavior (2010).

·         Learn as I interact and be willing to adjust my behavior as I learn and resist thinking my culture has all the answers (2011).

·         When something about a family’s practices bothers me, try to look at that practice or behavior through their viewpoint rather than my own (2010).

References

Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.  Chapter 4, "Interpersonal Communication and Diversity: Adapting to Others" (pp. 85–114)

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

 "Understanding and Appreciating Cultural Differences" (pp. 36–38)

"Looking at Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures" (pp. 80–81)

Television & Communication

Sound Off: For this blog assignment I chose to watch the “House of Payne” show by Tyler Perry, an American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, producer, author, and songwriter. On this particular episode there is an older woman who seems to like at the home with her husband and other possible family members. The individuals seem to love each other and from watching the show I can tell that this particular family is the matriarch of this family. I noticed by watching the program that the family loves to laugh but could be serious when need be.

Sound On: Once the sound was turned on I was able to finally put names to the characters and prove that the family was indeed close and care a lot about each other. The patriarch of the family was very silly and most of the family members tried their best to keep him calm and in line most of the show. I believe that if I would have watched a show I was more familiar with then I would have been more spot on with observations and behaviors.

Communication Blog Assignment

As a child and even today there has always been one person that I could always go to in time of need and whenever I needed advice and that person is my great-grandmother Mary Evans. My great-grandmother embodies strength and love. She taught me at an early age to always treat people with respect and to always fight for what I believe in. My great-grandma used her years growing up during segregation as stepping tools in the running and foundation of our family. I have never once heard her use one bad word or raise her voice, and just by being around her calms me.  My family and I know that although my great- grandmother’s voice is always calm and soft the why she speaks; it just commands us all to listen. I find that my great-grandmother’s overall presence allowed her to be effective when communicating with not only the family but others as well. My great-grandmother was and still is an advocate for respect and has always been honest even when times got rough. Although I am still learning and growing as an individual and professional I hope to one day have all the tools to be an effective communicator. As I continue through life and my education I try to embody some glimpse of my great-grandmother’s calming and caring spirit.

Professional Hopes and Goals

Over the past several weeks I feel my knowledge of diversity, equity, and social justice has changed for the better. It has been a wonderful experience learning and gaining insight on how diversity and social identities and how these factors contribute to the overall balance and relationship of staff and parent, professional and professional, and professionals and children. I am able to see now that how I identify myself and my family’s culture background influences the professional I am today. Although I feel as if I gained so much useful information I do feel that with my continued education here at Walden University and also with the motivation of faculty and peers that I will continue to grow and one day have a magnitude of knowledge to better serve those around me.

It is my hope that one day policy makers and the government will notice and do something about and beneficial to the early childhood education field and the many diverse families we as professionals serve. I hope that they can see the importance of inclusion for all children and families and make sure that early childhood centers, organizations, staff, and families are given the necessary resources to build a strong nation of healthy and bright children, regardless of sex, religion, socioeconomic class, orientation, ability and etc. If I was given the opportunity to set one goal related to early childhood and diversity, equity, and social justice, it would be to educate families and professionals on different ways to promote healthy inclusion for all families  and make sure they are aware of different mechanisms they could do to promote equity and social justice for all, and also make sure all early childhood education organizations have the necessary tools to integrate those diverse families smoothly, efficiently, and most important respectfully.

            I would like to say CONGRATULATIONS, to all of my classmates and group mates for making it this far in their learning and thank you to all for all of your insight, words of encouragement, and weekly responses, I truly appreciate you each and every one of you. I wish you all the best and please remember that the best is yet to come and let’s get out there and impact the world one young learner at a time. Best of luck to you all!!!!