Saturday, February 29, 2020
Support
I would like to thank all of you for your support both through discussion and the blogs. I have enjoyed on how you approach the different ways of communicating with your colleagues and your students. Your thoughts and perspectives have been valuable to me, and I am looking forward to learning of your success in the Early Childhood Studies. To ones who are going in a different concentration, I wish you the best in your field of concentration. I am looking forward to my classmates who have chosen the same concentration as I have to working with you on the completion of our studies. Dr. McCarty, I want to thank you for your valuable insight and knowledge that you have provided. Your feedback have been invaluable, and I will use the knowledge that you have provided in my future teaching. If any of you would like to contact me, I can be reached at larry.manuel@waldenu.edu
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Adjourning
I think high performing groups are the hardest to leave because of the success of the group, the team building skills that each member have brought into the group, and the friendship that have been formed among group members both personally and professional. Groups with clear establish norms have roles which each group member has been assigned for the success of the group. If a group has established norms, then each group member knows her/her role in the group to make the group successful. One of the hardest group that I had to leave was with the Special Education Department of a school where I was a substitute teacher and a para-pro.
I had formed relationships with the administration, teachers, staff, and students from elementary, middle, and high school of the Special Educational Department. I had formed professional relationships with my coworkers who were very supportive in working with the students. I was working with a middle school class of special education students with a musical recital. However the recital was for the whole special educational department for students K-12. I have been at this school system for three years so I knew most of the students and had formed friendships with them from k-12 grades.
The middle school students that I worked with for the recital did a great job in coming together to perform a song by Taylor Swift called Shake, Shake, Shake, Our team consisted of the teachers from the special educational department of the middle school and their teacher aids, a musical professor from a local university and her student teachers, and the students from the special educational department. We met every Friday for three months to practice for the recital. Each was assigned roles. I got to work with the students on the drums. The two university professor student's aids helped the students with the tambourines and the vocals, and the professor was the lead vocal and guitarist.
The recital was a success because all of the parents of the students with disabilities were their and their family members, After the recital there was a luncheon where all of the participants were fed, and the students were given awards. The recital was recorded, and pictures were taken of the event. I knew that I would not see some of the high school students because they would be leaving the program once the school year was complete, so I made sure to speak to them and to wish them well.
When I adjourn for my colleagues in this Master Program, I hope that we as a group will keep it contact with one another to share ideals and experiences as we grow in the Early Childhood Educational Field. Adjourning is an essential part of teambuilding because you can take what you have learned into your next group to help build a team that will work together for the betterment of the team.
I had formed relationships with the administration, teachers, staff, and students from elementary, middle, and high school of the Special Educational Department. I had formed professional relationships with my coworkers who were very supportive in working with the students. I was working with a middle school class of special education students with a musical recital. However the recital was for the whole special educational department for students K-12. I have been at this school system for three years so I knew most of the students and had formed friendships with them from k-12 grades.
The middle school students that I worked with for the recital did a great job in coming together to perform a song by Taylor Swift called Shake, Shake, Shake, Our team consisted of the teachers from the special educational department of the middle school and their teacher aids, a musical professor from a local university and her student teachers, and the students from the special educational department. We met every Friday for three months to practice for the recital. Each was assigned roles. I got to work with the students on the drums. The two university professor student's aids helped the students with the tambourines and the vocals, and the professor was the lead vocal and guitarist.
The recital was a success because all of the parents of the students with disabilities were their and their family members, After the recital there was a luncheon where all of the participants were fed, and the students were given awards. The recital was recorded, and pictures were taken of the event. I knew that I would not see some of the high school students because they would be leaving the program once the school year was complete, so I made sure to speak to them and to wish them well.
When I adjourn for my colleagues in this Master Program, I hope that we as a group will keep it contact with one another to share ideals and experiences as we grow in the Early Childhood Educational Field. Adjourning is an essential part of teambuilding because you can take what you have learned into your next group to help build a team that will work together for the betterment of the team.
Saturday, February 8, 2020
Conflict with Colleague
The conflict which I am presently having is with a colleague. She is an administrative assistant, and she has a tendency to interrupt the class during classroom discussion for paper work or personal issues. My colleague has been at this site for five years, and I have been here for 18 months. Last week one of my students was opening a GED account to take a practice exam. We have two classrooms with one having a computer lab in it. The student was supposed to open the account and take the GED practice test. On Wednesday my colleague informs me that she had the student finish a questionnaire after the student had open his GED account and to wait to take the practice test.
My colleague is an assistant office administrator, and her title is not instructor. On Thursday morning when the students were taking their twenty minute break. I had a discussion with my colleague. I asked her not to interrupt the classroom discussion for personal matters or paperwork issues because the students have an hour of individual work between 12 P.M. TO 1 P.M, and she can have personal discussion with the students then. I asked her not to pull students from an assignments which I have directed them to complete without informing me first. I did not argue with her or confront her about her actions.
I informed her that I am open to any of her ideas as one of my strategies, and another strategy was to acknowledge her of her duties and that they are important to the education of our students as well. In conclusion I asked her how would she feel when she is during her orientation with a student if I would interrupt her and have the student to join the classroom discussion before orientation is completed. I wanted to put her in my shoes to see how her actions were disrupting to the class.
My colleague is an assistant office administrator, and her title is not instructor. On Thursday morning when the students were taking their twenty minute break. I had a discussion with my colleague. I asked her not to interrupt the classroom discussion for personal matters or paperwork issues because the students have an hour of individual work between 12 P.M. TO 1 P.M, and she can have personal discussion with the students then. I asked her not to pull students from an assignments which I have directed them to complete without informing me first. I did not argue with her or confront her about her actions.
I informed her that I am open to any of her ideas as one of my strategies, and another strategy was to acknowledge her of her duties and that they are important to the education of our students as well. In conclusion I asked her how would she feel when she is during her orientation with a student if I would interrupt her and have the student to join the classroom discussion before orientation is completed. I wanted to put her in my shoes to see how her actions were disrupting to the class.
Saturday, February 1, 2020
Similarities and Differences in Communication
The one thing that surprised me the most was the scores of my two colleagues who observe my communicating skills in the classroom with my students. The scores were similar in all three categories except for one. They had different scores in the Community Anxiety Inventory. One scored me low in the Communication Anxiety Inventory while another scored me in the mild category. I asked my colleague who had scored me in the low category as I my score were also low, and she stated "I see what you see." She told me that I have great communications skills with my students, and she have not seen me uneasy in communicating with my students while a second colleague scored me in the same category, and she concluded that I may feel a bit uneasy in some communications situations with my students and somewhat more confident in other communication situations.
One insight learned is that I respect other people viewpoints. I must be open to other people views even though I might disagree with them. When I disagree with other people viewpoints, I do not attack their viewpoint. Another insight is I do not attack people personally or verbal if my views are different than their views. I disagree that I would back down in a persuasive conversation out of respect. I would hold to my confixtions if I do not agree with that person viewpoint.
I think these two viewpoints will help me become a better communicator in my professional and personal life. I will agree to disagree if I can not get my viewpoints across to a colleague or personal friend and vice versa. I must learn to watch for people non verbal clues when communicating with them. Eye contact, facial expressions, hand gestures, personal space are non verbal clues that I must learn to pay more attention to when communicating.
One insight learned is that I respect other people viewpoints. I must be open to other people views even though I might disagree with them. When I disagree with other people viewpoints, I do not attack their viewpoint. Another insight is I do not attack people personally or verbal if my views are different than their views. I disagree that I would back down in a persuasive conversation out of respect. I would hold to my confixtions if I do not agree with that person viewpoint.
I think these two viewpoints will help me become a better communicator in my professional and personal life. I will agree to disagree if I can not get my viewpoints across to a colleague or personal friend and vice versa. I must learn to watch for people non verbal clues when communicating with them. Eye contact, facial expressions, hand gestures, personal space are non verbal clues that I must learn to pay more attention to when communicating.
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