Thank You!

I would like to say thank you to all of my Walden colleagues who have been apart of my journey. So many of you have taken the last few classes with me. You have helped me grow and understand my self better when it comes to education. I thank you for the wonderful feedback and encouragement that you have given me along the way. I would like to wish you all the best of luck in your future classes and careers. I realize that most of us only have three more classes left until we are awarded our master's degree for all of our hard work.

Team Building and Collabortion

When building a team there are five stages that you will go through. The last stage of team building is adjourning. During this stage the group starts to break up and go there own separate ways. I find that the closer a group has become to each other the harder this stage becomes. I was a girl scout until I was 18 years old. I formed very close bonds with the group of girls that were in my troop. When it came time for me to leave the troop I found it very hard. We still keep in contact with each other even though we no longer have to work together to accomplish task. I have always found that when a group runs like a well oiled machine and learns to work with each other on such a high level it is very difficult to leave that group. Groups where you feel used or under valued are the ones that it is very easy to leave. Even though it may be hard to leave a group eventually we have to learn to stand alone. Always depending on others will not help us grow into the people we need to become. Any group that a person works in makes a difference in their life and helps mold a part of their life and that is what being in this program has done for me. I have enjoyed finding out more about myself and my colleagues. Realizing that we are so alike and yet so different. Helping each other along this educational path will be something I will not forget.

Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Management

Recentely I got into a disagreement with one of my family members. I have learned that both of us are very strongly oppinonated. When we get into disagreements it can get very heated. I  have learned that I can not talk to him when I am exteremly upset. I usually have to walk away and give myself time to cool down. After about 30 minutes to an hour I can come back and talk to him. I know that talking when am upset may turn into a physical altercation. I try to listen to his point of view and he tries to listen to my point of view. We usually to reach a comprimse on the situation. We really have been using the 3 R's "respectful, reciprocal, and responsive" without even realizing it.

When I am having a conflict with a co-worker I try to listen to their point of view. I find that I don't back down easitly when it comes to things that I feel very passinate about. If a comprimse can't be reached than I will say "I understand where your coming from but I still don't agree and if you feel that way I am sorry. " I know that sometimes you can't reach an agreemnt with someone. You have to realize that all situations will not be solved with everyone being happy.

Who am I as a communicator?

This week we were asked to take three quizzes. The quizzes evaluated communication anxiety, verbal aggression, and listening style. When I took the communication anxiety quiz I scored in the mild range. This is at no surprise to me. I find it easy to speak in public situations. I have also found that when I am in a group I usually end up being the group spokesman. Taking the listening style quiz I scored in group 1. Group 1 means that I am a people oriented person and a good listener. The only thing that surprised me was the results from the third quiz for verbal aggression. When I took the verbal aggression quiz I scored in the moderate range, but when one of the people I asked to judge me took the quiz I scored in the significant range. I found that I am very verbally aggressive toward that person. I hadn't realized that I act differently toward him. I feel that I need to pay more attention to how I treat that particular person. As a teacher I always want to make sure all of my children are being treated with the same respect. Maybe I should apply this same rule in all of the other parts of my life.

Communication in Culture

When communicating sometimes I find myself changing my personality depending upon the person or group of people I am talking to. When I am speaking with my family or friends I am very direct. I speak to people telling them my full opinion. When I am communicating with parents I have to say negetive things in a positive way. I have to be careful in the way that I say things.  I've also found that my tone and body language change when I am upset. I recently had to communicate with a sales associate at a car rental office. I spoke calmly, without yelling, but the tone in my voice communicated that I was upset. I know I showed that I was upset because the manager was walking by and stopped to see what had happened. When angry I know that cursing and yelling will get nothing accomplished. You have to get your point across without losing your cool.  Everytime you communicate with someone I believe the way you communicate changes even if it is just a little bit to fit the type of person you are talking to.

Communication Skills: Language, Nonverbal, Listening

I was asked to watch a show that I don't normally watch and look at it once without sound and then again with sound. I decided to watch a show called the middle. When the show began it has random pictures of people climbing things. Then a lady walked in a room with a  torch. I thought that it meant she had climbed like the people in the pictures. She was talking to man whose faced looked confused as the woman talked to him. A girl came in the room and talked to the woman and the man. She seemed very excited, because she had a large smile on her face and started jumping up and down. The show then showed which seemed like flashbacks of the girl at school. The girl then went into the the school attendance office (there was a sign on the door) she talked to the lady behind the counter. As she talked you noticed that she was getting upset. Her smile left her face and she shook her hand up and down. When I turned the sound on I found on that the pictures at the beginning were comparing the great moments to overcoming the hurdle of the last week of school to start summer. The woman bought a torch as a sign of summer. The girl was excited when she came into the room because she was to receive the perfect attendance award from school. The flashback showed how the girl went to school no matter how she was feeling. When the girl went to the schools attendance office she found that the school had her absent on one day so she would not receive the attendance award.

Watching a show with no sound was very interesting. I never noticed how much people move their hands when they talk. A persons face and body movements tell you a lot about how they feel. I found that I was guessing correctly about the feelings of the people in the TV show. A persons body language can really help you understand how they are feeling.

What is Communication?

Having good communication is an essestial part of any job. I expecially learned this from working at the parking office at Louisiana State University. Students, faculty, and visitors would come to this office to get parking passes, pay for tickets, and get their car out of impound. When a person is involved in this type of work they have to be able to have good communication skills. A person that demonstarted excellent communication skills was my superivor Mrs. Debeorah. She showed me how to let a person vent if they come to the office upset. You let the person get out what they have to say first. Once the person has expressed what they want to say, you then restate what they told you. "What you are telling me is...... Is that corret?" Once you know what the person wants you can proceed in helping them. An important rule of communication is to remain open minded and calm. Sometimes when a person is feeling a certain way they can come off as harsh or mean, but you have to put yourself in their shoes and think about what you would want done. Staying calm is essential because nothing happens when everyone is shouting at each other.
When I talk to parents or anyother adult I keep these skills in mind. They really do help you make the best of any situation. Using these skills also shows parents that I am here not help not to destory what they are trying to do. I want them to know that if we work together we will get better results.