Scooby Doo and the Gang: Adjourning

The group that I can remember the most that was truly the hardest for me to leave was the group of 11. The pre-k teachers and assistants. We have a very small pre-k with only 5 lead teachers and 5 assistant teachers. There was 6 classes, but unfortunately last year one died and they did not replace her. That took some of the wind out of our sails over at pre-k. The reason why I chose this group is because I had been a part of this group for 4 school terms with this school term being the 5 if I had stayed at pre-k. I can truly say that we were able to make it through all five stages. I have to be honest nothing about it was easy, because there are 10 teachers and a principal that all have to come together and agree for the children's sake. I really hated to leave this group because over the years we had gotten to know each other. We knew what each of us liked and disliked, we learned to listen to each other's opinions, and we learned to compromise with each other so that the children would get the best outcome possible. After building such a relationship with the other teachers that was comfortable and one that I knew well, I did not want to leave but I knew that I had to. It was truly saddening to leave pre-k after being there for 4 school terms. The lead teacher that I worked with and the parents of the students that were in my classroom all got together and threw me a surprise going away party. The children were great and they made me feel great that day because I knew that they really did love me and that they would miss me. So the experience that I had as I left pre-k is one that I will always remember..

I have to be honest I know that I am going to hate to see my colleagues and I part whenever we are done with this degree program. I want to be able to keep in touch with them so that I can still talk with them. I have to tell you that there have been some times in this program where I just wanted to quit and give up. Mainly in the research class that I took if it had not been for some of my colleagues that helped me through I would have given up. I had a difficult time in that class and I was given support by some of my colleagues, but there was one colleague in particular that responded to my e-mail for help in a nasty way. She said some things to me that did not help the situation at all, but there were others that helped to pull me through. That is what team work is about. I am so grateful for everyone that has helped me up unto this point. Thanks guys for your support. As we come to this end we will be in the adjourning stage. This stage is the most important stage because it proves that groups are able to make it pass their differences. They established mutual respect for each other and were able to work though their differences to come up with solutions that everyone agreed upon. At this point the group has become a success at what they set out to accomplish and they should be proud of themselves for trying and working so hard to make it through the process. So with that in mind all of us that is in this master degree program should be rejoicing because we are almost there to the adjourning stage.
                

                                    




The perfect example of team work, and working through your differences!!!!



Constantly Disagreeing

I have not had any conflicts with anyone outside my family, but I am in a constant battle with my son. He is about to turn 11 in Aug and he thinks that he is 25 already. We are constantly disagreeing and I have to get onto him about the same things everyday it seems like. I have had sit downs with him, his dad has, even our Pastor has talked with him. He is a great child, but he has this habit of wanting to talk back and be disobedient what we down south call "hard headed". I was raised "ole school" where talking back was just not allowed. I had a mother that would bop you in the mouth for talking back to her. I feel the same way and it upsets me when he is in that mode. So I am dealing with my son and we have conflicts constantly. I think that I have tried every conflict solution in this case, but too no avail.The one conflict resolution that I use is separation, I have to separate myself from him sometimes so that I do not allow myself to get so upset with him and do or say something that I will regret later. The only thing that I know to do is to give it to God because I can't fix it God will have to fix this for us. That is currently the only conflict in my life right now, we're in Spiritual Warfare right now.



Perceptions of Communication

As a part of my job I am required to hold group meetings for the Parent as Teachers requirements. I have to be able to communicate with he parents and their children in a very effective manner while addressing important teaching information that can be used by the parents. During these communication efforts that I engage in I assumed that I was always respectful to others and their opinions and that I would have a score that reflected such communication on the verbal assertiveness scale. My score was moderate which means that I maintain a good balance with respect and consideration of others' viewpoint, and the ability to argue fairly by attacking the facts of a position rather than attacking the person that is holding the position. That surprised me because I thought that I would be low which would mean that I am respectful to the intelligence and viewpoints of others, and that I attempt to change their minds with gentle, and inoffensive suggestions that do not attack their self-concept. 

I learned that through the evaluation done by my husband and friend that they hold me in high regards as being an effective communicator.

I also learned that I am on the significant level sometimes when it comes to dealing with my oldest son. He is at the age where he thinks he knows more than I do and sometimes my verbal aggression level rises with him.

I have resolved that I will strive to bring my verbal aggression level with my son to a low point on the scale.

                                                                           





"DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH"?

The tittle of my blog comes from the motion picture Rush Hour. There are times when I am speaking to different groups of people that I have to change the way I speak. Sometimes my language is slang. I use that type of language when I am talking with my nephews. They have their own language that they use when they communicate with them and I my self use it when I am talking with them. It makes the atmosphere more agreeable when we are speaking. I have learned that when talking in my culture that you have to use the dominate language of the conversation to fit in. So when I am around my nephews talking with them I use slang, when I am around my family we use what people in big cities call country talk. Which is an informal way of speaking that is not always using correct English, with some occasional verb splitting.



In my neighborhood my family is the only Black family. Our neighbors are all White and we sometimes talk when we meet each other outside. Whenever I speak with them I do not have to change my way of speaking because we all speak on the same level. We have conversations that are long and short at times and we are able to effectively communicate with each other on a level that is understood by all.



3 strategies that I will use to help me communicate effectively.

• Talk on the same level of the person/people that I am communicating with. I have learned that when I talk with the children and families that I serve I have to be like a chameleon, able to switch back and forth with the language that I use. The reason being is that people like to feel comfortable and relaxed when they speak without feeling inadequate or dumb. So when I talk to people I talk on the level that they communicate so that I am not offensive to them.
• I will have an open mind to their point of view and not have the conversation fastened on how I think things should be. I will apply the Platinum Rule principle while engaged in conversation with the families that I serve.
• I will take into consideration the culture and diversity aspect of the people that I am communicating with. I will have to remember that culture determines how people communicate, and I have to respect the various means of communication that is exhibited by the many different cultures in out society.

                                                                                  



Lets Talk TV Assignment 2

The TV show that I decided to record and observe was Heartland on The CW this is a movie about ranching, guys with jeans, hats, boots and horses. There were many scenes in the movie that had a lot of nonverbal language that I was able to guess correctly.

In one scene a guy dressed like a cowboy was sitting at a counter in a dinner and he was talking with his waitress he was smiling and he looked happy.  As he was talking the waitress gave him this look and said some words to him with an attitude. You could tell by her body movement, the look on her face and how she walked away from him that she had said something smart or offensive to him.

So when I watched the same scene in the movie with sound I was right. The guy liked the waitress and he was trying to make small talk, but she did not want to hear what he wanted to sat because she thought he was nothing but trouble and she walked away leaving him sitting at the counter. Then another girl walked up to him and he asked her “what did I say” she replied “it is not what you said but how you look”. The guy had a black eye. The waitress concluded from his black eye that he had been in a fight and that he was probably a trouble maker.

 

The second scene was one in a stable and a horse was giving birth to a fowl. There were three people there a young guy and young girl and this man that was much older and acted as a vet. All three of them were on their knees with the horse. The two guys had on elbow length gloves that were covered with blood. The older guy was reaching into the horse, and you could tell by his facial expressions that he was reaching around felling the fowl. Then he said something to the girl and her face turned red, her eyes filled with water, and she dropped her head.

The guy was telling her that the fowl was dead and she was asking him was he sure and why couldn’t they help it. I was able to tell from the facial expression that she had that something was wrong.

There was this one scene where this older guy was fussing at this younger guy. I thought he was giving him pointer on how to rustle a bull to the ground, but he was actually criticizing the guy telling him that he was not doing what he had told him, and that he did not listen to a word that he said, and so own. But after watching the show with word he was actually upset because he had moved past his prime as a bull rustler and wanted to get back to it, but he had lost it and it was time for him to pass it along to someone younger.

There scenes were easy to predict what was going on because of the body language, but not all of the scenes were that easy to figure out. If I would have been watching a TV show that I watch all of the time line Meet the Browns I would have been able to tell you exactly what was happening and what was being said because I have learned the characters and I know their persona.