Thank You-Inspiring Colleagues!

 This was indeed a course where all of my colleagues’ postings, discussions and blogs were truly inspiring and invaluable.  From this course, I have taken away that to be an effective communicator; one has to be truly committed to the process of communicating. As I experienced this process throughout these eight weeks, I wish to share these two quotes which helped to sum up what I will cherish from this course:

“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” Anthony Robbins quotes (American advisor to leaders)

“The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of“ our lives” Anthony Robbins quotes (American advisor to leaders)

I do hope that I have been a true communicator and collaborator to my instructor, Dr. Carson and   my fellow colleagues as they have been to me. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors as we near the end of our journey together at Walden.

  Reference

 http://thinkexist.com/quotations/communication/

Group Adjournment

I have found that working in groups can be both a thrilling and daunting experience. At the very onset of the group development, each person seem to be “unsure how to act around each other,” (O'Hair, & Wiemann, 2012). But as the group members continue to pool resources and build trust, the group changes significantly. Once the goals are clearly established and the leader has emerged, the “group identity grows stronger as members begin to realize the importance of their roles within the group” (O'Hair, & Wiemann, 2012, p.257). As the fervor for working together escalates, it becomes very difficult to adjourn the group. I find that high- performing groups are the hardest to leave. This is so, because all the group members understand the proverbial “blood sweat and tears” and sleepless nights that were put into making ‘the project’ a success.

The group that I participated in that was the hardest to leave was the School Improvement Council (SIC) at the High School where I taught in South Carolina (2007-2009). As a member of that council, I participated in analyzing student performances, created statistical reports, and collaborated with other committee members to develop strategies to improve students’ performance in English Language Arts. I also authored the Pacing Guides for (ELA) for 9th grade classes. These guides played an integral part in the school's accreditation success with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). At the end of my two year tenure, I was saddened by the fact that I had to leave. It was this group that helped to nurture me in understanding and accepting diversity. Coming from a different cultural background, I was given a great deal of privilege and freedom to communicate with everyone without feeling intimidated. Many of our students did well overall and we were able to instill a love of learning in others who were making their decisions to go to college. Many parents too were happy with the accreditation success.

             At the end of the school year we had a dinner, and I can clearly remember receiving monetary bonus for my success. Additionally, I also performed one of my cultural poem pieces as a token of my appreciation for being privileged to work with such a wonderful group of team members.

            I imagine that I will be experiencing mixed feelings as I adjourn from my colleagues at Walden. It has been a very enriching and rewarding experience thus far as I collaborated, researched and communicated with my colleagues. It will not only be a happy experience to receive my Master’s degree, but it would be rewarding if “we could be provided with the opportunity to say goodbye to each other and wish each other all the best in their future endeavors”(Adubi,2010).

            I believe that adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it allows the members to put everything into context and perspective. They will be able to highlight what they have learnt and what they will take with them in their future work from the experiences they gained from each other.

References

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from

 http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's

Resolving Conflicts

During the past school year, I had experienced a severe conflict with the lead teacher in the pre-k 4 classroom in which I worked last year. This conflict arose from the fact that I had asked another colleague for advice on how to cope with a challenge that the lead teacher and I were experiencing with a student. This student was actually in that colleague’s classroom the year before. I thought taking the initiative to ask for advice was a good idea. The lead teacher felt offended that I asked for advice without telling her. I felt the wrath of her anger over the phone and at a meeting with the principal when she vented venomously that I was wrong to ask for advice without her knowledge. She said that we needed “to fix” the situation of the behavior ourselves. I knew that the situation of the child was bigger than the both of us to deal with. Therefore, for the safety of the child, I decided to first remain silent about her situation, but to follow the advice of the colleague who had her for more than a year in her class. The second strategy that I implemented was to ensure that she had something to eat every morning before she started to work and although I did not know about the NVC and the 3R’s of communication, I started building a rapport with her father to find out more about her. This helped a great deal. I found out that giving her tasks to do was something she liked because she was very helpful with her twin brother and sister.

A broader range of solutions could have been used to diffuse the tension between us as the teachers. Some of the Nonviolent Communication and Respectful, Reciprocal and Responsive principles could have been utilized to help not only one student but all the students in our classrooms and even us as teachers. Two of these strategies/solutions are respect for each other and a willingness to understand our views and beliefs and how they affect our interactions with others. These strategies/solutions would give “communicators a chance to honestly and considerately explore the issues involved in the conflict situation” in what is called “supportive climates” (O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012, p. 230). Within these climates, “communicators are open to one another’s ideas and feelings and together construct reality that induces productive resolution of the problems that instigated the conflict in the first place” (2012, p.230). By doing this we can “resolve [our conflict] with mutually beneficial results” (2012, p.230).

Reference

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.