Communication Evaluated

One thing that surprised me is that my manager did not see me as a good communicator. I know I am not perfect but I thought I was doing a lot better communicating with people. Two other things I learned this week is that assumptions are hard to stop. I did not realize until this week that I made judgments about people based on how they were dressed and how they look. I thought that I was one of those rare few who did not judge until I got to know people. I also learned this week that I am people oriented. Honestly, I am more of a loner and only talk when I have to. Each of these might help me professionally and personally because it makes me more aware of who I am as a communicator. I now know what I need to work on to make me a more effective communicator.

Communicating Differently

I don't think I communicate differently with adults from different cultures. I do, however, communicate differently with children. I try to watch my tone and what I say around children. I also communicate differently with people I do not like or trust. It is so hard for me to have a conversation with someone that I either do not like or do not trust. I know I have an attitude but I try to control it and the things I say when I am around certain people. Outside of that, I talk to everyone the same. 

I also talk differently with my family and friends. I guess I open up more with people that I comfortable with. The things I say to my family and close friends, I can not say to children, co-workers, and families I work with. At one point it was hard for me to separate my personal and my business and the conversations but now it is just like an automatic switch that turns off and on depending on where I am and who is around. 

Communication Skills: Language, Nonverbal, Listening

For this assignment I watched Pit Bulls and Parolees. First I watched the show with the sound turned off. I thought that everyone on the show was related or at least friends based on their interactions. They all worked together and with the dogs. You could tell they all loved the dogs based on their interactions with them. There was a couple of times when I was confused because the mood and facial expressions changed and without the sound, it was hard for me to determine what the reason for the sudden change was. Through-out the majority of the show they all looked either happy or content but there were those times when you could visually see that they were mad. During those times, their facial expressions changed and so did their body language. 

Once I turned on the sound, I got a completely different picture. There was one owner who ran the entire operation. She had a couple kids and the rest of the people on the show were either parolees or volunteers. The times that I thought they were mad, they were actually upset about a dog who needed their help.   

From this assignment, I now realize, now more than ever, that nonverbal communication is just as important as verbal communication. Assumptions can can and will be made if either of these do not match up. For instance, if you are having a great day but you are frowning, people will automatically assume you are in a bad mood (it happens to me all the time).   

 

Competent Communication

             Someone in my life who demonstrated competent communication would have to have been my mother. She was a confident woman in everything she did. She know what to say to people and how to say it. She never said anything offensive or negative to anyone. When she spoke to people she always gave eye contact and faced the person. Her tone was non-threatening but confident.  I would definitely want to model some of my own communication behaviors after her.  She died three days after I graduated from college, December 16, 2008. I love and miss her and hope to be more like her.

 This is the last picture of my mother. It was taken right before my graduation ceremony..She  looked like an ANGEL!!!!

Professional Hopes and Goals

 

One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that they find acceptance wherever they go, especially for the children as they enter school.

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issue of diversity, equity, and social justice is that more effort gets put into making everyone feel safe, secure, and accepted no matter where they are from. We need to assure everyone who enters our classrooms feel comfortable, welcomed, and accepted.

Thank you to all of my colleagues for taking the time to read my posts. I pray that each of you continue on with your collegiate goals and are successful in everything you do. 

 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

For this assignment, imagine the following scenario:

You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice—a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency. You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon. You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family. Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.

The name of “your” family’s country of origin

•  Jamaica

At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family

• Research 
• Learn about Jamaican traditions
• Find books, pictures, toys, etc for the classroom so that the new student and his/her parents will feel more comfortable
• Educate the other children about our new student and his/her culture
• Speak with the parents and child so that I may get to know them prior to the first day of class  
  

A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family
 

• These preparations will definitely benefit both me and the family in many ways. First, it will show them that I respect them and their culture and that I want to better understand where they come from. Second, it will make all of us feel more comfortable and less insecure about having their child in my class. Last but not least, the child will feel more comfortable in the class and will also feel welcomed. 

 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

One memory I have of an incident when I experienced on facebook. I had commented on the page of my of my parents who is white, and her boyfriend's cousin who is also white responded by calling someone the "N" word. It bothered me so much that I had to speak my mind. Needless to say, she look the comments down.

The "N" word was used as a way to discriminate against black people. How can we expect to make a positive change if people are still insistent upon using language that is so degrading and hurtful?

This incident made me extremely mad. I know that the world is alot better than it used to be but there's still alot of changes that need to be made.

Clearly everyone who feels that that word is appropriate to use needs to change their way of thinking in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity.