Creating Affirming Environments

When walking into the center I think that it would be nice to have family photo collages that children have constructed with their parents next to the parent information board.  I would encourage parents to have pictures of family members that are also on their child's emergency contact sheet, so that there is less confusion when new people are introduced into the room.  For example if some one's grandma is coming to town to visit, we would be able to show all the children her picture from the photo, and explain that she is coming to our class to play with us.  So that when the grandmother comes into the room the children will have already seen her face, and it will not be as overwhelming.

Another idea that I thought would be nice would be to have children's art work framed around the room, to give it the feeling of a home.  Every month artwork can be replaced with newer material and the older ones can be sent home.  This allows every child to feel important and unique for creating something that could be put up around the room. (Keeping in mind that frames would have glass removed, and plexi-glass would be replaced so that there is not a safety hazard).

An idea that I loved from the Laureate Education video was that the owner had a shelf by the front of the room that families were allowed to bring in artifacts from their culture to display on the shelf for the month.  I think that this idea is amazing, because it allows families to decide for themselves what they determine as important instead of others suggesting ideas for them to bring.

In this same sense in reading through Chapter 4 I really liked the idea of families bringing in receptive cards, so that they are able to create traditional dishes and share them with all the children.  I have heard rumors that the program I work for in Kansas City is going to be trying this out next year, and I hope it happens!  This is a great way to introduce the books Everyone Eats Bread, Everyone Eats Bread, and etc. to demonstrate that everyone might eat similar foods, just in a different way.

Last but not least I would love to hang a world map on the wall for families to put a heart as to where their heritage is from.  I think this would lead into large group time about exploring the world around us, and introducing more traditional cultures into the room.  When some ones relative comes to visit the room, we can share the knowledge that we have with them, and they can build upon it.

There are so many more ideas that I could share about how to set up different areas, but I think that these ideas are good for foundation work.  These ideas can be built upon in so many different ways, with the children's guidance.

Adjourning

I can think back to when I was working on my Bachelors and I was working with a group of ladies, and we really made a connection.  It was not hard to leave the group, because we made time outside of school to get together to catch up with everyone.  The group was a great way that got us all introduced to each other.  It is interesting now to see all those same people on Facebook, and to see how their lives have changed since school. 

I think that the hardest group that I had to leave was my college group.  It was the ending of a past and the creation of a new beginning.  I truly miss my professors that I had.  I spent so much of my time figuring out who I was as a person, and they were there to watch it happen.  It was sad to leave the comfort of the setting, because it was one of the first places I felt like I had found myself. 

I think that these Master classes have created the same type of environment for me.  I have grown as a person, and I have communicated with a lot of individuals that share my passion for these young children.  I know that when these classes are over, I am going to be returning to some blogs to see if they keep it up, just to keep in contact.  There is so much that I have learned from listening to others stories.

I think of adjourning as the closing of a chapter.  It is not the end of the book, just the end of that section.  There is so much more that the story has to tell, and it just is not over yet.  You feel a sense of accomplishment when the one chapter is complete, but it makes you excited for the other chapters to come!

Conflict Resolution

I am very fortunate right now to not have any situations at work that result in disagreements or conflicts, well expect maybe with some of my student's as to why they have to lay down at quiet time.  That problem is easily solved with reminding them that we have quiet time, so that our bodies have a chance to grow, just like we grew our brain knowledge this morning. 

The one conflict that I had recently happened with my fiance.  We are in the process of purchasing a home, and due to his current work schedule has been unable to attend home viewings and such.  Well a couple of weeks ago my friend from back home and her aunt came to visit.  So they were able to go house hunting with me, and we found the house!! It had everything on our need list, and want list, all within our budget! It was perfect timing!  So when we got home my fiance was preparing to go back into work ( he works the night shift) we told him about the house, showed off some pictures and he was comfortable with putting in an offer.  SCORE!  So on Friday our bid went in and Monday we got the call to schedule our home inspection.  So far the home owners have accepted our bid, but the bank has to as well, because it is a short sell.  So I get extremely excited, and my fiance gets upset that he cannot be there for the inspection due to his work and sleep schedule.  He does not do well functioning as a zombie.  So while we wait for the bank to make up their mind, I have been sending color swatches and tile ideas to my grandma and to my friend that is moving in with us in May.  Well, needless to say my fiance got very upset that he was not included in the process, and it made it harder for him because he had not even been inside the house yet.

So we can to a compromise, I can only share house ideas with my grandma and friend after he has seen them.  We finally got him into the house to see it, and he is excited about what projects he can do around the house.  Today we went to Lowes and looking through flooring samples, back splash tiles and paint.  We got a lot accomplished on deciding what we want for the house, and now we just wait. 

Even though we work different shifts and we see each other for about 15 minutes a day, we have really put in a lot of effort this week.  We work hard during the weekend to create meal plans and get everything accomplished that we need to so that the week can run smoothly.  Meal plans help him, so that he knows what is available to cook for his dinner before he has to go to work, which also saves us money instead of eating out. 

Being in a relationship is not easy, it takes a lot of effort and selflessness.  I am always eager to hear other couples communication tactics and compromise solutions.  I will gladly take all the pearls of wisdom I can get!

Communication through others ears...

I was nervous about who was going to evaluate me on my communication skills.  I know how I sound in my head, and how things occasionally come out sounded ridiculous, but I was more concerned about how I came across to those around me.  I chose to have a friend of mine and my mother do the evaluations.  Now I was not concerned about what my friend would say, because we have a very open relationship of no judging, just honesty.  So I thought with her, that our outcomes would be very similar.  With my mother, that was a different story.  I think every mother daughter relationship have their periods where one feels more superior than the other.  I did not know because of so much emotion being assigned to our conversations if she would be able to hear me for me, or because I was her daughter.

Surprisingly all of our evaluations were within points of each other!! I found this surprising and relieving! I know what I try to strive for with my conversations, but was not always sure that they came off that way.  Apparently I am not doing that bad of a job at this whole communication thing. :)

From reading through the evaluation categories I learned that I do need to modify my communication and listening tactics a little bit.  I tend to be slightly naïve when people tell me things, and unfortunately I have been that way my whole life.  I take many things at face value, but I am learning at how to analyze the information that I receive, and then how to respond to it.  That is the other issue I have.  Sure I might ramble off a handful of suggestive ways that someone could correct or fix their problems, even though they never asked for that.  This is a family trait as well, so I have some major reconnection to fix there!  I find it helpful talking to people through text message, because it allows me more time to analyze the conversation and to determine if they wanted advice, or they just wanted someone to listen.  My friends are very good at letting me know when I have it wrong because they will question my silence or delayed responses with 'What do you think" or "Has that ever happened to you?"

I really like the relationships that I have created over the years, and I am proud to say that I am communicating on a very honest level with my friends and family.  I appreciate that they are aware of those things within me, and that they use them to their strength as well. 

Communication with Others

I do not find myself communicating differently with people from different cultures.  I find that when I am at work, as a professional I speak to everyone the same way.  I speak with the same professional demeanor, my language stays consistent.  I do tend to speak differently around friends and family.  I have friends that have different language levels and I do adjust myself accordingly.  With having friends of the family that are teachers as well, it is hard to use slang or abbreviated talk because they will critique your words and communication skills. 
I speak differently at sporting events than I do at the theater as well.  There are different atmospheres that allow different communication skills in order to blend into the culture surrounding you. 
Having a good understanding of the people that you are communicating with allows you to have better relationships with these people.  Always having an open form of communication with the families that you work with can open the lines of communication.
Keeping in constant contact with your families builds a great foundation so that when there is anything that ever comes up that you might need to talk with them about, you already have a strong relationship.  This helps the lines of communication stay open.  One of the hardest parts of communication is being honest with others, but it also a benefit.  When you can have honest communication with others it takes the guess work out of it.  You never go into a situation and are left wondering if they are holding something back.
It is definitely not easy, but it is worth it.

It's all about the body language.

The show that I chose to watch was Rake.  In the beginning it showed what looked to be recaps from previous episodes.  The scene starts off with a man having what I am assuming is his girlfriend pull out one of his teeth.  He seems to be convincing her to do it, and she does.  Maybe he does not have insurance and has a bad tooth, who knows?! It is possible that he cannot afford insurance, because he got a ride with a neighbor to go to a funeral.  The main character seemed to be upset at the funeral, but it does not seem like he truly knows the person.  In one second there seems to be a heated argument between the main character and someone else at the funeral, and the next second they are hugging and talking together. 

In the next scene the main character goes to a bar to meet up with an acquaintance, but he leads him to the back of his bar and beats him up.  The main character gives nonverbal cues at what looks like to have the man punch him in the face.  His acquaintance does so, and the main character ends up pulling out his tooth!

As it turns out the main character is a lawyer, which would explain why everyone he comes into contact with either seems angry, upset or hurt.  There seem to be a lot of heated arguments with other characters.  I do not know if this is typical for this show, or if it is because it is not the first episode either. 

I thought that this assignment was going to be easy, and it was just the opposite.  I found it hard to stay interested in a show I have never heard about, and never watched before, on mute! 

Turns out he couldn't afford a dentist, and is having money issues.  At the funeral he was listening to a football game that he had made a bet on.  Inside the church at the funeral, he dropped his phone and the football game started echoing through the church.  The man that he started talking to at the funeral was a friend of his that he was trying to get to open up about his fathers death.  He was encouraging him to express his true feelings towards his father now that he has passed. 

The man that he went and saw at the bar was his bookie.  He made a bet on the football game he was listening to at the funeral, and now he is in a huge debt.  So his bookie had to beat him up to demonstrate the seriousness the situation, and to let him know when he needed to pay his debt.

What type of show did I get myself involved in?!?!  Turns out the lawyer has more people upset at him because he is defending a cannibal.  Many of the characters do not understand why he is defending a cannibal, but it turns out that it is not against the law to be one. 

There are a lot of things that I did not pick up with just the nonverbal communication side of it. 

I do think that my assumptions would have been different if it had been a show that I was more familiar with, and knew from the beginning, instead of jumping into a show on their 4th episode.  Trying to understand the characters at this point while the show was on mute was hard and challenging.  It is definitely beneficial to be able to listen!!

Communication

The person that I think about is one of my professors from back in California.  The things that I feel that made her an effective communicator is that from the very beginning of her class she made herself available to her students. She always welcomed in her students ideas and concepts of things that had been learned from our own journeys.  It was through our personal experiences that she wanted to get to know her students better.  Often times she would take some of her students out for coffee to get to know us better. 

Having such an open and caring teacher allowed me to respect her and feel confident that no matter what struggle I was going through, that I could ask her a question about it, and that I would not just be cast aside.  At another university that I attended, I did not have one teacher that knew my name, I was just a number on a roster.

I would love to model some of my communication behaviors after her.  Having take the simple amount of time to get to know me, and help me through my college career was priceless.  I hope that I am able to transfer that same type of atmosphere with my students and families.  I want to be able to get to know them and for them to be comfortable enough to come to me for whatever they might need.