How I and Others Evaluate Me about Communication

How I and others evaluate me

I rated myself as “mild” which stated in taking the quiz

Self

As a bit uneasy in some communication situations and somewhat more confident in other context. Communication is not something that I worry a great deal about.

 Co-workers Have shared; I appear not to be clear in some conversations because I don’t intent to hurt feelings.

 

Family; Has actually shared that in some deep conversations I will shut down or avoid  talking farther because the end result is not wanting to hurt someone’s feelings.

 

Overall:This is good information. Now I must make goals to be clear and to stay in the moment to figure things out in some conversations of  how to be effective in situations  that can turn emotional.

We all agreed; that I am a great listener  and I like to  follow up in most conversations  for details.

 

Do I find myself communicating differently according to individuals?

When I think a about culture diversity, rather in the presence of co-workers, classmates, family or in the community, I see myself becoming a product of my environment.

At work, I'm professional with early education as the focus and hoping I can successfully be a great resource to families and teachers.

At Church, I always wish I could be in the same place on a daily basis. The environment is much more relaxed and the atmosphere is full of gratitude. Talking with the people, I see more smiles than ever!

At home, I am free!!!!  It's  a safe zone to be who I am   and say what I feel . One thing that my family and I  work on is  treating  each other better than we treat outsiders. If I treat my boss with great respect because I need my job or I have a motive to get a raise  and show how dependable I can be, than I owe that to my family because they love me unconditionally .Our words are just as kind to each other as they are to the church and work family. a

The common denominators in the groups I have identified for effective communication are
1. Listening
2. Reflecting
3. Eye contact
4. Smiling  ......and.......
5 Showing respect    

 

Nonverbal vs. Verbal

To get a better understanding of communication in varies ways; I turned the T.V. on with the mute button down.  The movie I came across was “Mooz-lum” a black woman leaving the sanctuary of the church and a very light or white man following her. I couldn’t figure out the relationship of the two characters. She appeared be a woman who was down on her luck, and crying.  The gentle man seemed concerned and to wanted to help her.   

She woman was full of tears, she looked worried and he looked emotionless, strong in the eyes and whatever he was saying he looked convincing.  

Then , replayed the scene  with the sound turned on.

The assumptions I made were far from what was really going on. WOW, the woman and man that I spoke about were a Muslim married couple, and she did not want to be married anymore, so the husband told her he was taking their son. I was way off in my guess! 

If I had known a bit  about the movie and still watched the it with the mute button on, I think there would  have been still some inaccurate assumptions that I would have made, that is why listening is the key!

Competent Communication

 

  Prosecutor, Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby communicated very well in front of  the media that would be heard nationally .  Attorney Mosby demonstrated  competence, confidence and assurance about her topic at hand ( an unlawful arrest that took place in Baltimore) .  The Attorney's behavior appeared to be, focused, also direct and a tone in her voice  that was well heard  and clear. The opportunity to make a difference  and speak publically must have come with a price of life experience that was either modeled or through her own trials.    I have learned form her appearance  to know my subject well, to be sure of the facts before presenting and depending on the subject at hand your facial expressions should match the subject. For a serious matter such as the one she spoke on I did not  witness smiling, I would want to model her communication skills because it demonstrates standing for what you believe while and knowing  your subject well enough to be open to talk with people

Professional Hopes and Goals

There are a couple of careers that I really would love to take on as I have been seeking for answers through the Perspectives on Diversity and Equity course. Becoming an Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist or Infant therapist is very close to my heart. I really want to take time to get to know the families and children as we work together to create the best developmental outcome for the child. I also want to help parents understand their child's cues , that their silent language is still a language, then I want to the parents to feel empowered to make wise decisions about their child's rights as all of the facts and resources are presented to them,  I would also love to teacher early childhood education at a community college.  To you my classmates, this course has been very emotional for me, and to read your backgrounds with many highs and lows, I thank you for sharing. I hope my words have supported you for the last eight weeks. My hope for you (as I  speak to myself as well) is that we take risk for the "great" cause and that we truly work where our hearts have a desire to be , that is my prayer!

Thank you, be blessed!
Val

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Welcoming families from other countries into a child care center is both exciting and intimidating.
Not knowing a lot about different countries  can feel intimidating due to the lack of knowledge. However, the excitement  alone of  learning something new brings rich conversation for the teacher , child and parent.

As an example I picked the country Yugoslavia. I thought about how I would conduct the  orientation to the center and how I would implement diversity.  For an effective quality program we want parents to share their talents, interest and occupations with our small citizens.

I have a few ways  of culture responses to the families that I would demonstrate are ( not necessarily in this order).  

1.Inviting parents to serve on the Center's Support group meeting. The design will allow reflection  to meet needs of families.
2. Social and educational gathers annually  to encourage interaction between staff and families.
3. Become familiar with basic language and have words printed in areas of the room with pictures as a description, even an alphabet book available for children in the book area
4.Invite parents  to cook with children and explain their countries favorite food.
5. Get to know the parent child-rearing style and have conferences outside of daily talks/reports.
6. Last ( while always more) ask for information on sports that the country enjoys and Holidays that are celebrated.

Having parent surveys completed regularly will  make staff aware of  concerns or praise of follow up.
All of  my thoughts are to help the families have a positive experience while our staff grows in knowledge and the center as a whole grows in quality, effective care.

       

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

In this touchy subject of bias, prejudice and oppression I thought some comic relief  of the hit 70's series Good Times would show the oppression of a family's trials in a dominant society. The Son J.J. of James and Florida Evans  is arrested ( mistaken identity of a robbery)  they found the criminal ... he is white, yet J.J. is black,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBOXXTY4tbA

Equity was diminished when police wanted to quickly  blame a black man for a crime that a person of a another race had committed.  My feelings of this incident reminded me when my brother was arrested for another mans crime of breaking into a house. The other man was caught, however this effected my brothers trust or mistrust of the law.  In this case officers of the law could have taken the opportunity to have detailed conversation with staff and citizens about who they were looking before jumping to conclusions. This video speaks volumes. so many men in jail now for crimes that they  did not commit.