Communication with Others

This week think about the similarities and differences between how you evaluated yourself as a communicator and how others evaluated you.

This exercise was a very interesting activity.  I was a bit nervous because of course it is always scary to see what others have to say about you. However, I feel that it has inspired me to take action on some different techniques to be a more affective communicator. 

What is the one thing that surprised you the most? Why?

The one thing that surprised me the most was that my colleague and personal friend scored almost identical to what I scored.  I think that I am not giving myself enough credit of how I communicate.  I think that I must prejudge myself and really haven’t seen how I communicate until I really took these tests.

What other insights about communication did you gain this week?

There were many insights that I gained this week.  One is that I am a people oriented person.  I have been told that several times in my life.  This is a great way to communicate, however, there has to be a balance.  I know that I take thing very personal and internalize much that is communicated to me.  I am then very hard on myself f whether I have communicated appropriately to the other person.

I also experienced that I should be more consistent in the way that I communicate.  It seems that I am a situational communicator.  I am going to listen to myself and make sure that I am not prejudging and that I can be more consistent in the way that I communicate.

Overall this was an excellent exercise.  There are many things I need to work on for my personal and professional ways of communication.

Communication With Others

  

Communication with Others

This week’s blog question was interesting and made me more aware of how I communicate.  It is amazing to watch others who communicate and it is amazing to step outside my self and watch myself communicate with others. 

The Question:  Do you find yourself communicating differently with people of different groups and cultures?

Absolutely! As I stepped outside of myself to observe what I was saying to others I found that communicating with others of different cultures I tend to higher my volume and use many hand and facial features. I am using much body language.  I am not sure why I feel that I need to talk louder. I notice that when I am talking to others, especially those of another language, I make sure that I focus on one topic at a time.  Where as if I am talking to close friends we tend to jump all around, however, we keep up. 

One thing that I noticed when I am talking to others that are not close is that I tend to take things personally, I internalize it and later analyze it and then understand what they were saying.  I sometimes do not have an answer to say at the time. 

When I talk to my family there is much body language and eye gestures. There also is much sarcasm.  It seems as though when I communicate with my family we almost read each other’s minds.  We can predict what the other is going to say and then we build on that topic.

This was an interesting observation and made me aware of that it is not necessary to talk loud.  I am not sure why I ever did this.

I have learned many new strategies that I could improve with my communication. Beebe, Beebe and Redmond (2011) suggested that it is two-fold in its purpose.  The first part is about social decentering; whereby one takes into account the other person’s thoughts, values, background, and overall perspective. The second part includes empathy, which is about emotions, being aware of and taking into consideration the other person’s feelings, thoughts, attitudes, values, background and perspectives and adapting to their interactions appropriately and sensitively.

Being non-judgmental and assuming what others say is two other strategies that I need to be aware and take into account.  It is important to practice the Platinum Rule in all aspects of communication.

In conclusion, I feel that being an effective communicator will be to put these strategies into effect. Really we are all alike and talking loud should not be a way of communicating.

References

Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Communication

Week 2

Record an episode of a television show you do not normally watch. Watch the show with the sound turned off.

This week’s blog is very interesting. Watching an TV episode with the sound turned off was very interesting.  It put me in the shoes of how a person who has no hearing feels.  I was very frustrated and had to really concentrate and almost guess and make my own story of what was going on. 

The episode that I recorded was Cake Boss.  This is a reality series of a family who owns a famous bakery in New Jersey.  The show follows the family and how they run the bakery and make the different cakes and pastries for their clients and for the public.

Sound Turned Off

The episode that I watched was very interesting. The bakery seemed very busy and I assumed that the star of the show (Buddy) was sort of angry or mad at the other workers.  There was much facial expressions by all the people involved. Eyebrows rising, hands flying every which way, sad faces, there was even like aggressiveness when setting the pastries down.  I assumed that Buddy was disappointed in his co-workers in that they were not doing something right. I assumed that the relationships were close but they were maybe having a bad day at the bakery.  It looks as though they have a heavy workload and that they were under much stress.

Sound Turned On

When I watched the show with the sound turned on my assumptions were way off.  Buddy is not mad and not yelling and was not disappointed in his co-workers.  Actually they are all family and they were laughing and joking with each other.  When I thought Buddy was being mad at the coworkers, what he was doing was explaining the expectations of what he wanted this certain cake to look like.  By his facial expressions without hearing looked as though no one was having fun.  When listening and looking at his facial expressions it was understandable and it was all positive.

I think if I would have watched this show on a regular basis, I maybe could have figured out that he was not mad. Just viewing it for the first time was a great eye opener of how communication can affect us in different ways.  Perception is another way as well.  My daughter was watching with me and she had a different perception than I did. 

Communication

The person that I think has demonstrated competent communication to me was a mentor and a boss.  She had a way of communicating in a positive way and to have others think critically and outside the box.  She taught me to listen and not jump to conclusions.  She seems to be positive until you are with her many hours.  Those are the positive motives that I learned from her.  The biggest one was she taught me to listen.

I feel that I have learned to listen from her and use her as a mentor and a model, however, if she wants something done it does have to be done her way or she will say have another person look at it. For example, she would want a project done or a slide show and you would produce what she wanted and then would say that it looked fabulous, however, lets let this other person look at it.  Then the work was never used.  It seems that the idea was thrown out there and someone else would take credit for it. 

The process of listening she modeled was the biggest help for me.  Now I am looking for a positive communicator and mentor to put my communication needs together.  Communication is so important and it is a talent to make sure that you can communicate properly as to not offend people. I am no longer with this company.

Professional Hopes and Goals

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 I can be objective and respectful to all the families and people that I come in contact with.  I would hope that I can share my experiences and leave that space for the families and people to open up to me so that I can learn from them as well as they an learn from me.  With this hope I hope that this can create a more unified community of harmony of many cultures and much diversity.

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to continue to learn and become knowledgeable about how to relate to children and families who cultural and/or linguistic backgrounds are different than my own, so that I can create harmony and unity in the classroom and outside the classroom.

I want to thank all my colleagues in this class and whom I associate with in my daily ventures.  I have learned so much from all the different experiences that have been posted.  I know that I am much more aware of what is happening when it comes to diversity and culture.  I know that I have learned to be aware and to listen.  The biggest lesson that I have learned is not to assume or judge any situation.  I will work hard everyday to look at each situation on a personal basis.  Thank you Dr. Williams for offering your knowledge.