“We Don't Say Those Words in Class!”

 

When I was young about 9 or 10, my friends and I were at our corner store buying some candy when a lady and a little boy about 4 or 5 came into the store. The little boy was looking at us very strange. He then pointed out our friend and said, mom why is he two colors? Of course his mom told him to be quiet, and she had a frown on her face like he had done or said something wrong. Our friend did not say anything, and neither did we. Matter of fact we all pretended that we did not even hear the little boy because we had heard this remark before and had seen how people reacted to our friend skin problem before which was called vitiligo.

 

Therefore I believe by the mother telling her son to be quiet sent the message that my friends skin problem was something bad or something that should not be noticed or talked about. On the other hand she could have said something as simple as, sometimes our bodies do different things on the inside that cause our skin to make two colors. Something as simple as that I believe could have gave the boy some type of answer until he was old enough to really understand what vitiligo was.

 

Moreover if this had occurred within my classroom as an anti-bias educator and we were outside of the classroom on a trip, and I heard one of the children make this remark I would have said, (if I did not know) I would have said I really do not know but we will look it up on the internet when we get back to the classroom. Or perhaps if the person with vitiligo was an adult that they had made the remark to, I would ask the person themselves if it was okay for them to example to the children about their condition. This way the children would have an answer even if they did not understand completely. Furthermore by handling the situation this way I believe the next time they saw someone that looked like this with vitiligo they would not respond in a negative way because they would have learned that the medical condition has a name.  

 

 

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

 

In considering my response to those who believe that early childhood centers should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex partnered families, my feelings are mixed. I have often wondered if children should be exposed to such information by early childhood centers or first by their families. As an early childhood professional, and a parent I feel certain information should be learned from within the home environment first. However I do understand that some families feel there is an age limit on when they feel their child should be exposed to such information or capable of understanding this type of information. On the other hand I also understand that information such as this may never be explained within some homes therefore causing a child to be confused on what they are learning at home and hearing at school. However I also feel that when children, and families of gay or lesbian families see books like their own family they feel more at ease, and a part of the class environment.

 

Also in responding to a child’s parents or family member who did not want anyone who is perceived (or self-reported) homosexual or transgender to be caring for, educating, and/or interacting with their child, I would first tell them that I respect their rights. Then I would also have to ask why they felt this way if it was not too personal. If then they did not have any valid reasons I would then recommend that the parents or family members get to know the individual person before passing judgments on a person’s sexual background preferences over their educational background experience that they may have in helping their child develop effectively within our program.

 

 

A Word of Thanks

Dear colleagues,

I would like to first say that I have enjoyed all of your information and shared resources you have shared over the past eight weeks. I have come to know most of you on a more professional online level through us replying to each other’s discussions on the discussion board and, our blogs. I have also enjoyed the positive feedback that has helped me view others information in a positive way understanding that it is okay to agree to disagree while still working together toward a common goal with positive results.

Therefore as you all continue to pursue your professional, and personal goals I wish you all the best in everything you do in order that you may be able to help others in which ever professional field you choose.  

Thank you all

Edith Flinn

Adjourning

One of the hardest groups to say good-bye to was doing the time of receiving my associate’s degree. Doing this time the age group within the classes that we attended consist of mixed ages of women and a few men. We all became very close understanding that some had just graduated from high school and some of us had changed our profession into the field of early childhood education. During this time we became very close by helping each other in different areas of learning. Furthermore, I never notice anyone looking down on each other as though they knew more or was superior over another. As a result we all had a clear understanding that we were there for the same thing and that was not just to receive our associate degree but to help those around us succeed as well. Therefore the adjourning stage was a sad time for most of us because some were going to different colleges to continue their education and I was relocating to another state. For this reason I could say that high-performing groups are the hardest to leave if there has been a positive bond made, which in our case it was.

As time came near the end we all thought about how we could say good-bye in a way that would not make us as sad when separating. So we decided to have something like a family reunion after our graduation ceremony. It was wonderful we all invited our families and a couple of our instructors even attended with their families. Here we could share memories and share our views of our future in what we planned on continuing with what we had learned thus far.

However in thinking of adjourning from my online colleagues and not being able to see them face-to-face I thought it would not be difficult. Nonetheless I find that it will be just as hard as it was with my face-to-face colleagues. Therefore I feel when it is that time to adjourn I will be glad for our blog’s we have made. I feel I can directly contact each colleague and thank them personally for sharing in this wonderful experience while working on my master’s degree. For this reason alone I feel adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it shows others that their being a part of the group/team was appreciated, and valued.   

 

Strategies to manage and resolve conflict more productively

I recently had a small disagreement with the director of our center on what task are appropriate for members in the prek program to be doing that in other wise is not considered a part of their job description. Normally we do not have a problem in helping out when other parts of the center is shorthanded but we were told specifically not to be doing these things because we work in prek division.  However such task that we are being asked to do, we should not be doing them, and would not be doing them if state or any other higher authority were present.  Even though I do like helping out whenever possible, but I do not like putting my job in jeopardy if something was to happen.

Furthermore I explained my feelings, and situation to the director and asked if there was some way that they could get more help. But she said she would be responsible if something went wrong. But hearing this only made me more aware that she was not taking my feelings or any of the other staff feelings into consideration or hearing what I was saying about being truthful, and honest in what we are doing.

Therefore I feel nothing was solved and I would likely have to look into the CNVC training which states “Nonviolent Communication skills will assist you in dealing with major blocks to communication such as demands, diagnoses and blaming. In CNVC trainings you will learn to express yourself honestly without attacking. This will help minimize the likelihood of facing defensive reactions in others. The skills will help you make clear requests. They will help you receive critical and hostile messages without taking them personally, giving in, or losing self-esteem. These skills are useful with family, friends, students, subordinates, supervisors, co-workers and clients, as well as with your own internal dialogues”.

Reference

https://www.cnvc.org/Training/NVC-Concepts

 

 

 

Who am I as a Communicator?

For my blog this week, I had to think about the similarities and differences between how I evaluated myself as a communicator and how 2 others evaluated me. Therefore for this experiment I chose one of my sons, someone that knows me very well, and a co-worker that I know but do not have a very close relationship with. However what surprised me the most was that my son, and a co-worker who I chose to evaluate me said that I like to talk in small groups and in large crowds. I found this very interesting because I myself feel somewhat intimidated by others whom I think have a strong sense of confidence when I have to follow them in communicating important information.

Furthermore through doing the assessments this week on communicating as a communicator I learned that we may see ourselves as communicating in one manner or method, but others may view us as communicating in a completely different style. Another insight I had was that others view me as showing confidence when speaking to others. I found this interesting as well because I feel if my co-worker, and my son see this strong ability in me to speak with others I feel this is encouraging and will help me be more open when communicating with other staff and the families I work with as an early childhood professional.   

 

“Communicating Differently”

 Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?

In answering this question I had to put it to the test to see if I really did or did not communicate differently when interacting with colleagues from work, my neighbors or even my family. The outcome gave me a greater insight of how unknowingly without thinking I really did communicate with others differently based on who they were as people in a particular environment or situation, but not by culture or race.  

In communicating differently with the school director I communicated more professionally as an employer to employee relationship. When I communicate with co-workers, and some colleagues and seeing that the center is a small environment, and that we have become very close I communicated with them on a more casual level. On the other hand the wonderful lady that does all our cooking is from India. When communicating with her I use a more simple clear language and I speak more slowly because she is still learning the meaning of some of the English language spoken even though she can communicate in English. Also some of my neighbors in my community are somewhat older. When communicating with them and other neighbors my interactions are simply, hi, bye or how are you doing today? Our conversations are never very long unless we have time to sit, and even then our communication is only about what’s going on in our neighborhood or health problems they may have. But when talking with my family we talk about everything, and even all at once. I communicate personal information about myself that I would not normally talk about with my co-workers, neighbors or my director.

Therefore based on what I have learned this week about effective communication, and the new strategies I could use to help me communicate more effectively, I believe may help me overall become a better communicator.  I believe when communicating with the lady that does the cooking for us, I could take more time in explaining words that she does not understand of the English language which I believe would help her in comprehending the English language more easily, and when communicating with others. When communicating with the older neighbors in my neighborhood I could communicate with them on a more of a peer level. I believe when people get older, and we as adults ourselves begin to talk to them more slowly like they do not understand on an adult level, which is not true for all older adults. And last the strategy for effectively communicating with my family members is simple, just listen when others are speaking.