WK 3 Helpful Communication Tips...

We all know that communicating with others can be a challenge too some but here are three strategies that have helped me to become an effective communicator….

1. Listen effectively when someone is talking with you or in a group so that you can take in what is being said and at the same time be open-minded.
2. Focus on others thoughts and perspectives and what others may be experiencing emotionally.
3. Take a step back and think outside the box in other words "step into their shoes."

Taking a step back and thinking outside the box would allow us to learn as much as we can about a person.  Listening to someone when they are talking would give you vital information about what they are feeling or thinking.  Focusing on other thoughts and perspectives along with what they may be experiencing, will show them that you care about their thoughts and emotions. 

TV Shows & Communication Skills

I decided to watch an episode of Gilmore Girls, which is a show about a young single mother and her teenage daughter building a relationship living in a small town called Stars Hollow.  Watching the show without sounds showed nonverbal communication through their facial expression and/or body language. The facial expressions were show through their smiles, laughing for happiness, and even crying for sadness.  Their body languages were shown through the mom and daughter hugging each other while the daughter was crying which showed me that mom was consoling her daughter.  Watching the show again with the sound on, the smiles and laughing were the signs of happiness.  The crying was sadness because her daughter had a boyfriend and he broke up with her and mom was consoling her and telling her that if it was meant to be then it will be.  This episode was a life lesson of a young girl who experienced her first break up from her first love and mom was there to help her daughter through it.  Watching this show without sound has taught me to be more open and watch for nonverbal communication cues.  I plan on watching more shows without sound to learn more about nonverbal communication cues and try to figure out what the characters are trying to convey and meaning. 

WK 1 Competent Communication

I can think of a time when I had to go to an early childhood conference for training hours.  The speaker was teaching about challenging behaviors and ways to working with challenging behaviors.  The speaker did keep eye contact and her tones during the sessions and I felt was a strong communication part.   What I did not think was effective communication was the examples she gave to exampling the challenging behaviors.  I am an early childhood professional and I know you should never use the child’s first and last names when giving examples at a conference.  The speaker even went on to talk about the parents and added comments of what these parents said on how they would punish their child.  The speaker had videos of these children to show us challenging behaviors and staff to show how to deal with them.  I knew the speaker personally and knew the child care center that was recorded to show these examples.  I felt confidentiality of the children and parents were broken.  I have seen a lot of videos that have children in them and know the adults used different names for the children or just use first names.  I would never model this type of communication if I was a speaker at conference.  Confidentiality should never be broken in any conversations. 

WK 8 Professional Hopes and Goals

Over the past several weeks I have learned more about diversity and I hope that I am able to provide the best education to all children and families of different diverse backgrounds equally.  Being aware of how people in the world judges and/or stereotype others, allows me to be able to spot bias.  My goal in life is to be a great example of an anti-bias person so that others can see and learn from my examples so that we all are treated fairly.  Thanks to all my classmates for all your input throughout our discussion and our blogs.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The country that I have chosen as my “Family’s” country of origin is Australia.  I know very little about Australia and in order for me to prepare myself by learning all there is to know about this country.  Here are some ways I would prepare myself for this family.

1. Do research through the internet or even at the library, so that I can learn about their language, religion, and their life styles.
2. I would talk with the point of contact that has enrolled the child, so that I could find out where the child is coming from and contact the early childhood program that this child was enrolled in before moving.
3. I would collaborate with co-workers to see they have any information about Australia or if they have been to Australia.
4. Once I found out as much as I could about this families background, I would incorporate materials that represent their lifestyle.  Added familiar materials in my classroom would make my child feel welcomed.
5. In educating myself about this culture, I would have a one or two week long curriculum teaching the children about all the cultures that relate to all the children including myself.  Having activities that are related to all the children’s culture allows the children to see where and how they live and see new artifacts about each culture.

In preparing to welcome my family, I would benefit by obtaining information about this culture and diverse background in hope that this families would feel welcome and comfortable in my classroom.  With the information I have learned about their background I would be confident that I could provide the best education for the child and that the child feels comfortable and trusts me. I would hope that this family would see that I put my whole self into the education of children and that I am not holding any kind of bias towards them. 

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