Adjourning

I think that the groups that I have found it hardest to leave are the ones that I got to know really well. I have found my most successful groups to be people that I met with often and became somewhat of a support group as well. We learned a lot about each other and in return we figured out how to effectively communicate with one another as well. In most of my group situations I have had a final project to present with them and then we celebrate with by going to lunch. As far as the group of colleagues I have formed in my masters program, I think that it is difficult to adjourn from them, but not as hard because we haven’t met personally and then each new class brings a few more new people to the group. Knowing that we have built relationships with people who are passionate for the same things and able to be a resource when needed helps the adjourning process and is essential to teamwork.

Conflict Resolution

 

My recent conflict that I have been dealing with involves my son’s preschool director. She continues to place a note on my sign in/out page stating that I owe money. I disagree and don’t understand why she thinks I owe money. I pay on time regularly and I couldn’t understand why she thinks I owe money. I first decided to avoid the situation and wait to see if the director approached me. However nothing changed. I then decided to try and speak with her, but every time I dropped my son off, the director walked the other way and never addressed the situation with me. This happened multiple times so I was pretty upset and finally ready to discuss the issue with her. I remember that I needed to remain calm and respectful and listen to her side as well. I listened to her side of the story and I explained mine and she didn’t seem to care what I was saying. Finally, I asked her to provide me with a statement so we can compare her records with mine. We finally determined that she credited the wrong account with one of my payments.  I was frustrated because I felt it was her job to communicate with me better and discuss the situation with me in person instead of writing a note every day. I am curious how my colleagues would have handled the situation if they were the director and how they would handle it if they were me.

Communication and Culture

When I think about the cultural diversity that I see in my neighborhood, in my workplace, and also at my child’s school, I do find that I communicate differently with different groups and cultures. I think that I have gotten to know many of the people I see each day in work, in my neighborhood and at my sons school and I have become aware of how to communicate and interact with them based on what I know about them. At work I interact and communicate differently with my staff who have been working for me longer. We are able to joke with each other a bit more because we know each other well. When I communicate with my supervisor however, I am more reserved and professional. At my sons school I often speak with one staff member about baseball because he really enjoys the sport and so do I, however, another male teacher hates sports and we often talk about current events. I also communicate differently with people based on my feelings and happenings throughout the day. In the morning I may be real friendly and say hi to many of my neighbors and at the end of the day I tend to be more reserved because I have been around people most of the day and often want to be alone with my son when I get home. This is sometimes difficult though because I have to walk by a play structure to get to my apartment and many times the children that are there want to play with my son and then the parents want to talk with me. I have noticed that I often walk by real quickly and make sure to be on the phone or try to be occupied with something. I know I may come off rude and I don’t intend to, but I prefer to have some time alone.

Communication skills

 I watched a show called Baby Daddy. It starts by showing 2 younger boys and a lady who looks annoyed on the couch, rolling her eyes. The boys face each other body language shows that they are not interested in the lady or what she is saying instead it looked as though they were checking each others breath. They leave and return and another guy is now there. The new guy jumps up and puts his finger in front of his mouth looking like he is telling them to be quiet. Then it shows the lady asleep on the couch with writing all over her face. Then the 2 boys are sitting at table and hold up their phones with both of them having a pic of the same girl. I immediately assume that they are dating or interested in the same girl. I watch as one boy speaks showing lots of expression in his eyes, smiling and throwing a lot of hand movements and gestures. The other boy looks at him and rolls his eyes and then starts talking in a heated manner as well. Soon the other guy jumps in and starts talking, it seems like the boys were fighting over the girl and he is trying to smooth things over. He is calmer and his mouth isn’t opening as wide when he talks so I assume he is talking quieter than the others were. The next scene appears to be the next day and one of the boys is sitting in front of a laptop smiling and laughing with another girl and the lady is in a robe, with a very unhappy looking face and is  pointing a spatula at them and the kids stop laughing and look as though they are in trouble. The show goes on to show each boy setting up a date with the girl in the pic.

When I watched the show with sound I realized the lady was one of the boys mother and she actually said at one point, "Kids have the way of sucking the life out of you." That was the point that I observed that the boys were not interested in her and she looked annoyed. The boys were actually heading out to go to a club and they did a check involving making sure their breath did not smell. The other guy that was there when the boys returned seemed to be one of the boys older brother. He listened as the boys talked about their night and realized they both met the same girl. The brother tried to convince the boys not to fight over the girl. The next day the boy asked his mom if she was on his computer and she said yes. They found her online dating profile and she had fibbed on her age and were laughing at her profile when she yelled at them and told them they will be old someday too.

I found it really difficult to watch the show without sound, and it wasn't much better with sound ether which is probably why I have never seen the show before.When watching the show without sound,  was able to guess pretty accurately about what was occurring by observing their actions, eyes and expressions. I also observed their age and the props they had. However, I still didn't understand it exactly and missed on some of the specifics that were important. I couldn't tell that some of them were related or one of them was a young father and so on. Watching this show without sound and then with sound makes me think about the assumptions I am guilty of making from time to time. Sometimes I assume things based on observing others interactions and behaviors and I realize that I may be right sometimes, but sometimes I could also be wrong.

Competent Communicator

When I think of someone who is a competent communicator I think of my father. My father is very intelligent and shares his knowledge with me. We are able to discuss various topics and he holds my attention because he knows so much and teaches me new things. I can also trust my dad, which to me is very important when communicating. I know the information that my father is telling me is honest and truthful and that if he is ever unsure of something he lets me know and seeks to find the answer. My father is not afraid to admit when he is wrong and to let me know when I am wrong as well. He does a great job listening to me and others. I would love to model these behaviors because I think they are examples of what great communicator’s exhibit and should strive to always model.

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds.

When I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds, I hope that will continue to remember and apply all that I have learned throughout this course. I hope that I will continue to make children and families feel welcomed. I hope I provide an environment that incorporates culture from all backgrounds and I provide a program environment where everyone feels as though they belong.

One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice.

My goal that I have set for myself is to take what I have learned and share it to my staff and childcare directors that work for me. This course has made a strong impact on me and taking what I have learned and bringing it back to my staff and my programs will have a huge impact on my community as a whole.

 A brief note of thanks to your colleagues

I have learned a lot from this course from the readings and resource videos, but especially from the discussion posts and interactions with my colleagues. I truly appreciate everyone’s opinion, ideas, questions, thoughts and advice. Without my colleagues, this course would not have been such a success, so thank you all for everything!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Growing up in a small town in the Midwest, I was not too familiar with other cultures and I never knew any immigrants. Then I moved to southern California and was amazed how little I was exposed to when growing up in my small town. I met so many new people from various countries and cultures. Many of the people I have met are immigrants from Mexico. We have a lot of Mexican children in our child care programs. In order to be culturally responsive to these families I had to be able to relate to them and understand their culture.

Iprepared to make all participants in my programs feel welcomed by first speaking to one if my really good friends who is also from Mexico. She told me about the different cities in Mexico and how different each city is. She told me about different beliefs and family traditions as well. Secondly, I took the time to research the areas in Mexico, the different traditions, beliefs and cultures. Third, I hired staff who spoke Spanish and English so that they could relate to the children. I also hired a couple people who were from Mexico as well. Next, I had my staff make sure to set the classroom up so that all children would feel welcome. The staff posted signs that were written in both Spanish and English. They created newsletters and snack calendars in both languages. They incorporated aspects of their culture into their curriculum and snack options. My staff spoke with the children often asking them for suggestions on what they would like to incorporate into the programs as well. After all that I had a big family event. We had a potluck where each family brought a food item that represented their culture and traditions. The parents and children loved it. We now have monthly family potlucks.