I can't believe that it has been a year since I decided to join this journey into receiving my Masters. It wasn't something that I thought about for a long time, I literally attended NAEYC and met a professor. I have learned so much in my journey! Although I wasn't always happy on Wednesdays, Saturday and Sunday because that was when assignments were due, it was nice to read all of your post and discussions. Thank you colleagues for providing your points of views and challenging my thinking. There were times when I had to reflect on a discussion post that was written because it was so different from my view, but I was able to understand the topic through your lens, which made our assignments more meaningful.
I remember being really nervous about joining an online community, but really glad that I have had some great interactions with you all! Now that the journey is almost over, I wish you nothing but the best of luck in your specializations!
If you every need me, leave a comment on my blog!
Cierra
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Adjourning after a Meeting
So....over the course of my career, I have attended many meetings. People in the early childhood field are always trying to find a better way to things because we are in a field that is every changing.
A couple of years ago I worked with the best team I have ever worked with. We had to come together to put together a conference for all the Child Care Directors in our community. We had our ups and downs, but it was a joy to work with all those women from different aspects of the ECE profession.
We worked together for a month, and the more we worked together, the more we were able to effectively communicate with each other. Relationships and trust begin to form over time. When we knew that we would have to be done with conference soon, we all hated it. We had some together and did some really great things for our community, and we all wished we could continue working with each other.
On our last day we had to close our project because we where done. We all hugged and gave each other our phone numbers. To celebrate our success with the conference, we all went out to Happy Hour. Going out to Happy Hours was so nice and I am glad to say that we are all still friends and have worked on more projects together.
Even though the adjourning step can be tough, it is nice to properly close a project. I am so glad that the adjourning process was a great process for me.
A couple of years ago I worked with the best team I have ever worked with. We had to come together to put together a conference for all the Child Care Directors in our community. We had our ups and downs, but it was a joy to work with all those women from different aspects of the ECE profession.
We worked together for a month, and the more we worked together, the more we were able to effectively communicate with each other. Relationships and trust begin to form over time. When we knew that we would have to be done with conference soon, we all hated it. We had some together and did some really great things for our community, and we all wished we could continue working with each other.
On our last day we had to close our project because we where done. We all hugged and gave each other our phone numbers. To celebrate our success with the conference, we all went out to Happy Hour. Going out to Happy Hours was so nice and I am glad to say that we are all still friends and have worked on more projects together.
Even though the adjourning step can be tough, it is nice to properly close a project. I am so glad that the adjourning process was a great process for me.
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Conflicts
I hate conflicts! I hate being upset and frustrated, especially if it's with someone that I love. I find myself throwing up my hands, leaving or saying something rude to end the conversation. Since I have taken this course, I have been reminded of what effective and respectful communication looks like.
Last weekend I threw a friend of mines a baby shower. I was the host and planner of the baby shower. When some her of friends showed up, they wanted things to go a different way than what I had planned. For example, if I wanted to play three games, then they wanted to play one. If I asked them to sit at one table, they wanted to sit at another. After being at the party for an hour, I begin to get frustrated with all the last minute changes.
I asked one of the friends, I'll call her Claire (so that I can protect her identity), to come into the kitchen with me. Once Claire came in the kitchen I said, "Hi Claire, thank you so much for coming. I noticed that there are somethings that you would like to change, so lets do this, lets make a compromise, I have planned out the party, but if you see something that could be done better, let me know and we will figure it out together." Claire was super shocked that I said this and replied, "No everything is great, I was just trying to help." I told her I understood, and we went back to the party and Claire didn't tell me anything else.
I can think of a million different ways this problem could have been solved, but it would probably result from me being in jail. I think because I was respectful, responsive and really trying to include Claire, this helped our conflict. At the end of the party, she came and gave me a big hug, and said that it was a great party.
One of my goals last week was to remain calm. Along with nonviolent communication, the three R's and remaining calm, my conflict had ceased, and what I originally viewed as a negative, turned into a positive.
Last weekend I threw a friend of mines a baby shower. I was the host and planner of the baby shower. When some her of friends showed up, they wanted things to go a different way than what I had planned. For example, if I wanted to play three games, then they wanted to play one. If I asked them to sit at one table, they wanted to sit at another. After being at the party for an hour, I begin to get frustrated with all the last minute changes.
I asked one of the friends, I'll call her Claire (so that I can protect her identity), to come into the kitchen with me. Once Claire came in the kitchen I said, "Hi Claire, thank you so much for coming. I noticed that there are somethings that you would like to change, so lets do this, lets make a compromise, I have planned out the party, but if you see something that could be done better, let me know and we will figure it out together." Claire was super shocked that I said this and replied, "No everything is great, I was just trying to help." I told her I understood, and we went back to the party and Claire didn't tell me anything else.
I can think of a million different ways this problem could have been solved, but it would probably result from me being in jail. I think because I was respectful, responsive and really trying to include Claire, this helped our conflict. At the end of the party, she came and gave me a big hug, and said that it was a great party.
One of my goals last week was to remain calm. Along with nonviolent communication, the three R's and remaining calm, my conflict had ceased, and what I originally viewed as a negative, turned into a positive.
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