Assistive Technology in Early Childhood Education

 Assistive Technology in Early Childhood Education has the ability to assist students that need extra resources to become successful in the classroom and beyond. Students with cognitive, physical, and/or emotional deficits have the ability to utilize extra supports to be seamlessly integrated into generalized curriculum without being isolated or ostracized. 

Assistive Technology has the ability to look differently depending on student needs, financial resources, and severity of student deficits. Some students would benefit from subtitles and audio devices while others would benefit from flexible seating options while others benefit from "quiet corners" that regulates emotional instability. These assistive technologies are introduced inside the classroom to be enhancements to student's everyday learning environment to make content internalization easier and more fluid.

Two assistive technologies that are appropriate for Early-Childhood Education and can be adapted to reflect culture are: quiet corners and audiobooks/ audio devices. 

1) Quiet corners are spaces that are placed in Early-Childhood Classrooms with soft toys, pillows, and neutral tones that are strategically placed to settle problematic emotions students may experience throughout the day. These corners often have pictures that are in a easily digestible language and presentation that help students recognize emotions and learn tools to better recognize negative ones and make correction (Jiang, Jones, 2016). 

2) Audiobooks/ Audio Devices are to be used by students with difficulty reading and/or auditory processing disorders. Students with difficulty hearing have the ability to use sound and language to follow along with written context in order to better internalize content while auditory learning posses the capability to generate increased activity with the child's brain development in visual learning and imagination (neocortex); making deciphering incoming stimuli easier due to pre-exposure (SanMiguel, et. al, 2013). 

While assistive supports are healthy for student learning and inclusivity, teachers also warn against abuse of assistive technologies out of fear of students refusing to complete tasks without additional supports (Flanagan, et. al, 2013). 

Resources:

Center on Technology and Disability. (2018). Assistive technology 101. Retrieved September 28, 2018, from  https://www.ctdinstitute.org/sites/default/files/file_attachments/CTD-AT101-V4.pdf 

Flanagan S., Bouck, E. C., & Richardson, J. (2013). Middle school special education teachers’ perceptions and use of assistive technology in literacy instruction. Assistive Technology, 25(1), 24-30.

Jiang, H. S., & Jones, S. Y. (2016). Practical Strategies for Minimizing Challenging Behaviors in the Preschool Classroom. Dimensions of Early Childhood, 44(3), 12-19.

SanMiguel, I., Widmann, A., Bendixen, A., Trujillo-Barreto, N., & Schröger, E. (2013). Hearing silences: human auditory processing relies on preactivation of sound-specific brain activity patterns. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(20), 8633-8639.

Assessment in Early Childhood

 Educators need to be able to meet the growing needs of students through active monitoring. This monitoring is through unique, developmentally appropriate assessment strategies that help build collaboration between students, families, education professionals, and development experts. This collaboration allows for the student to be fully represented and reported in all facets of their daily life to ensure the whole child is analyzed and represented. When there is team collaboration, student gains are higher than what they would be with individual assessment due to different areas of child expertise coming together to solve a problem from all angles (Gettinger, Stoiber, 2006). 

In order to best provide quality educational instruction, educators need to be able to identify problem areas in their student's academic and personal performance. This identification then leads to documentation of problems areas, and lastly evaluation and analysis with other experts within the field of child development. Students best benefit from having numerous disciplines communicate and collaborate to solve development concerns due to varied perspectives that give unique insight into variables that otherwise wouldn't have been considered (Gettinger, Stoiber, 2006). 

This strategic method of evaluation leads to techniques of purposeful assessment strategies to accurately measure and analyze student behavior and development. Purposeful Assessment is the strategy of utilizing evaluation measures that directly analyze, measure, and provide insight into a precise problem area. Having numerous disciplines tackle an issue leads to further insight to a problem area a child has and better likelihood of an assessment strategy that best targets the child's weak spots for specific targeting. This also leads to accountability measures being enforced that can be accurately tracked and evaluated for optimal student performance (Cobb, 2003). 

Scenarios:

Hello Everyone :)

Zara is in 2nd grade and.enjoys reading. Zara often can be found at her desk.rrwding many books throughout class the entire day. Zara has difficulty making friends but often expresses desire to be part of social groups verbally to both the teacher and the students. Due to the Students not being receptive to Zara, Zara grows frustrated and begins physically hitting students. Students are now afraid of Zara and find ways to avoid her. Zara notices the tension and grows even more angry and begins to physically assault the students with weapons such as scissors and sharpened pencils. One afternoon to lunch, Zara is pushed by another student as they line up for lunch. Zara immediately grabs the student by the neck and proceeds to choke into unconsciousness. Zara is reported down to the office and school counselor and advised professional Assessment

Colby is 8 years old in 2nd grade. Colby attends Ms. West's class and is one of eighteen students. Colby comes to schoolate each day, has uniform dirty and/or disheveled, and is often eating his first meal of the day upon arrival. Colby immediately finds himself making non-verbal sounds, crying, and scratching himself to signal to Ms. West that he wants to nap on the readnft carpet. Ms. West informs him that he is unable to do so because it is lesson time and the schedule says math then science before lunch. Colby begins to cry harder, scratch his skin until he draws blood, and scream. Ms. West eventually allows Colby to grab the stuffed bear in the corner and nap until lunch. This behavior occurs throughout the day, every day until he is pulled out once daily for thirty minutes by a school therapist. 

Resources:

Cobb, C. (2003). Effective instruction begins with purposeful assessments. The Reading Teacher, 57(4), 386.

Gettinger, M., & Stoiber, K. C. (2006). Functional assessment, collaboration, and evidence-based treatment: Analysis of a team approach for addressing challenging behaviors in young children. Journal of School Psychology, 44(3), 231-252.

Quality Early Childhood Environments

Hey Kittens! 

It's been a minute since I been on this blog but it's good to revive it.

As an opportunity to mentally prepare for my own dissertation further into my program, I have the opportunity to evaluate one that discusses the importance of quality environments in the Early Childhood Education setting. 

The dissertation :

 IMPROVING CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PRACTICES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD 

EDUCATION THROUGH COACHING: A DISSERTATION STUDY INVOLVING A 

MULTIPLE BASELINE ACROSS PARTICIPANTS DESIGN

This dissertation discusses the importance of having teacher's importance of having culturally responsive and relevant teaching practices when dealing with children from disenfranchised communites and marginalized demographics. 

The literature review for this dissertation has reviewed information concerning positive behavior and reinforcement strategies (PBIS) and the importance of culturally and socially responsive techniques to build a healthy classroom environment.

A few of the sources were: 

Briesch, A.M., Ferguson, T.D., Volpe, R.J. & Briesch, J.M. (2012). Examining teachers’
perceptions of social-emotional and behavioral referral concerns. Remedial and Special Education 34(4).

( Evaluates the importance of implementing social- emotional learning (SEL) techniques and strategies to implement with children of color and children that qualify as "special need" under  Disabilities Act (2004). This study looks into the importance of implementing SEL learning techniques prior to enforcing negative and potentially detrimental consequences that are disproportionately affecting Black and Brown students.)

Gay, G. (2002). Culturally responsive teaching in special education for ethnically diverse
students: Setting the stage. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 15(6),
613–629. http://doi.org/10.1080/0951839022000014349

(This study evaluates how European- centric teaching strategies and culture have become the normalized standard of education. Teachers are encouraged to understand and relate to students of ethnic communites in order to better instruct them inside the classroom as well as become responsive to cultural needs outside the classroom.)

Hemmeter, M. L., Snyder, P. A., Fox, L., & Algina, J. (2016). Evaluating the implementation of the Pyramid Model for promoting social-emotional competence in early childhood classrooms. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 36(3), 133-146.

(Evaluates three tiers of positive behavior models to implement on both a macro and micro level concerning student behavior, classroom culture, and teacher/student positive relationships. This study looks into the opportunity for education centers to create universal practices that benefit ALL students within a nucleus , classroom practices that benefit a healthy classroom environment for specific students, and lastly opportunity for teachers to dedicate space to build intimate relationship with students that have leverage to devoid negative student behavior)

The study utilizes 4 different classrooms led by white, female teachers between the ages of 18-54. The teachers were instructed to participate in workshops that centered around techniques and behaviors that would increase inclusion and diversity.  Materials like books, posters, and toys were utilized and implanted.in daily classroom in classroom routine. Results showcased all four teachers were able to effectively implement new, deliberate opportunities to delivery more inclusive teaching methods and strategies- encouraging student play with toys of ethnic background, literacy with diverse groups, etc.- with 3 out 4 teachers taking interest to immerse themselves in further cultural responsiveness trainings. 

I found this study to be refreshing because it highlights our transition into the modern era and the new "normal" of the classroom demographic. We are no in a generation of the most multi-ethnic, diverse generation. Students of ethnic background with multiple language homes are becoming a new standard that having a Eurocentric curriculum and normalized culture is detrimental in shaping and acknowledging the identities of students that do not fit this mold. It is helpful to identify, acknowledge, and positively associate students of color and diverse backgrounds with positive social, behavioral, and emotional responses. 

Prenatal Mental Health

Happy Holidays everyone!

I wanted to discuss a topic I personally and professionally am interested in when it comes to prenatal care. As a woman that has a baby back in 2016, I found it difficult to maintain a balance between personal, professional, and home life being pregnant. I had so many stressors coming at one time that I did not know how to handle it. Being a young mother of 23 at the time as well, I was not fully aware of how much external stressors have the ability to harm an unborn child. Because of this, advocacy for prenatal care and mental health became a core of my work both domestically and internationally.

Last I wrote in this blog, I did many research projects concerning issues with Early-Childhood care and the field itself. What I did not focus on, however, was the importance of Prenatal care and mental health. We speak about programs such as Woman Infants and Children (WIC),s food programs, and courses through local, state, and federal programs to teach mothers how to bond and create healthy environments for baby. But we often don't discuss the mother and her well-being.

Since the creation of gender roles, a woman was always seemed as the nurturer and cargiver. A young lady is socially breed to idolize marriage, home, and family as top priority before her own aspirations and goals. While we are changing the narrative with this newer generation and the fluidity of gender and gender roles, woman and the symbolism of womanhood has remained the same. A girl goes from being a daughter, to a wife, to a mother. She is never just herself (Welter, 1973).

This narrative can hold detrimental effects on her and the children she cares for because we aren't teaching women to be mindful of their mental health and self-care. It's this social understanding that a woman who chooses to not marry and/or have children is considered "selfish" while the mere thought of not wanting kids, regretting having children, or putting their needs before their children's at times is shunned to social pariah status (Park, 2002). Holding women accountable for their own self-care and mental health has proven to be a double-edged sword.

I am a huge advocate for encouraging mothers to be "selfish". Yes, a mother should always care and tend to her child but I am a proponent of the dangers of ALWAYS putting your child's needs before your own. A woman's life is not centered around her child contrary to social standards. A mother has the right to be able to take time to herself and care about her needs versus her child occasionally. Stress built up within a mother can trickle down into her relationship with that child and ultimately cause emotional damage that cannot be undone. Pregnant mothers have it harder because the fetus feels and experiences everything the mother does. Stress, trauma, and lack of emotional care leads to premature delivery, high blood pressure for mother and baby, severed placenta, disfigured brain development,a possible fatality for both (Mulder, et. Al, 2011).

It's highly unhealthy to continue this narrative that a mother's life is no longer her own with her child. Her life is now shared. Her attention and care is now on two people versus one. However it should be considered a partnership as opposed to a monarchy or dictatorship. Mothers need time and space to regulate their emotions, decompress, and have opportunities to be in their own space. This allows mothers the opportunity to reflect and re-energize themselves in order to have the mental space and opportunity to handle external stressors and the needs/wants of their child.


Resources:

Mulder, E. J., De Medina, P. R., Huizink, A. C., Van den Bergh, B. R., Buitelaar, J. K., & Visser, G. H. (2002). Prenatal maternal stress: effects on pregnancy and the (unborn) child. Early human development, 70(1-2), 3-14.

Park, K. (2002). Stigma management among the voluntarily childless. Sociological perspectives, 45(1), 21-45.

Welter, B. (1973). The cult of true womanhood: 1820-1860. na.

Farewell

This has been quite the journey. Almost two years ago exactly I began this program and had high ambitions. Now as I near the finish line, I have not only met and achieved all those goals I set before my when starting my M.S but created higher benchmarks for myself in the process.

I lost my son summer 2016 before the program began for me in January 2017. I was in a state of deep depression that in part affected my life as it stands today. My honest reasoning behind enrolling in my M.S. was to try it but most importantly, use some of the financial aid to keep me afloat since I lost my job and my family in the same year. I was just planning to do aa semeste and use that extra cash to stay alive. Rent was due. Bills were piling up. I didn't qualify for a non-predatory loan, and I was in no mental condition to be around anyone or anything.

However, GOD knew what he was doing. I recently fell in love with the ECE field and shyed away from it after my son's death. However, I became deeply entrenched in my work and my studies and became very interested and knowledgeable of how to be a better teacher. One semester went to two then three then a year passed and now I am currently enrolled to begin my EdS in November.

There was a plan laid out of my life that found me. I learned from life that no matter how much control you feel you have over your life, life happens the way it's supposed to. As a religious person of faith, I believe that GOD won't put you through anything you can't get out of.  Not only do I have a testimony, I have clarity, a lucrative career, two degrees, and on the road to my third.

This program has allowed me to stop wading through the water of not knowing my life plan and find my career as an advocate for early childhood education, multi cultural education, and decoding social stigma and stereotype.

My long-term goal is to work for The United States Department of State under the umbrella that works with education and global outreach. I currently am in Thailand and will be leaving to teach in Costa Rica with a language center to businesses that do trade with US imports.

This course has been an amazing experience. This program has been an amazing experience. I hope to see all Walden Alumni do amazing things and hope to see you all in Tampa January 19th.

Lastly, thank you to all my professors for your hard work and dedication. I was pushed to limits I did not know I had and am thabkful for the opportunity to have learned from amazing pioneers as yourselves.

My email is chanel.west14@gmail.com should you want to connect.

Good luck to all on your personal journey

International Career Options

International organizations that would be an amazing career options include:

The Ministry of Education in Panama
http://www.meduca.gob.pa

USAID (United States Agency for International Development)

https://www.usaid.gov

WHO (World Health Organization)

http://www.who.int/gender-equity-rights/news/rights-child-convention-anniversary/en/

Currently, I work in Chanthaburi, Thailand as part of an initiative by the Thai government to bring more Westernized teaching practices to Thailand and encourage more English proficiency within the Thai community.

Afterwards, I will be working on behalf of the USAID in Panama for a two year project in doing something similar as I am in Thailand, but training teachers best practices on teaching early childhood education to decrease the education deficit in the country. The project is also an initiative to promote more English language proficiency to promote a stronger economy that can compete in the global economy.

A similar project is occurring in Pakistan where the government of Pakistan is recruiting native English teachers to help develop a curriculm that would better educate Pakistani teachers with methodology to best promote quality education.

http://idd.edc.org/projects/usaid-teacher-education-project

These international positions are where I feel I will stay to advance my career. It's my passion to teach and travel while bridging cultures and engaging in new environments. These positions also allow me me to use my knowledge and expertise to not only educate children of underserved communities but give back my knowledge to a group of potential educators that otherwise would not have it.

These positions often require international travel experience, teaching experience, as well as some multi lingual abilities. While I am conversational in Spanish and Mandarin, I am aiming to be fluent to have more mobility in the positions I am qualified to apply for. These positions also require an open mind and ability to adapt to different cultures and communities- often living below Western standards. These have the ability to take a toll on the health and well-being of an applicant mentally, physically, and emotionally.

I am thankful for Walden University for giving me the knowledge and skills I needed as an edge up to better myself to be a leader in global education. Before my degree, I had little knowledge and experience working with students in an effective and healthy way. Now, I am not only confident in my abilities but my abilities to train others to do the same.

Early Childhood Career Opportunities Pt. 2

Last blog post discussed how different organizations within the Chicago area could assist me in finding the perfect and most ideal career for my professional journey. With many fantastic opportunities in my hometown of Chicago, I also wanted to consider going outside my native state and into different states and/or coubtries3 to do what I do best- create emerging leaders.

This weeks focus is on national and federal positions that could inspire me to take the next big step in my ECE career.

An automatic organization would be part of being with The Department of Children and Family Services.

https://www2.illinois.gov/dcfs/Pages/default.aspx

I have previously applied to be a DCFS case manager before my degree was conferred and would like to apply after its confferal. A case manager would be in charge of making visits to different ECE locations and verifying centers and organizations are in compliance with regulation for the safety and security of all children.

They prefer you to have a B.A. but recommend you have a Masters and Early Childhood or Social Work experience.

Another organization is:

https://www.decinternationalsig.org

This organization has a community of practice that is catered towards my interest of international relations/education/ and collaboration. I find this most compelling because it allows for educstors around the world to discuss and collaborate on the best ways to resolve issues regarding to child development that affects children in first world and developing countries. As an ESL teacher for Early Childhood, I thoroughly enjoy the idea of discussing issues with leaders abd experts from across the globe in regards to child welfare on a global scale. This would sharpen my international knowledge while enhancing my skills as an educator.

Lastly,

http://worldomep.org

This organization was created after the second world war to bring awareness and social/political attention to the effects the war had on children in Europe. Years later, the organization operates on every continent and operates to meet the social and educational needs of young children everywhere. This past year, there was an annual summit to discuss global education and the welfare of children in Prague. Had I known, I would have loved to attend to meet and greet some of the worlds most influential leaders and experts in the fields of education, policy, child development, and international affairs.

Their USA division gives unique educational and professional development opportunities to their registered members- which I enrolled in a unique course for 8 weeks that highlights how the brain works in young chuldren and how their immediate environment affects their development! This is completely related to my capstone and I am so excited I found this resource. There is also opporrunity to volunteer abroad with NGO schools in developing countries like Haiti or gain employment in other countries on behalf of the USA division.

The primary qualifications are to have an interest in Early Childhood while also beliving in the mission of OMEP. Particular positions such as my enrolled course requires some background knowledge in ECE but is open to anyone. This is a great community of practice that has the ability to network into a great career in global educstion.

Opportunities in Early Childhood

Reactivating this blog has been a refreshing opportunity for me to connect and informalyl share my thoughts concerning ECE.

With my program coming to a close later this semster, I am nearing the point in my life where I may want to venture outside the traditional classroom and assist in ECE reform in other arenas. This is has been the ideal assignment as it allows me to narrow down my focus and career opportunities for me with my experience, interests,  and credentialing.

My hometown of Chicago is eventually wherr I want to return. Chicago is my home and has my heart. I have literally lived all over the world and Chicago will always bd my foundation. With our notoriety with gun violence and systematic corruption, it is easy to turn a blind eye and "move out". While many residents are choosing this option, I am opting to attempt to stay and make a way to rebirth Chicago back into ots bustling, sparkling enamor.

Local/State organizations within the ECE field I found that sparked my interests were:

https://www.cradlestocrayons.org/chicago/

http://www.eclearningil.org/index.php/

https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/sites/chicagoearlylearning/home/about.html

These are three organizations that I have not heard of or am familiar with in Chicago. After research, these organizations seem like the ideal opportunity for me to really get myself in the door with more behind the scenes work of Early Childhood Education and advocacy with positions available such as Parent Educator, Regional Stakeholder Manager, Community Partnership Liaison/Manager, Early Childhood Education Home Visitor, Early Childhood Behavioral Specialist, Education Quality Specialist, etc. I ABSOLUTELY loved all these positions because they cater to high-risk populations.

These are options that I have both heard of and am unfamiliar with within the field of ECE. I know my interests and passions rrst within working with families, continuing and strengthening diversity, as well as teacher quality. Out of the locsl organizations I selected, I want to learn alot more about Early Childhood Professional Learning program that is partnered with a prestigious research university in Illinois. With it being different programs under one umbrella, it allows me to hone in on a singular interest and build my career within that framework.

The qualifications are somewhat strict, many positions requiring 5+ years of managerial, program management/operational experience, and at least a Master's in Education. However, with me being a teacher for 4 years, this is also advantageous because I am coming directly from a classroom setting and amnable to give fresh perspective on how policy affects all levels of ECE, down to the classroom. I also feel its important to have a variety of individuals with different skillsets and strengths working together on a project with varying background.

I look forward to knowing more and searching for my dream career

Thank you

This course has allowed me to confront my biases head in and allowed me better be more inclusive and understanding of ideas that used to limit my interaction with other communities. I am excited to be a better educator that is more conscious in my lessons and teachings that are true representations of what I want my kids to take away into adulthood.

I have a goal that teachers have more trainings and education that allow for more perspctive on inclusion and diversity inaide the classroom.

Thank you to all my colleagues for sharing experiences and ideas that contributed to my growth and progress as a teacher and an individual.

Diversity

To me, Diversity means a lot of things ranging from inclusivity to transparency. However, a clear reflection of diversity and what I believe ia represented in my daily life through my connections, networks, and friendships. As an educator, I have had the privledge to be surrounded by people thatrepresent a new culture unlike mine. Through these experiences, I have grown to appreciate and accept all of humanity and our diverse members despite mass media and dominant culture and stereotypes. The photo I created is a representation of the many souls I have met these past few years who have turned from colleagues to friends to family

Anti-Bias Education

Recently, my classroom gained a new student-an immigrant from Sierra Leon. This student has a thick accent, dark, beautiful skin, and hair that coils upward in strong circular waves. The student also has yellow-ish eyes due to the high-concetration of melanin in their scelera (I had to research that).

One of my students, who is a great kid and means well, pointed out his yellow eyes and hair and said "Your hair should be straight like mine and your eyes are not blue; its thr wrong color". Without me knowing this little boy or not having taking this course, I would think the worst of his parents and up bringing and assume his parents don't do enough to expose him to different cultures and experiences and they feed him with ideas of "white is right" mentality. However, through this course and my progression as an educator, I took this as a teachable moment and explained to my student that 1) they were made PERFECT exactly as they are and are beautiful in their own way and 2) Not everyone is going to look the same and thats ok. Our new friend has hair similar to your teacher and you like my hair, you can like his too.

This allowed the new student to feel positive about himself while also associating postive similarities and traits with his teacher. This, also, allowed my other student to learn power is sharing differences while appreciating other peoples individual unique qualities as a postive thing.

Homosexual and Early Childhood

As I venture further into this course, I am combating my biases and -isms more to a point where I am forcing myaelf to ask critical and complex questions about my beliefs and opinions.

In the subject if same-sex relationships and bias in the classroom, I definitely feel strongly about the issue. Having equal representation of the families from all backgrounds is crucial to the overall development of a child. Representation leads to the validity and transparency of multi-family dynamics and units.

However, I am not a fan of promoting same-sex literature or activties inside the classroom. While we can teach children to respect all people and embody tolerance, bringing in such a controversial issue into the classroom can be problematic and raise concern to some families. I would not promote literature that had a ability to raise questions or form connections parents are not ready or willibg to discuss with their child. Emphasizing that that there are families that rather be the ones to lead the converstion of something so controversial and not be in a classroom lesson/setting.

With that, learned behaviors that promote and instill tolerance and respect are implemented so similar consequences would occur if verbal language was aggressive, threathening, and/or harmful in anyway to the children. Using derogatory remakes that breed prejudiced and srereorype would be immediately no longer recognized but also deconstructed so they losr power

Ultimately, having equal representation of ALL families is important but soIis the respect FOR FAMILIES to lend hand to one another.

Thank You

Thank you to all my colleagues for a great semester. Through this course I was able to wnhance my communication skills and grow professionally as an effective twam leader and communicator. I intend to use these practices inside as well as outside the classroom to better interact and convey/share ideas with other individuals. It was great reading all your blogs and sharing experiences.

My goal is to reach as many young hearts and minds as possible and bring change into our world to be better than it is currently. I am a huge advocate for diversity and inclusion and believe all children shoukd be celebrated and loved and the classroom is the perfect place to do that. These past few weeks have given me opportunity to learn how to be a better team player and utilize my strengths while also understanding where I lack and how others have the ability to fill in those gaps if needed.

Saying Goodbye in a Group

Leaving well-established groups can be difficult and sometimes emotional. When everyone in the group collaborates as a team and shares the same vision, magic happens and thinga run smoothly and efficiently.

There was a group I was part of that was hard to keave during my time teaching in France. We were a team of labguage counselors/teachers from all parts of The United States with a director native to France. We all had a single goal and that was to give our very best to the children we encountered in our classrooms during their time with us. Every single member if the group felt valued and felt their strengths were properly utilized in different arenas whether it be planning activities or creating daily lesson plans. Eventually, friendships formed as well and we would celebrate by taking weekend vacations to nearby cities in southern France to decompress from the crazy week.

When it was time to leave and go back to our respective states, tears were shed but not before we broke open a bottle of wine and danced the night away to celebrate a great spring season of teaching. Being part of quality groups builds professional and personal interpersonal skills that allow you the ability to communicate and interact in a clear and effective way. Sometimes its hard to adjourn from these groups because relationships, trust, and loyalty eventually are built in response to the bonds created.

Its been two years since my team and I worked together but we stay in contact via social media and make plans to try and see each other when we are in each others cities.

Being a better communicator

With me recently starting a new position as t a new company, my interactions with my new colleagues and peers have been great thus far. Everyone ia transparent, professional, and very personable in communicating with one another.

As I have continued this course, I have often reflected on my communication skills in my personal life and how I wish I knew then what I know now. In earlier posts of my blog, my child's father and ex-fiancee is iften referenced. He and I were engaged to be wed and unfortunately, we separated. Its been a rough few months of my breakup but I have been getting through. One thing I iwish he and I would have done was communicate more effectively and maybe it could have saved our relationship.

The 3 R's- Responsive, Reciprocal, and Respectful- were something we did not utilize in communicating and it wedged more distance between us. I would often give him tbe cold shoulder, yell and scream, or use vulgarities and he would either shut me out completely or lie. Neither one of us were really commited to communicating effectively because we subconsciously did not want to hear what the other was going to say from fear.

This course has taught me better forms of interacting with people while also teaching me how to use verbal and nonverbal cues to convey my message in a healthy way. My next relationship will definitely benefit from my enhanced communication efforts but I do sometimes dwell and reflect on how things would have been if we knew these skills then as opposed to now.

Communication and Me

During this week, we were challenged to analyze ourselves as communicators. After taking the quizzes that analyzed my anxiety, verbal aggressiveness, and listening skills. The quizzes confirmed what I already knew and perceived about myself based off self-reflection and feedback over the years from close friends abd family.

I am great at public speaking and a true extrovert that has low anxiety in moments of expressing my opinions or beliefs to another individual or group. However, I sometimes can come off a little brash in my communication based on tone, body language, and language utilized that makes me somewhat verbally assertive/aggressive. This impacts my listening skills as well because until recently, I listened to respond and not to understand or expand my personal beliefs of opinions.

My two best friends of 10 years took the quizzes as well as rated me almost exactly as I did whennit cammto anxiety and verbal aggressiveness. However, I was rated much lowet in listening skills from them because they saw me as not truly showing empathy or understanding to people that conflict with my personal belief systems. This definitely has been an eye-opening experience as to how I communicate with others and how I can be percieved in both personal and professional settings.

I aim to use reflective listening tactics and reinforce the platnium rule when speaking to others that may not always agree with me in both personal and professional settings. I am not perfect and it will take time but I aim to make strides to being a better person that listens to obtain a message and not to respond.

Modes of Communication

I can definitely say that I "code switch" my communication with different cultures and communities. As a Black woman, I identify with the Black culture and community and adpat my behavior to the accepted cultural mannerisms and behavior for given situations. I tend to uae low-language, slang, profanity and illustrators that are very eccentric and culturally appropriate to my background.

However, how I communicate with members of my community is much different than my communication with other cultures. When I code switch with other cultures, I use "proper english" or high language, limited illustrators, and generally acceptablel cultural illustrators that are not percieved as aggressive or too eccentric. As an African-American, I am constantly trying to remain cognizant of how I portray myself on the general public. With many stereotypes that are portrayed through the media of African-Americans, I definitely do my best to not live up to thise perceptions through my behavior in public where I am not familiar.

I find it easier to communicate with other minorities, however, due to unspoken feelings of being the "other" in Eurocentric culture and the conversations are more lax, playful, and personal. When talking to more White Americans, the need to be more formal and politically correct is apparent in my verbal and nonverbal cues and language.

Communication and Television

Earlier this week I begam watching "Friends". I have never been a fan if the popular show until recently and figured with all their drama and hilarious adventures, watching "Friends" to evaluate the communication and nonverbal cues would be interesting.

Watching the show without the sound on was a bit weird and aside from taking me in a time warp to the age of silent movies, it was a bit of a challenge to really understand what they were saying EXACTLY but due their facial expressions, mannerisms, hand gestures, and location of scenes, I could infer whether the situation was serious or not. The nonverbal codes, emblems, and intermediacy assisted in me deciphering information as to which character had a role in what scene.

With the volume back on, I was actually impressed with myself that I was relatively correct. This was the episode where Racheal found out Joey cheated on her when they were on a break and everyone was in Monica's bedroom eavsdropping. There was a lot of euphemisms, connotation, slang, etc (low language). A lot of the language was fueled by emotion and not semantics. It was interesting that although I was not spot on on the precise language utilized but how each situation based on the nonverbal cues was emotionally driven and who played roles of importance on each scene.

Best Communicator

Happy New Year and welcome to the start of a new semester!

The question posed this week asked who would I like to emulate aa far as being a great communicator and why. This question is simple and the person that immediately came to mind was my uncle, Henry Taylor. My uncle is the president of a major health organization in Illinois and well-known throughout health care within the midwest. For over 20 years, my uncle had dedicated his life's work to bringing underserved communities of color access to affordable, quality health care.

With my uncle being one of the only few administrators of color on staff, there have been personal and professional challenges that he has encountered that has lead him to not only grow professionally but personally as well. One thing he has learned is to communicate effectively will all sorts of audiences whether it be a diagruntled patient or a corporate stakeholder. My uncle uses reflective listening-repeating what the other person says as an affirmative or a question/statement. He also is conscious of his body language, tone, and environment to which he is speaking to his audience-his main priority making sure his message is clear and delivered in a amicable way that is percieved in a safe enviornment that is non-threatening. My uncle also uses various forms of exchange where it is not always a transactionary dialouge or internal but a dialouge that is ankle to have multiple viewpoints and perspectives that lend hand to decison making.

Overall, my uncle is one of the best communicators I know. Personally, I try to embody those traits in my personal and professional life to better convey my thoughts and relay more than just message but a perspective that has the ability to inspire and persuade.

Thank You

It was a pleasure getting to discuss with all of my colleagues and learning from a variety of perspectives. It was a great semester and I wish you all continued success. I hope this course has reminded all of us that we are the keys to change.