As I reflect on all that I have learned during this course I must say that my colleagues have played a very big part of that learning process. As I read your blogs each week it gave me insight to various areas of child development. It made me begin to look at and consider others points of view knowing that this is truly what forms effective communication. Reading about others collaborative experiences and events that may have occurred has better prepared me for future collaboration. As I read the discussion postings each week I felt that this helped to deepen my learning experience as often I would find things that were posted that I had missed during the reading or perhaps interpreted in a different way.
Over the past few weeks you have been kind enough to offer your suggestions and personal learning experiences. This has allowed me grow in my understanding of communication skills and working collaboratively towards a common goal. We have exchanged ideas with one another forming a network of early childhood educators that will touch many young lives in the future.
Moving forward in my early childhood career I wish all of you the best in your future goals. I look forward to continuing to follow your blogs and share in your learning process. As leaders within the early learning process is crucial that we stay connected so that we can continue to promote awareness of the importance of early childhood education. This is a field that has a long way to go but I am so pleased to see that there are so many dedicated people such as yourselves. Without us they do not have a voice and this is something that we can never forget.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Adjourning Phase Michelle Holmberg
Prior to this assignment I never really gave much thought about how I had adjourned groups that I had been members of. As I thought about the various groups that I had participated in over the years I thought of my college groups, my work groups, parent groups, and many others. One thing that I immediately noticed was that how each of them adjourned had been in a different manner based on the what I believe to be the relationship amongst the team members.
As I think back to being in college and all of the times that I met with my peers to complete group assignment or tasks I recall always encouraging one another that it was getting closer with each class and that we together would make it through. Our focus was a common goal and we helped each other to achieve it. Thinking of work groups this also varies depending on if I am meeting with my ESE team which is made of up many people of my grade level team which is just a few of us. My grade level meetings adjourn with jokes and well wishes and maybe some comments about personal events that may be coming. Our ESE meetings typically end with going over the list of who we will look at the following week and who is responsible for collecting each needed piece. This becomes a very stressful time as we are all quickly writing down what we are responsible for and hurrying onto our next responsibility.
I often find it difficult to leave my grade level team as we stay late after school and get so much done. We have an agenda and each team member takes a piece of the lesson planning and begins working. The time goes by very quickly and family obligations slowly claim each of us and we leave one by one. This transition can be difficult as you don't want to place too much of the work into your peers. Making sure that we each are pulling our weight is typically how these meetings end making sure that everybody is good to go for the following week.
After this weeks assignment I see myself taking time for a moment of self reflection before adjourning. If we can take the time to reflect on what we have accomplished we will be more focused on getting the work completed. This will also give us a chance to come together and talk about some common ground. I will suggest that we capture some best practices and discuss what we would like to keep and what we would like to change for next time. This will assist me in looking at the well being of the team not the other 4 steps which focuses more on achieving the goal.
Adjourning is an essential stage of team work as it gives the team an opportunity to come together once again and celebrate their accomplishments. It also gives a time for reflection of the process as well as giving each member an opportunity to speak about their team experience.
As I think back to being in college and all of the times that I met with my peers to complete group assignment or tasks I recall always encouraging one another that it was getting closer with each class and that we together would make it through. Our focus was a common goal and we helped each other to achieve it. Thinking of work groups this also varies depending on if I am meeting with my ESE team which is made of up many people of my grade level team which is just a few of us. My grade level meetings adjourn with jokes and well wishes and maybe some comments about personal events that may be coming. Our ESE meetings typically end with going over the list of who we will look at the following week and who is responsible for collecting each needed piece. This becomes a very stressful time as we are all quickly writing down what we are responsible for and hurrying onto our next responsibility.
I often find it difficult to leave my grade level team as we stay late after school and get so much done. We have an agenda and each team member takes a piece of the lesson planning and begins working. The time goes by very quickly and family obligations slowly claim each of us and we leave one by one. This transition can be difficult as you don't want to place too much of the work into your peers. Making sure that we each are pulling our weight is typically how these meetings end making sure that everybody is good to go for the following week.
After this weeks assignment I see myself taking time for a moment of self reflection before adjourning. If we can take the time to reflect on what we have accomplished we will be more focused on getting the work completed. This will also give us a chance to come together and talk about some common ground. I will suggest that we capture some best practices and discuss what we would like to keep and what we would like to change for next time. This will assist me in looking at the well being of the team not the other 4 steps which focuses more on achieving the goal.
Adjourning is an essential stage of team work as it gives the team an opportunity to come together once again and celebrate their accomplishments. It also gives a time for reflection of the process as well as giving each member an opportunity to speak about their team experience.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Resolving Conflicts
This weeks assignment asked us to think of a time when we were in a conflict with a peer or other professional. The first instance that came to mind was that of a parent who is quite angry with me due to his son's educational placement. He was placed in my classroom on a (DD) Developmentally Delayed ESE label, which expires at the age of 6 in the state of Florida. From the time he entered my classroom I informed his mother through formal meetings that I did not see a lot of indicators of Autism and felt that he may not qualify for a label of Autism under the guidelines of the school district. As the year went on I continued to remind her of this while placing her child out into the mainstream for part of the day. I began to prepare both of them for the transition in which I expected and shared this with her.
When it came time to do the evaluations on the child in fact he did not qualify for an Autism label under district guidelines and standardized assessments, which were administered. His speech label was changed to a label of LI (Language Impaired) and the only choice for placement was basic ed. We once again met with the mother and explained all of this process to her. We explained that he would be placed in basic education as we did not see the behaviors that she claimed to see at home. She agreed and stated that she understood.
Then the child was placed in basic education and it became a whole different story. She began calling our district office saying that I had made these changes on my own and was wrong in doing so. I agreed to meet with the mother and she kept saying, "But I don't understand, this is all your fault." I continued to explain to the mother that we had discussed this information and that she should be pleased that her child was doing so well that he would be placed full-time in basic education. This however, was not what she wanted to hear. She began to tell us about how she doesn't discipline and he can call her whatever he wants, she just ignores his behavior. It was quite clear that this was a home problem and being as respectful as possible, I began to tell her so. This can be very difficult for educators of children with special needs because at times regardless of how uncomfortable it is to say, we need to say it, as the parents need to hear it. By simply ignoring that is is an issue it will only continue to become bigger and more difficult to find a replacement behavior for.
I used compassion and began to find her resources that could assist with parenting classes and counseling for both her and her children. This seemed to calm her as she began to see that there were community resources in which she could turn to. I offered to contact my school Social Worker to find additional resources and assistance for her situation. She then began to cry and it was clear that she was just frustrated with her child and could not understand how we could easily manage his behavior but, it was so difficult for her.
When working with this parent this school year, I can continue to use the 3 R's when communicating with her. I must remember to respect her parenting skills even though they may not be the best. My relationships with her must be reciprocal and I must take the time to truly listen to her needs and then find solutions to the issues that she is facing. As an educator, I must remember that being responsible is doing what is best for the child, even if it means that I will be forced to have unpleasant conversations with parents from time to time.
When it came time to do the evaluations on the child in fact he did not qualify for an Autism label under district guidelines and standardized assessments, which were administered. His speech label was changed to a label of LI (Language Impaired) and the only choice for placement was basic ed. We once again met with the mother and explained all of this process to her. We explained that he would be placed in basic education as we did not see the behaviors that she claimed to see at home. She agreed and stated that she understood.
Then the child was placed in basic education and it became a whole different story. She began calling our district office saying that I had made these changes on my own and was wrong in doing so. I agreed to meet with the mother and she kept saying, "But I don't understand, this is all your fault." I continued to explain to the mother that we had discussed this information and that she should be pleased that her child was doing so well that he would be placed full-time in basic education. This however, was not what she wanted to hear. She began to tell us about how she doesn't discipline and he can call her whatever he wants, she just ignores his behavior. It was quite clear that this was a home problem and being as respectful as possible, I began to tell her so. This can be very difficult for educators of children with special needs because at times regardless of how uncomfortable it is to say, we need to say it, as the parents need to hear it. By simply ignoring that is is an issue it will only continue to become bigger and more difficult to find a replacement behavior for.
I used compassion and began to find her resources that could assist with parenting classes and counseling for both her and her children. This seemed to calm her as she began to see that there were community resources in which she could turn to. I offered to contact my school Social Worker to find additional resources and assistance for her situation. She then began to cry and it was clear that she was just frustrated with her child and could not understand how we could easily manage his behavior but, it was so difficult for her.
When working with this parent this school year, I can continue to use the 3 R's when communicating with her. I must remember to respect her parenting skills even though they may not be the best. My relationships with her must be reciprocal and I must take the time to truly listen to her needs and then find solutions to the issues that she is facing. As an educator, I must remember that being responsible is doing what is best for the child, even if it means that I will be forced to have unpleasant conversations with parents from time to time.
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