My Communication Skills Evaluation

 

 

 

 

 





My Communication Skills Evaluation

            The communication self-surveys revealed how I interact with people and some of my strengths and weaknesses.   In the Communication Anxiety Inventory test my score was 40 which revealed that I am not comfortable communicating in all arenas; such as speaking in front of large groups of people (Rubin, Palmgreen, & Sypher, 2009). Communication does not seem to be a problem for me because I love interacting with people but I do try to judge a persons’ demeanor to determine the depths of my conversations.  On the Verbal Aggressiveness Test my test score was 65 which is considered moderate which means that I rank medium on the scale, and when confronting people I am very respectful of their feelings (Rubin, Palmgreen, & Sypher, 2009).  On the Listening Styles Profile test it revealed that I loved communicating with people and that I am concerned about their feelings, and that I am able to build relationships because I possess great listening skills (Rubin. Rubin, Graham, Perse, & Seibold, 2009).

 .          I selected my young adult daughter and a neighbor who is also a friend to take the tests in order to reveal how others view my communication skills.   I was surprised that the outcomes were very similar to my own.  My daughter warned me before taking the test that she was going to “let me have it” but I was pleasantly surprised that her scores were not that far from my own  and in all of the same categories on the test..  My friend’s score actually matched mine in the Communication Anxiety Inventory test which was 40 (Rubin, Palmgreen, & Sypher, 2009).   My daughter’s score on the Communication Anxiety Inventory assessment came out as 49 which moved me up to the “moderate” bracket and implied that I suffered from “situational” anxiety which is stage fright (Rubin, Palmgreen, & Sypher, 2009).  That’s the area I need to improve in order to feel comfortable speaking in front of large groups of people.  My girlfriend scored me as a 68 on the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale which is now making me stop and think about how I interact with her because this number is significant.  I never thought that I appeared aggressive to her but now I need to temper my tone when communicating with her in the future.  This exercise taught me a lot about myself and how others see me and I am glad that the test revealed that I am indeed people oriented because I am a teacher and that lets me know that I have chosen the right profession!

 

References

Rubin, R. B., Palmgreen, P., & Sypher, H. E. (Eds.) (2009). Communication research measures: A

sourcebook. New York: Routledge

Rubin, R. B., Rubin, A. M., Graham, E. E., Perse, E. M., & Seibold, D. R. (Eds.) (2009). Communication

            research measures II: A sourcebook. New York: Routledge..

           

 



Cultural Diversity

 

 

 

 

Cultural Diversity

          My neighborhood has become more diverse in the last five years because the older neighbors have died and for some unknown reason their surviving children have chosen not to keep their parent’s homes.  Ten years ago my neighborhood was African American and now it is very mixed with a Hispanic family, one Caucasian gay male, two Caucasian heterosexual couples, one Caucasian/Hispanic gay couple, and one biracial heterosexual couple (African American women married to a Caucasian male).  This change is a welcomed change but it makes me feel like I have to exert more effort in developing neighborly relationships.

          After being enrolled in this Communication and Collaboration course I have begun to ponder on what techniques I could use to communicate with my new neighbors.    When I visited my neighbor Maria who is Hispanic I assumed that her television would have an English speaking show on because I thought that everybody watched English speaking shows. But when I entered her home she was watching a show in Spanish and I sat down on the couch to watch the show with her.  I was displaying cultural myopia when I thought that she was watching the same types of shows that I watched, believing that everyone shared my interests (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012).   Maria has come over to my house on several occasions to help me with my garden or to alert me to move my car because of street cleaning.  I would like to get to know her better and understand her life story and forge a stronger relationship.

          John is a very friendly person, he is Caucasian and his wife Jessica is

African American and she isn’t very friendly.  They have a garden in their backyard and are very much into organic food.  Jessica seems to be very guarded with her communication with me and I often wonder could it be a defense mechanism because maybe she has received negative comments because of her marital situation.  I would like to get to know her more and feel just as comfortable with her as I do with her husband John.  I guess I should work on my self-adequacy skills and improve my communication delivery by sharing some of my interests with her and finding out what interests she may have and what we may have in common.  Sometimes you have to go the extra mile when trying to establish relationships and shyness is not an asset in this case.  In both of the examples I mentioned I communicated differently because with Maria there is a slight language barrier even though Maria makes an effort to communicate with me in English but I know that she is making a strong effort because I hear her speak Spanish to her family members.  Jessica has chosen not to communicate much with me so I am very careful with the words that I use to communicate with her, but I have the faith that things will get better.  Being in a diverse neighborhood is exciting because you can observe different cultures and figure out how to interact with people in a positive way.

 

 

References

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St.

          Martin's.

 



Communication Skills: Language, Nonverbal, Listening

 

 

 

Communication Skills: Language, Nonverbal, Listening

     I watched the television show “Modern Family “ with the sound off for the first several minutes then I turned the sound up and compared what I thought I was observing without sound to watching the show with the sound turned up.    There was a dark haired man sitting on the couch moving his hands and looks like he is explaining something.  A lady is talking to a boy that looks like he is around 12 years old.  A blond- haired guy is on a playground but looks like he has a flashback to something that has occurred earlier.  In the next scene a heavyset guy is talking to a lady with blond hair and they appear to be arguing and the guy rushes into the house.

            Now with the sound turned up on the show, an older man is taking care of a baby and he put a liquor bottle up to his mouth and drinks the liquid.    The heavy set guy reappears and says that he has to prove a dispute with Claire. The older man decides to take the baby to the movie theater and the baby starts crying, so a lady in the movie theater offers to take the baby out of the movie theater.  The scene goes back to the playground area and the blond-haired guy asks a little boy to teach him how to play a children’s game using a ball because his little daughter has been bullied by this particular little boy.  A woman named Gloria caught the guy (who is actually her husband) without the baby but he is holding the baby’s blanket.  The father says he doesn’t understand why his wife is so mad, but his son (the 12 year old boy) tells him that maybe she is mad because he gave the baby away to a complete stranger. 

            This experiment made me realize the importance of verbal communication.  When I was watching the show without sound I had some idea of what the people were feeling by looking at facial expressions and body language,  But when the sound was turned up it opened up a whole new world of understanding.  Listening is more important than speaking in order to get the full picture of what is actually happening.  This exercise forced me depend solely on my visual and listening skills  and now I am going to take the time to really listen to people before I speak in order to give my undivided attention and respect to the speaker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Effective Communications

 

 

 

Effective Communications

 

President Barack Obama is a master communicator because he engages his audience, builds a relationship with the listeners, and he makes one feel an affiliation because he appears to understand what they may be experiencing in their own life.  His sense of humor is contagious and he delivers his speeches in a non-threatening way.  In the field of politics it is very important to connect with the audience in a positive and convincing light.  During the President’s first presidential campaign he used the code words ‘Yes We Can” and this slogan resonated in the minds of a multitude of people.  That slogan was hard to forget during the campaign season and it evoked positive thoughts in people that had just experienced an economic downfall.

I do not feel comfortable speaking to a large group of people because I have difficulty with the speed and intonation of my voice.  I would like to be convincing to people and attempt to influence their thoughts because those are the skills that a great communicators must possess.  President Obama portrays a lot of charisma and his smile can light up an entire room.  I would like to learn some of the positive techniques that he possesses because I have great ideas of how to improve the early childhood field.  I need to put my nervousness aside and step out on faith and realize that the only way that I can become a more effective speaker is to practice.

 



Professional Hopes and Goals

 

 

 

 

Professional Hopes and Goals

            This course has changed my perspective on diversity and equity because my thinking was quite narrow before taking this course.  I have now learned that diversity covers various genres such as race, disabilities, gay, lesbian, transgender, and ageism.  This course has provoked my growth personally and professionally and the information I consumed will change my life forever.  I now understand that learning about cultures is more than just recognizing holidays, food, and cultural dress.  You have to look at the deeper aspects of a culture which involves exploring the lifestyles, behaviors, and beliefs.

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

It is my desire to portray a welcoming spirit to diverse families and to discuss what hopes and dreams they have for their children.  I would invite the parents to be involved in the shaping of the classroom by bringing in books, music, and artifacts to represent their culture.  Children learn best when they can see themselves in the learning.

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

I would like to see the early childhood field make diversity, equity, and social justice the first priority because fair and just education cannot be rendered unless these factors are put in place.  Every teacher should have to take diversity courses and all schools should provide diversity workshops as a part of professional development.  Universities should expose pre-service teachers to diversity classes because it will help them to understand the population they may be teaching.

      I would like to take this time to thank the instructor and my colleagues in this course for inspiring my thought processes with hearty and supportive discussions.  This was a very rich class because we exchanged a wealth of information about ourselves and we are now equipped with the skills to advocate for diversity and justice for all children and families.

 





Welcoming Families From Around the World

 

 

 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

            The family I chose to welcome from around the world is from Somalia, because the people have endured two decades of war and violence which has been devastating to the families because they are poor and hungry and feel hopeless (Mohamud, 2010).  Many Somalia children have been orphaned because of terrorists and tribal violence, so a lot of them have to work full time to help the family situation instead of having the luxury of going to school these families are constantly being displaced and they live in fear.

            Most Somali’s practice the Muslim religion which involves praying five times and not consuming alcohol and pork.  The nuclear family usually lives together and they often share their meals from the same bowl by hand.  Elders in the family are given the utmost respect and adults are addressed by uncle or aunt, which is very different in the US.  Oral communication is considered the highest degree of art forms.  It is important that the male of the household is considered as the head of the household and has total control over the family and decisions.  Men usually work outside of the home while women are expected to be the caretakers of the children and home.  It is customary to exchange handshakes with people of the same sex and say “peace is with you”.  It is not proper for men and women to touch each other outside of the family. Men speak for the women in most households. Most girls in Somalia undergo some form of circumcision before their 10^th birthday and I was surprised to find out that this is also a custom that follows the girls to the US.  Some girls are sent back to Somalia to get this devastating procedure done.

            To help this family adjust to life in the US I would devise a five-part  plan to help the children to adjust to school life by providing  content integration, reducing prejudicial attitudes, equalization in learning, welcoming different cultures, and helping them to socialize in a new environment (Miranda, 2010).  Curriculum should be inclusive of various cultures because this helps children to have a global view of the world and universal acceptance.  This also helps children to view different biases and how these biases can be eradicated (Miranda, 2010).  Differentiation is the key to academic success in the classroom because teachers must recognize that not all children learn the same way but all children have the ability to learn.  I would plan monthly family meetings in the classrooms where students and parents can come together to share various family traditions and cultures and share rituals that are dear to them.  This will establish a learning platform so all parties will be able to understand the richness of a global school community.

            I feel it is very important for teachers to do the research about where families come from in order to obtain an understanding of some of the intricacies of deep culture.  In the case of the Somalia family the teacher will know to respect the male of the family to make the major decisions where children are concerned.  It is not proper to hug people of the opposite sex so the teacher should not make physical contact to children or parents of the opposite sex.  Ramadan is the religious holiday practiced for Muslim children so the holiday needs to be recognized in the classroom.  Shared and oral communication is preferred in this particular culture so the Somali child would probably enjoy cooperative learning and verbal recitations.  Knowing and understanding who you teach can be a rewarding experience for all.

 

References

Miranda, E. (2010). Going global in Arlington, Virginia. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development

            4(2), 219--226.

Mohamud, S. Somalia's Forgotten Children. One World Education, 1-2. Retrieved June 21, 2014,

            from http://www.oneworldeducation.org/somalias-forgotten-children

 



The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

 

 

 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

            My sister and I were in a store and a Hispanic mother walked in with several children and the children started running through the store in different directions.  My sister shook her head and said “look at those people, they have all those children and they can’t control them”.  She also made the comment that the Spanish people are taking all of our jobs.  She stated that African Americans are having problems finding jobs because the Hispanic people are taking over.  I honestly get chills and cringe every time I hear my sister make prejudicial comment because it is very ironic.  Several years ago the same comments were made about my own African American culture and now a new group is now being subjected to the same demeaning comments. 

It is how easy it is for one to forget about how it feels to be ridiculed and be the recipient of verbal attacks in public.  I have to remind my sister constantly of how racist her comments are and that her insensitivity is very disappointing.  She could benefit from taking a diversity class, because the valuable lessons that I have learned will never leave me.  My sister’s attitude should be to help people rather than to hurt and hinder.  Diversity is God’s gift to the world and we should welcome the gift with open arms!