Thank You Classmates

This has been a terrific journey as I pursue my masters degree in early childhood studies.  Although I have not met any of my colleagues in person, I feel contacted to some of them because of our dialogue through the discussions and the blogs.  I have learned about them and also learned from them.  They have encouraged me and I hope I have encouraged them.  This last class on communication and collaborations has truely been a motivation in helping me communicate better.  As I continue this path in the field, it will be even more important to effectively communicate as I teach adults.

I wish all of my colleagues success as they continue to pursue their masters degree and I look forward to meeting each at our graduation.  Peace & Love.

Adjourning

Adjourning from a group where a team building of trust and collaboration has taken place is essential because it gives you a feeling of accompolishment and success.  Atlhough you may separate from some the team on a daily bases, you stilll will not completly stop all contact from time to time.  I have been involved with different teams from cheering (myself and when my daughters cheered) to my sorority (AKA).  These groups were hard to leave but I still stay in contact with the people I met in these groups.

The hardest team group that I have had to leave was my center staff that I just recently left.  The majority of the people I had worked with for over 6 years including my assistant director.  We were like a family and had accomplished so much together - NAEYC accreditation, GA Center of Distinction.  They looked forward each holiday season to going out to a nice resturant for our staff holiday luncheon - Sun Dial, Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano's.  Since I received a promotion three years ago, I was doing double jobs as the center director and as the Professional Development Director for the company.  They finally brought in a director for me to train but she resisted my help and created an environment that was not good for either of us.  I chose to step away and give her full reign of the center.  My staff and I have not had a chance to adjourn from me not being there with them yet.  I saw them on Monday at our Professional Development Day and we all stated how much we missed each other.  Just this morning a staff member called me to tell me she would not be in to work; after I reminded her she didn't have to call me she stated that she did it out of habit.  I am planning for us to still get together over the holidays to have a final closing of our work chapter together.  They send me texts and e-mails thanking me for making them strive for excellence.  All of that means so much to me.

I imagine that when myself and my colleagues complete our masters degree in early childhood studies that we will continue to blog each other from time to time to stay in touch.  I hope that those of us who live in the Atlanta area will be able to get together to celebrate our accomplishments.  They have motivated me and I hope I have motivated them during our courses.

Conflict

This week lesson on conflict has really been surreal for me.  A few month ago my company decided to close operations at my childcare center and combine with another center that was close to us.  They had placed a new director there and wanted me to mentor her and help her get the center at the same quality level as my center was.  Unfortunately the director did not welcome my help and would undermind things that I had put in place.  Staff that were use to working in a atmosphere of quality childcare were now in a place that was not being operated with quality in mind.  The tension between the director and myself came to the point that I decided to just step away from the center to let her have full control.  I informed my supervisor about the uncomfortable situation.  Although I am no longer at the center, I still feel a commitment to the families and staff and feel that I have abandon them. 

The strategies that I was trying to use in this situation is to not provoke the new director anymore with a conflict and that is why I decided that mentoring her was not in my best interest or hers.  We have incompatible goals - mine is quality childcare and her goal is being financially stable with the company.  My motto has always been that if you provide quality childcare, you will make the money.  I tried to reassure the director that I did not want her job but wanted to help her be successful.  I feel that I communicated my intent effectively but apparently not and so that is why I decided to walk away from a potential conflict that probably would have escalated.  By learning this week about non-violent communication has helped me know that I did the right thing by walking away.  Please pray that I will overcome this bitterness that I have towards her.

Communication Survey

The communication survey that I took this week on my communication effectivness was very enlightening.  It was on my communication anxiety, my verbal aggressiveness, and my listening style.  I must admit that my score was exactly how I viewed my communication style.  I chose two people, my daughter and one of my teachers that I supervise, to also take the same survey on me.  I expected to have some differences in how I view my communication style and how they view my communication style.  However, their score on me was similar to my score which made me feel good that they understand my communication style.  I pride myself on being a good communicator and it frustrates me when people don't understand something I have said.  The self-denigration takes place in my mind when that happens because I am trying to figure out why they didn't understand me.  But then I shake it off and find another way of communicating more effectively. 

What I have gained from these surveys is to maintain a good mode of communicating with others and I learned that how others view my communication skills is just as important as how I view my communication skills.