Communication Evaluation; week 4

This week, we are to evaluate our own communication styles as well as have others evaluate us. I enjoyed completing the assessments as I could sit and ponder each question, while trying to understand myself as a communicator.

I was always terrified to speak in front of groups of people until I was in my last semester of my undergraduate degree. I was terrified of anyone looking at me while I was talking; I would get tongue tied, sweat, lose my train of thought, and be in tears. However, I was having to teach in front of my peers on a regular basis as well as teach smaller children during college, I knew I needed to get over this fear. Now, I am able to get in front of people and speak with no problems. I enjoy speaking in front of others and I do not, in my opinion, get any type of anxiety from speaking in front of others. 

Both of my evaluators scored me the same; this surprised me as I thought, because one person is my husband while the other is a co-worker and great friend, they will both see me differently as a communicator.

What surprised me about the assessments from my evaluators would be the fact that they both seemed to think I had mild anxiety when I had to speak in front of groups of people. I do not ever feel any anxiety, but that is me evaluating myself. I believe my evaluators see something I may not, and through this assessment, we were able to see this, and I can remember this when it comes time to speaking in front of others. However, upon receiving these results, I wanted to find out why they thought I had mild anxiety. My friend as well as my husband told me they hear my voice shaking and occasionally will see me trembling.

While continuing this course, I am learning I must be an effective communicator, but ensuring I must communicate in ways that my student's families can understand. As educators and communicators, we must remember to be objective and not subjective (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012). This can be difficult because human nature wants to kick in and quickly assume things. We cannot assume anything; we must get facts before we make assumptions. I refer back to our discussion assignment; we had to make assumptions based on our own personal schema, and that was unfair as we do not know anything about this lady or her life. We could damage a child and their families by making assumptions before we know the facts.

References

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

Communication and Culture

In my opinion, I feel I have always been an effective communicator with all cultures. I have never felt as if I could not or would not communicate with someone because of their values, beliefts, language, behaviors, customs or practices (Gonzalez-Mena, 2010). However, before I began teaching, I did not realize the differences and beliefs of so many others around me. I have learned through courses here at Walden that I must be culturally sensitve at all times, and even if I fele uncomfortable, I need to embrace all cultures as well as celebrate them.

There are things we must take into consideration when communicating among cultures. I have never been uncomfortable communicating with anyone; however, I have always felt (because of my own upbringing) that you are to look someone in the eye when speaking to them. If you do not, that is considered disrepect. However, many cultures do not allow eye contact when communicating. Some cultures find it repsectful to actually look down or look elsewhere when being spoken to. This is a strategy I must work on as I need to understand and respect this. I am constantly telling my students to look at me when I am speaking. I must refrain from doing this as I do not want to cause contradictions among one of my student's cultures.

Gonzalez-Mena (2010) reminds us to be careful of our own non-verbal behaviors. Oftentimes, we are unconscious of these behaviors until we begin speaking to someone who does not fit our styles and beliefs. I will ensure I am not showing non-verbal behaviors that would make anyone feel uncomfortable or disrespected.

For all of us to be effective communicators, we must understand what culture truly means as well as how to teach children to embrace their own cultures. As educators, we must learn to never show any form of steretyping or disrespect as we are models for children. We want to show them how to be effective communicators while showing respect and empathy for diversity.

References



Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010). 50 strategies for communicating and working with diverse families. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

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

Communication Experiences - Week 2

This week, I pondered what show to record since I do not watch much television. However, while I was at the gym, I was watching a soap opera, Young and the Restless, with the sound off. I knew I was unable to record it at the gym; however, my husband has been watching this program since he was a tween. His mother watched so he continues to watch it, as well.

As I continued working out, I made notes on my Nook about the non-verbal actions going on. While I do not know names of characters with the sound off, I can clearly see this couple seem to not want to be around each other. They are sitting outside some place, and their bodies seem tense, locked on the seat they are sitting on. The man is sitting with his head down, close to his knees, with his hands on top of his head while the young lady is talking non-stop, using her hands and shaking her head. From what I am witnessing, these two are having quite a heated argument and do not want to be around each other. At one point, the man actually goes to touch the lady's shoulder, and she flinches and he jerks back. There seems to be more tension and a need to not be touched.

A second scene I observed was a family, mother, dad (I assume they are the child's parents) and a child. The mother and dad are hugging and smiling while watching the little boy play. The couple is very affectionate and do not want to remove their hands or eyes from one another. From what I am seeing, they are very much in love and adore their child. Several times, they look at this child with such love in their eyes. Finally, they scoop up this child and walk hand in hand talking and smiling at one another.

During this entire episode, I see many different feelings and expressions. I see tension, anger, and love and adoration. However, this is the very reason I do not watch soap operas; they are not how the real life operates, and oftentimes, it is quite comical because it is predictable. But, on the other hand, I enjoyed watching the communication with no sound on.

I made assumptions based on what I seen, and not what I could hear. I assumed, with the first couple, there was tension and anger, but I was very wrong. This man and woman are married, and are very much in love with one another. What I viewed as tension and anger was stress from a situation they did not know how to handle. They found out their child was bullying another child and they were so upset about him doing this and did not know how to handle the situation. If I would have been watching this show for a while, even with the sound off I would have known what was happening. Instead, I made the assumption that these two people literally cound not stand each other and did not want to share the same space whatsoever.

This was quite the experience for me as I thoroughly enjoyed watching communication take place without hearing any words. It made me realize just how important our non-verbal cues are. We must be careful, even with our body language and facial expressions to not send the wrong message to others.

 

References

 

Phelps, J. (2013). Young and the Restless, Los Angeles, CA.

 



Competent Communicators

As I reflected upon this assignment for this week, I thought about many communicators I have been around, including myself. I have taken into consideration the types of people I have witnessed communication going on as well as the messages given and received. I am amazed at the differences we all have when it comes to sending and receiving messages!!

O'Hair & Wiemann (2012) reminds us that competent communication is effective and appropriate for all situations, while ensuring evaluation and reassessing communication. We must always ensure we are communicating effectively, taking into consideration the situation and the communications, as well as showing respect and understanding.

When thinking about this type of communicator, I instantly have someone who, in my opinion, is an excellent, competent commuicator. She is always evaluating herself, ensuring she is communicating in the best way possible, as well as showing nothing but respect and understanding for all situations. She is one of my co-workers; she has taught me many lessons on effective communication, as well. She has never degraded anyone, or made anyone feel ill feeligns because of their different styles of communication. She is intune to body language, and can read what body movements mean, as well as one of the best listeners I have ever been around. She understands she cannot speak to parents and families the same way she would speak to her family members or friends (O'Hair & Wieman, 2012, p. 16). She has always been able to make sure she is always professional when talking with families.
Her morals are very high, and she always shows respect for famlies regardless of how diverse they are.

I have certainly modeled her communication skills because they are effective and professional, as well as allowing families to feel comfortable and at ease with me as their child's educator. Her communication skills always have goals for her children and they are conveyed to families, which in turn allows families to be secure knowing their child is being taken care of they are being informed.

References



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

          Martin's.