Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

The first organization that appealed to me was the Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children (MiAEYC).  This agency is committed to improving the education and welfare of children from birth through age eight.  MiAEYC has a couple of local chapters in my area.  According to the website, MiAEYC works for young children, their families, and early childhood professionals. MiAEYC supports the professional development of its members through quality training, materials and services. More than 2,800 early childhood educators and suppliers of children's services belong to MiAEYC in 17 affiliate chapters and 3 local chapters. 

This organization had a couple of job opportunities including:  director of communications and chapter support and a fiscal/administrative assistant position.  Currently I am not qualified for either of these positions and I would also not be interested in either of them as well.  They also listed other job opportunities within the state. 

The second organization was the local Great Start organization; the Barry County Great Start Collaborative which is a partnership of community agencies and early childhood providers who get together to establish and maintain a network of supports and services for young children and families.  They work to engage community partners in planning and coordinating services, promote community awareness of early childhood issues, and advocate for quality early childhood programs and services. 

There were no job opportunities listed on this sight, but there is contact information for the existing members to contact about events or possibly becoming a member. 

The third agency I looked into was my local Department of Human Services.  This is our state agency that works to help families with food, child care, medical, and much more.  I had not considered this as someplace that I would like to work, but when I think about helping children and families I was drawn to this site.  I have been on the other side of the desk asking for help and being treated poorly, I would like to sit on the other side and treat families with respect. 

There were two openings that were in my area, Assistance Payments Worker 8-E10 Mid-Michigan Counties which requires a two year degree and which I could possibly qualify for and Service Specialist 9-P11 Mid-Michigan Counties, my bachelor degree would give me the education; I just lack the experience they are looking for with this position. 

Another consideration I have would be to become a licensing consultant for child care in my state.  There are currently no positions, but it is something I may consider in my future. 

Thank You!!!

Just want to say thank you to everyone for sharing their knowledge, experiences, and insights throughout this course.  I have learned some new skills that I will be putting to work in the classroom and in my own life.  I am facing new challenges in communication and this course has been very helpful.  I hope you all have success as you continue to pursue your degree and look forward to communicating with many of you in future courses.  Good luck to you all!

Team Building and Collaboration

One of the first groups I think of when I think of adjourning is graduating high school.  This was a group of people that I spent a lot of time with.  I formed many close friendships with these people and graduation was a celebration of our accomplishments.  We were setting out into a whole new world with new expectations and unknown adventures.  Some of the people I still talk to and some I rarely, if ever see.  It was a sad and happy time.  I have been a part of several classroom teams that did not stay together and some were hard to leave while others were easy.  The harder ones were the ones where we were high-performing and there was trust, exceptance, and support for everyone.  I am still friends with a couple of the teachers I worked with through the years because of the bonds we made in the classroom.  I also remember being part of an Early Reading First grant and how we had a celebratory dinner when the grant ended.  It was sad because I had to find new employment and because I was going to miss doing what I had done and working with the people I had worked with.  It was also wonderful because so many of the teachers had learned so much and had come so far with the support of the Early Reading First team.  It was good to know that they had the skills they needed to continue what they had learned. 

The hardest group to leave was my current employer.  I was part of an amazing organization and after having a seizure I could no longer do one of my job functions and was forced to look elsewhere for work.  I loved the organization and hated to leave.  One good thing was my determination to go back.  I began working on getting my degree in child development and I am happy to say that I am back with that organization only to find that things are about to change dramatically. 

As far as closing rituals, I have experienced many dinners and a few graduations.  I imagine that I will adjourn from the group of colleagues in my Master's degree program with some sad goodbyes, but also knowing that we all still have our blogs and we can communicate with one another if we need to.  I think adjourning is essential because we need to look back on our accomplishments and celebrate those and even look at our failures and what we may have overcome.  By taking time, we can see how we will move forward and perhaps how we will stay in touch with members of the group. 

Conflict Resolution

I am currently having difficulty with my assistant teacher.  She comes across quite harsh and each time I feel like I've done something good, she always points out something wrong.  We have to have families fill out new child information cards when they have a change of address and move to another center and we have a new child that will be starting this week whose parents stopped into the classroom.  While they were there I had them fill out those new cards and was feeling good about having completed this task!  When my assistant came in and saw the card, she immediately asked me who she could release the child to and why there were not more names listed.  I also have another problem with the bus driver as he gets gas almost every day during class time.  According to our policies and procedures manual, drivers are suppose to get gas before they start their day or at the end of the day.

This week, I am going to have to address these issues and I am very nervous.  I have learned this week that conflict does not have to be negative and I am hopeful that by addressing my concerns, it will open lines of communication and make us a stronger team.  I also know that I do not want to make my assistant or driver feel like I am attacking them, so I will be as empathetic as I can and make use of I statements.  We also have to be mindful of the needs of the children in the classroom. 

Something that stuck out this week in my reading was from The Third Side; "people want to be recognized and respected for who they are".  I know that I want to be recognized and given positive feedback and I do my best to let my staff know how much I appreciate what they do each day and especially when they put forth extra effort.  Our bus driver is new to our program and is still learning every day.  He is starting to interact more with the children and even attempted to do an assessment on a very challenging child the other day.  I have to give him kudos for all he is doing!  I need my staff to also understand that I need to have some of this same kind of positive recognition as well.  I love how the children let me know they love me, but I am struggling to get any positive interactions with my assistant which could make for a very long year. 

I hope that I have the skills to approach this conflict and have a good outcome.  Cross your fingers for me please! 

I have a colleague that has worked in early childhood for a long time and she shared with me that it took her awhile to be able to approach conflict well.  It is still not something that she enjoys, but with her new role as a center supervisor, she may find herself dealing with conflict even more.  In this new role, she sees herself more as a mediator and sometimes arbitrator. 

Who I Am As A Communicator

This week we had to take a few assessments of our communication style.  I was pleasantly surprised that my results were very similar to the two other people that did an evaluation of me.  We all had the same score for the verbal aggression assessment.  The surprising part of that was how the results said that I was fair when dealing with conflict.  I had conflict and do my best to avoid it!  I am a people-oriented listener and this did not surprise me.  The results said that I can be too trusting and I know that that is true.  I am very trusting and always see the positive side of people.  I have made unwise choices in my personal life and have been very lucky with the results.  My trusting nature was to my advantage, but I know that I should be more cautious in the future and think twice before making the same decision again.  My communication anxiety was the only place where our scores were different, although not by a lot.  I found that I have moderate anxiety and they both felt that I have mild anxiety.  This tells me that even though I may feel anxious in speaking situations, I do not come across to others that way.  I can use this to my advantage and take on new challenges in public speaking.  I have been in lots of trainings recently due to my new hire status at work.  I was an employee with this employer about six years ago and although things have changed, they have also stayed the same and I found myself thinking that I could give these presentations.  We are all just people and we all make mistakes and feel anxiety in these situations.  No one was teased or boooed, we listened and gave our attention and respect to each person that presented us with information.  When I think about it, it really isn't all that scary.  I have come to realize that I am a good communicator and that I am capable of more...

Culture and Communication - Week 3

When I think about the cultural diversity at school, my neighborhood, and in my workplace, I am struck with how diverse it truly is.  And even though there is a lot of diversity, I do not find myself communicating all that differently with most of the people I come into contact with.  One group of people that I have found myself communicating differently with are my ex-husband's family.  From early on in our relationship it felt like that were against me and often took what I would say out of context and use it to cause fights and discontent in our relationship.  Since then, I am very cautious when I speak to them and really watch what I say so that it doesn't get used to harm me.  Even though we are divorced, I still find myself being cautious.  The only person in his family that I can be myself around and say what I am feeling is his youngest sister and my best friend.  With her I can say anything and share anything without judgement and she is there to comfort me and offer advice. 

Another way I am different in communication is with my children versus the children I care for.  I did not speak to my own children the same way I speak to the children in my care.  I have always been patient, with my own and others, but I expected my children to know the rules and I know that I will be reminding the children in my care about rules everyday and sometimes many times in a day.  In my workplace I also use different communication with parents versus people I know well.  I try to build a trusting relationship, but also respect the boundaries of keeping things professional.  I have gotten close to families in the past and after the children left my care I have become good friends with a couple of families and find myself sharing more of myself with them. 

Something that I have learned this week that I could use to help me communicate more effectively with people of different cultures is that is important to become culturally sensitive.  I have to take time to understand parenting styles that may differ from my perspective and ask questions and be open to another person's perspective.  I have to apply the Platinum Rule and treat others the way they wish to be treated.  I also need to become familar with nonverbal communication across cultures.  The message I may send nonverbally may not be what I intended and vice versa.  There may also be gestures that I use that may be offensive to others.  One of the most important things I learned this week is to be other-oriented.  I have to become a good listener and be empathetic in my communication.  There are so many strategies that I can incorporate to be a more effective communicator. 

Assumptions in Communication

I watched the sitcom Rules of Engagement.  This show is about the different perspectives of a single guy, a married couple, and a recently engaged couple.  With the sound turned off I could tell that one of the couples was married and one was in the beginning stages of a relationship.  I did not know that they had just gotten engaged.  I could also sense sarcasm and other emotions with the married couple, perhaps because I was married for 21 years and remember those same actions, gestures, and facial expressions.  The single guy seemed to enjoy his life and even with the sound turned on, that one was dead on.  I was also intrigued by the older couple at the end of the show.  I assumed that the newly engaged couple asked them about their long life together and with the sound turned on, it was on that order, but not exactly.  What I did not expect was what happened when the engaged couple walked away and the older couple argued. 

From this experience, I learned that just as our text book says that verbal and nonverbal communication goes hand in hand, it truly does.  We need to be able to hear what someone is saying, not just look at the nonverbal cues.  While the wife said one thing, she also rolled her eyes a few times; without hearing the words I would not know that her nonverbal cues did not match her words.  I also think this experience is a good chance to take a closer look at the nonverbal cues we do send.  It made me think about the importance of not only listening to another person, but also of being aware of the nonverbal cues they are sending.  I need to be aware of both to get the full picture.