Wk 8-Thank You!See You At Graduation!

Wow, we're almost there! Here we are in our last class as a group before branching off into our individual specializations. Some of us will continue this journey together, but some will be saying,"so long".

I hope to "see" many of you in my next course. My specialization is Teaching Adults. I have been training preschool teachers for many years now and I have facilitated or taught all of the courses we have had up to this point, but the Communications course was new to me. I have learned and grown in so many ways thanks to this course. I thought I was a great communicator, but I have really examined my communication skills and changed how I communicate with others and how I listen to others. I am also learning to talk to my children in a more collaborative, respectful way. My cultural background taught me that the parent has all of the power and commands respect ("That's why I'm the parent and you're the child" "Do as I say and don't question me"). How's that working? Not great. I am working to build trustful, open, respectful relationships with my children. It's never too late.


I am very grateful for all of the words of encouragement and support that I have received from everyone. We are all different ages and from different backgrounds with different experiences, yet we have been able to support each other and form relationships through cyberspace. I have been inspired by each and every one of you to keep pushing and moving forward. We have all had to deal with the stress and realities of real life while trying to be successful students and keep up with our studies. At times, it has been difficult, but having your words and thoughts have helped support me in many ways. You should see me every Sunday when I open up the new week's assignments. I am at a loss each and every time. "THEY WANT ME TO WRITE ABOUT WHAT? I DON'T HAVE A CLUE HOW TO START THIS PAPER! OH, NO, I'M NEVER GOING TO FIGURE THIS OUT!"I am a hot mess! And my daughter just rolls her eyes. "Mom, you say this every week. Month after month. And you still manage to do it. Oh, please!" LOL

I am looking forward to our final project-GRADUATION!
I wish you all good luck and opportunity and I thank you for our time together.
Thank you to Dr. Hampshire for your patience with my questions and anxieties.

Please stay in touch, I'm just an email away-michelle.bronson@waldenu.edu

Good Luck,
Mimi

Week 6-Adjourning

The last team of teachers that I had to leave were very special to me. We knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. We knew how to fill in when one was down and anticipate each other's needs. We didn't take long to make decisions because we were not in competition with one another. Whatever needed to be done, we could come up with ways to get it done. They protected me and I protected them. It is a special kinship when you belong to a high-performing group. The trust and commitment that is established takes time to build. It was a learning process that wasn't perfect, but one that taught us about each other and how to work together as a team.

It is always very hard for me to leave a high-performing group. We become so in sync with each other like pieces to a puzzle. It is especially difficult for me to leave a group of teachers that I have formed trusting relationships with.

The rituals I typically experience in adjourning are usually informal gatherings centered around a meal and gifts; or just warm hugs and well wishes; or team building exercises such as trusting your team to catch you when you fall backwards; and sometimes tears because we know we will not be together again. There is almost always the promise of staying in touch or reconnecting, not wanting that bond to end.

I am looking forward to ending this program. There have been aspects of my life that I have sacrificed for this program and I am ready to return to them. But, I will miss this learning environment with my colleagues. Sharing personal and professional experiences with a group of strangers has definitely taken us out of our comfort zones. Yet, we are not really strangers anymore. We have formed a culture that is built on what we have brought to this program and is made up of all of our personalities and identities. It has been inspiring and encouraging. I have learned and perhaps taught. I have trusted and entrusted. I hope to meet as many of my colleagues at graduation as possible and perhaps we will be able to say good-bye in a celebratory way. Let's PARTY ladies!!

(I was so hoping graduation was going to be in Miami, but I think ours is in Minneapolis).

In answering the question, I am not really sure how I am going to adjourn from this group. I think of us as colleagues and so I hope to leave as colleagues who will continue to network and contact each other whenever needed. I think this is a high-performing group and as Abudi (2010) contends it is likely that we will keep in touch!  

The adjourning stage is important because it provides the opportunity to reflect and to acknowledge the accomplishments of the group (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012). This stage also provides the opportunity to open another door into future endeavors, be they work or friendship. It is a way to give closure to the relationships of the group.

Reference

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

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

Week 5-Conflict Resolution

                                                                                                                  

Being a parent of teenagers and young adults can sometimes feel as if I am in a constant power struggle. There are times when I will ask a question or make a comment and the response is completely inaudible or it feels as if I have just disrupted the universe because I dared to ask a question or say something "motherly". The other day my 17 year old (18 today) said something I didn't understand or actually hear. Well, I asked him to repeat it. He did. I still didn't hear what he said. I asked him again and I still didn't understand a word he was saying. We were standing at arm's length apart, so I should have been able to hear every word he said. I asked a third time and his response was, "You know mom, if I have to repeat something for the third time it's no fun. I'm not saying it again." 

Really? (Insert my puzzled face, head cocked to the side, hand on hip here)

(I straightened my body language) I explained to him that if the person he is speaking to can't understand what he is saying, then it doesn't matter whether it is fun for him or not, he's going to have to repeat himself so that he is understood.  I had no idea what he was mumbling and with each response he was mumbling even lower than the previous time and I was becoming frustrated. He left the room mad and then remembered we were going out together, so he came back. Unfortunately, I still needed his answer, so I asked him again to repeat his statement. He repeated it loudly and it was such a simple statement that I couldn't believe how much time was wasted on it. I calmly responded to his statement and then thanked him for speaking up. I thanked him for doing something that should have been natural to him when communicating--speaking clearly, because I felt we needed to have a respectful and pleasant afternoon together. Although I used a challenging strategy by being assertive and having him answer my question, I decided to respond to his statement by being cooperative with a supportive answer to help nurture our relationship and offer a solution that would benefit us both (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012).

A second strategy that would have helped would have been to use the 3R's by acknowledging that I expected my son to respond to me in a certain way because of how I was raised and the expectations my parents had of their children. Practicing respectful, reciprocal, and responsive interactions with my son will help us to build a solid, trusting relationship that will last a lifetime and hopefully, with his children as well (Corso, 2007).            

                                                                                            

I would love to hear any advice or words of wisdom from my colleagues in relation to how they have learned to effectively resolve conflict (especially with teenagers and young adults ☺).

References

Corso, R. M. (2007). Practices for enhancing children's social-emotional development and preventing challenging behavior. Gifted Child Today,30(3), 51-56.

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