Communication 6165

Blog Week 1 6165

For your blog this week, think of someone (e.g., family member, celebrity, politician, friend, or professor) who demonstrates competent communication within a particular context. What behaviors does this person exhibit that make him or her effective? Would you want to model some of your own communication behaviors after this person? Why or why not?

My Dad and my uncle, Roger. 

On Tuesday of this week, we had the funeral visitation for my uncle.  Since he was a loved individual and was very young, the funeral home was packed with people.  The death of a loved one often makes people uncomfortable and they do not know what to say to the grieving family.  During this time, I listened to my father “chat” with people and make comforting remarks to people.  He is very much aware of the feelings of others and can “read” people well.  He makes good eye contact, is an active listener, and is very honest.  My father is very knowledgeable about numerous topics and people often look to him to advice.  I would definitely wish to model my own communication behaviors after my father.  He relates well to people, is comforting, and he makes people feel that what they have to say is interesting and important to him.  I love talking to my Dad! 

*On a side note, my oldest son had a hard time watching my parents and grandpa cry at the funeral.  I talked to him about why they were sad and I thought that he understood.  At the funeral, he gave my Aunt a hug and told her, “I am sorry for your sad times, but I hear Heaven is a beautiful place”.  I also admire the honesty and youthful approach that my son takes when talking to others.  He is a good boy!     

WEEK 8 6164

My goals:
1.       My professional plan is to obtain my Master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies Teaching and Diversity.  This is my first step in learning more about diversity in a general sense.  I hope that this course helps me realize any unconscious biases and assist me in overcoming them.   
2.      I plan to become a developmental therapist (for a local First Steps program) for children who exhibit developmental delay from birth to age three.  As a developmental therapist for First Steps, I will be providing therapy in the child’s home.  It is important that I learn about working with a diverse population because the families may be culturally, linguistically, or socio-economically diverse.   My goal for this course is to learn how to establish a good rapport with a diverse population of families who exhibit a variety of differences.    
3.      I plan to become involved with the About Special Kids (A.S.K.) support group for parents of children with special needs.  I believe that this role will help me build positive rapport with the families that I work with because I will be able to point the families in the right direction for their specific needs.  My goal for this course is to learn more about cultural responses to having a child with special needs.      

I currently stay at home with my young children.  I hope to teach them to be proud of who they are while respecting differences in others.  However, my role as a developmental therapist will enable me to help children develop skills and learn at their own pace.  I also hope to empower families by teaching them about the laws pertaining to special education.  Hopefully this knowledge will ease the transition from early intervention to preschool.  My role as a developmental therapist will give unique advantages by placing me in their home, letting me see more closely family interactions and dynamics, allowing me to see the setting in which they will be using the interventions, and allowing me to see diversity first hand. 

Thank you all so much for the feedback, experiences, and knowledge that you passed on during this class.  I have learned so much.  I hope that by learning about diversity, I can start by realizing my own biases, teach my own children loving and accepting others, and promote acceptance of differences in others. 

My diverse family...change can start with us!  Loving differences and encouraging loving others!!!

BEST WISHES!!!

WEEK 7 (6164): Social Justice/Equity

French Guiana is an overseas region of France located off the coast of South America. It has borders with two nations: Brazil and Suriname. Cayenne is the capital..
A large part of the department's economy derives from the presence of a European Space Agency's primary launch site. 
French Guiana is home to many unique and important ecosystems: tropical rainforests, savannahs, and wetlands.  It is dependent of subsidies from France.
The main industry is fishing, gold mining, and timber. 
The dominant religion is Catholicism. 
Ways to be prepared:
*I think that it is crucial for the first meeting to know the family's primary language.  This would be important to know if a translator is needed.
*It might also be important to have a large room with extra seats in case the extended family or siblings are present at the meeting.
*I also think that it would be helpful to incorporate learning about other cultures that surround the country that the child could share some insight.  Books about these countries would be nice to read. 
*It would also be important to know if the child or family requires a special diet due to medical issues or cultural differences. 
*It is important to have an open-mind when becoming prepared for the new family.  No two families are alike and it is important to learn first hand about the family.

Being open-minded is important so the family is put first.  Their goals for their child are important and essential in establishing a good rapport.  It is also important to also provide the family with information about yourself, the rules in your room, the school guidelines, cafeteria menu, and contact information.  Make yourself available to the family to help ease their transition. 

ALL FAMILIES ARE DIFFERENT...DIFFERENCES CAN BE BEAUTIFUL!!!

The Personal Side of Biases, Prejudice, and Oppression

While I was in college studying to be a special education teacher, I had the opportunity to work with a young boy with cerebral palsy over the summer.  It was a wonderful experience.  This experience made me aware of some of the biases that people hold against people with special needs.  Mason and I worked on social skills, letter sounds, math skills, and other academic skills.  One day, I took Mason to Chuck E. Cheese for a reward for learning some new letter sounds consistantly and for good behavior.  He was so excited!  After he ate his pizza, he was full of energy.  He wanted to play a skeball game.  While he was playing, a few of the balls went on another lane.  A parent of another child, yelled at Mason and called him stupid.  I was furious.  Mason did not really notice that she was yelling at him, but was very sad when she called him stupid.  I told Mason loudly in front of the lady that not everyone is nice and that he was very smart.  I also told the manager about the lady's behavior.  Mason got 500 extra tickets and was thrilled.  However, this experience still makes me angry.  One would think that an adult would not speak to or about a child in that way.  This showed me that children are not born biased, but learn by example. 
This experience was eye opening.  It made me want to advocate for the children that I worked with.  Children may not have equal abilities, but should be treated fairly and respected.

That summer, I also took Mason to the pool quite frequently.  While most of the parents were very nice to Mason, some parents did try to avoid us or glanced at us with pity in their eyes.  This is a look that I have noticed even with my own son.  When he wears his leg braces in public, some people stare.  I do not mind if children ask questions.  I feel that if I answer their questions that they can receive unbiased answers and help promote acceptance.  However, some adults act like they have no concept of differences.  They stare or even avoid contact with Owen.  In these instances, I often have Owen say "hi" to them...he is always so smiley!  I feel that this shows them that he is a sweet little boy and is nothing to be "afraid" of.   HOW COULD SOMEONE JUDGE AND NOT LOVE THIS ADORABLE FACE???

Microaggressions Week 4

The most salient experience that I have with racism was when I was interviewing for a teaching position.  I interviewed for a middle school position teaching special education.  The middle school was in an urban area and was predominantly African-American.  The principal asked me about my high school’s diversity ratio and my own personal upbringing.  My high school exhibited very little racial or ethnic diversity.  He asked me, “How in the world do you expect to relate to these children who come from poor, abuse-filled, black homes?  You have no idea what they have to deal with on a daily basis since you came out of a happy, white home.  They will eat you alive”.  I was disgusted by his comments.  He was judging me before he even knew me.  I told him that despite my upbringing, I attended a diverse university and was not racist.  He made several other rude, demeaning comments toward me about my inability to teach African-American children.  It was very frustrating.  I thanked him for his time and told him that I did not want to work in an atmosphere where I had to prove that I was not racist.  He knew nothing about me.  My family is bi-racial and prior to my father finishing college (which he did when I was 5) we lived with limited financial means.  Just because my “surface culture” fit into the dominant culture in the United States, all families are different and should be treated as such. 

This experience made me realize how quickly someone can judge others by only their surface culture.  It is frustrating and unfortunately I have been on both ends of the experience.  I have judged others wrongly at times.  This is something that I need to work on.  

(I chose this photo of our trip to Disney this past summer.  We were are Epcot and loved the diversity that it presented.  Noah, Masen, Maddyn, Mekhi, Owen, & Ella with Mickey!)

My family is blessed to be racially diverse, have multiple religions, differing sexual orientations, differing financial statuses, and ability levels.  Diversity can be so beautiful!  We can learn so much from each other!!! 

WEEK 3 Cultural Definition

THREE FRIENDS:
My Brother-in-law Stan:  "My definition of culture is, I guess, that I am a Black man.  I am involved with my family, well my in-laws and my own family.  I am from Indiana, but have lived a lot of places.  I am a Marine."
"My Mom was a single, hard-working mother.  We moved a lot.  I knew she loved me.  After she died, I was pretty lost.  I lived with family, but I was not really involved.  I started to value family when I met your sister."
"Diversity is a mix of different aspects of your life, like race, sex, finances, how many are in your family, if you do stuff with your family."

Matt:  "I guess my culture is that I am a heterosexual, white male.  I am now a single father.  Divorce sucks.  It changes you." 
"Growing up, I tried to avoid my family.  I had a ton of chores on the farm.  I worked hard.  I guess I learned the value of hard work and how it pays off."
"I guess diversity is how mixed up your heritage is, like I am Irish, Scottish mix.  People can be many cultures or races."

My sister Amber:  "My definition of culture is that I am a family-centered, wife and mother.  I love and cherish family.  I am a mixture of a country and city girl." 
"Well, you know my childhood.  Mom and Dad were very loving and involved.  They taught us about God and the values of education.  We knew what they expected, not that I always did that.  I have a lot of good memories of growing up.  I hope my kids have good memories too." 
"Diversity can be any mixture of differences.  The differences can be family structure and dynamics.  My kids are bi-racial.  One way to be diverse is what your family values and stresses the importance of.  That is one example of diversity." 

These conversations made me realize how different peoples' definitions of culture can be.  Some people include race, some include gender, and some people include their values in their definition.  I think that childhood memories and interactions can form a basis for your cultural values.  However, I know that it does not have to make you follow in the path of your past.  For example, my cousins (my Mom's brother's children) grew up in an abusive home.  The parents were addicted to drugs and alcohol.  My parents and grandparents ended up taking my aunt and uncle to court to get custody of the kids.  My cousins went to college and have great family lives.  I am so thankful that my parents and my wonderful grandparents helped them.  Their lives could have been very different. 

Week 2 6164

This is actually something similar to a discussion that I had with my husband this week in wake of the catastrophic tornado activity in our state.  Honestly, I believe that preserving our culture would be importantm but the health and safety of my family would be most important. 
The three items: 
*I would take would be my photo album containing photos of my granparents, my parents, my in-laws, my sister's family, my husband's siblings, my husband and I as children, and of course my own children.  The photos are of major events such as birth, baptism, holidays, or weddings.
*A Bible. 
*A container containing baby supplies of my children. 

I would keep the photo album.  While the Bible is important in my faith journey, I do not feel that I would need a physical representation to continue to pray.  The baby clothes and blankets would represent my love of family and how family-centered we are.  It would also be represented in the photo album.  The family photo album would demonstrate our love of family and that most events are a family affair.  The photos would include our faith (by photos of baptisms and holidays) and our love of family (by including our loved ones). 
These are examples of photos that are in the photo album.  The first photo is of my nephews (Mekhi and Masen) and Noah; second photo is of my niece (Maddy) and Owen; third photo is of Masen and Ella; fourth photo is of them enjoying breakfast before school.  Family time is the best!!!

I have always known that my life revolves around family.  While giving up the Bible would be difficult, I would also want my children to have photos of their family heritage.  This was an interesting assignment.