EDUC-6165 Blog Week 1
When I think of someone who demonstrates competent
communication within a particular context, the person that came to mind was my
student teaching supervisor Dr. Rhonda Wilkerson. Although, she could be a very intimidating
person when she wanted to be, she could also be very approachable and understanding. She was a wonderful lecturer. Not only was
she a supervisor of student teachers from UNC, but she also gave tours at the
North Carolina Museum of Art. She
appreciates and loves all types of art.
Her intense focus in education was learning styles.
When she gave lectures, what made her a competent
communicator was her ability to capture and hold an audience’s attention with her
examples about different learning styles and by using graphics, videos, and
artwork to show examples of the various learning styles. Even though her lectures may contain two
hundred students and professionals, as she spoke about the various learning
styles, she would put a personal touch to the descriptions that you almost felt
that she was speaking about you, but not in an offensive way. She was an advocate for all of the learning
styles and would instill in you ways to meet the needs of the various learning
styles. Finally, she would integrate
examples of artwork to extend the points of the lecture and take the learning
experience to a different level. The
artwork was always diverse, and you could tell that she had spent a great deal
of time considering what piece of art would go with what learning style or
lesson that she was presenting. It was
always intriguing to see which pieces she would choose. According to O’Hare and Wiemann (2012), in
the lecture setting, Dr. Wilkerson is a competent communicator in that she
adjusts her behavior to suit particular individuals and situations. In addition, Dr. Wilkerson’s lectures were appropriate
in that they met the demands of the situations, and they were effective.
O'Hair,
D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New
York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Dianne,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. Your professor does sound like an effective communicatotor. When I was finishing my associate's our student teacher experience instructor was also very effective, she put such a personal spin on everything that you could not help but to be inspired because you could just feel her passion.
Diane, what behavior does Dr. Wilkerson exhibit that you perceive as intimidating? You obviously have admiration and respect for such a great communicator, what traits in her style would you like to emulate?
ReplyDeleteIt is always great when a speaker takes her entire audience into consideration when speaking. Adults are just like children and we all have unique learning styles. I know that I can at times tune out when someone is conducting a training and is only geared to lecturing. I am more hands on and I maintain focus when I am moving around. Dr. Wilkerson sounds awesome. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDianne, I'm impressed with the fact that your admire and respect a professor. That shows she left quite an impression on you. I also feel that intimidating can be good sometimes. It is also wonderful that she was also approachable. Obviously it works for you to blog about her! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDianne, I am so pleased to hear that you had such a competent communicator as your supervisor during your student teacher. Unfortunately, this was not the case with me. My student teaching supervisor was not a very good communicator, therefore my experience was not a pleasant one. Her instructions or feed back were never clear. I think good communication skills are vitally important in such a position.
ReplyDelete