Week 4 Blog Assignment
This week I evaluated myself as a communicator, and I had
two others evaluate me. I found that I
was more critical at evaluating my communication skills in public speaking,
whereas my peers were much more complimentary.
My colleague who has seen me lead countywide workshops reported that I
come across as very comfortable speaking in public; however, that is not how I
feel. According to O’Hair &Wiemann (2012) I think I must mask my emotions
when I speak in public, so that others do not see how nervous I am actually feeling
(p.136). The two persons chosen to evaluate me have seen me speak publicly in
different scenarios; one personal and the other professional. In addition, we all agreed that I do not
communicate in a way that would offend the person to whom I am speaking. I am careful to take the other person’s
feelings into account, and I do not like to engage in confrontational
discussions.
One insight that I gained about communication this week is
that different situations call for different styles of communicating. For example, as each person was completing
the evaluations, they would comment that some of the communication styles would
depend on the situation. Sometimes I
need to be very aware of time constraints when effectively communicating, such
as when I am leading multiple parent-teacher conferences back-to-back. However, other times I can be much more
flexible about listening and effectively communicating due to more flexible
time limits. In addition, another
insight I gained about communication this week is that I am not one to join in
a confrontational discussion even when I have an opinion on something. I will not state my opinion unless
asked. For example, this past week I was
in a meeting with all of the other first grade teachers in our district, and we
were designing the new curriculum guide based on the common core standards. At times, the discussion was getting quite
heated, and I would not participate in that part of the discussions. I just listened carefully to the debate. However, once I was asked to state my opinion
on the matter, I would state my opinion as to why I felt some topic belong in a
specific quarter of the school year and what standards it would cover. In my personal life and professional life, I realize
that speaking up is an area that I need to improve upon and feel more confident
doing.
O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An
introduction. New York: Bedford/St.
Martin's.
Dianne,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated your example and the insight that time plays a significant role in influencing our communication. It is also interesting to me that you had a meeting this week to discuss common core. I was also in a meeting where we discussed common core in our work on preschool to 3rd grade alignment. The debate focused on fortifying preschool classrooms from succumbing to direct instruction.
Dianne, I also need to work on speaking up and learn to feel more comfortable with. I feel that this very important for me to do if I want to one day become a college instructor in the early childhood field.
ReplyDeleteDianne,
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that you feel that you are more anxious or nervous in public speaking situations that what others scored you. I also found the same thing through the surveys. I have not had as much experience as you speaking publicly, but when I have I felt very nervous and anxious, and I was happy to find that those I was speaking to did not know I was as anxious as I really was. Thank you for your post.
Dianne,
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way as you do about confrontational discussions. I find myself mediating heated discussions between staff members. I do not like confrontations but in the child development world you prodominatly are dealing with women. I always find myself reminding staff that the things that makes them great caregivers, makes for the most challenging employees. When mediating these conversations I have to set ground rules and a time limit other wise the conversation will drag on forever. I try to remember to mentally apply the same rules when I find myself in a challenging conversation.
Hi Diane,
ReplyDeleteI like how you mention you want to work on speaking up! I think that's something I've always struggled with just because I am more reserved and avoid confrontation at all costs but it would be nice to be more open when communicating. How will you overcome this and get better at it? Any ideas in mind or are you taking one day at a time?