Saturday, October 26, 2013
Take Time to Reflect
I have enjoyed my communications and collaboration class and have learned so much about myself, colleagues and professor. Thank you all for your awesome interactions and insights! All of you have contributed to my growth as a person and communicator!
Thank you Dr. Pickens for your utmost patience, understanding and remarkable insights each week! You keep me inspired to continue on my journey towards my Master's Degree!
One last thought: Communication takes so many forms and can be frustrating at times so I hope you will watch the video above from YouTube to help you remind you that when those frustrations come, I hope you dance:)! May you always remember the journey!
Nicolette
References
YouTube. (n.d.). Lee Ann Womack- I Hope You Dance. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-Z1YwaOiw
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Team Building
One team that I was a part of about a year ago was a VIVA (Voice Ideas Vision Action) ISEA (Iowa State Education Association) project called Re-Imagining School Leadership for the 21st Century (VIVA Teachers, 2012). I happened to stumble on to this collaborative group as I was perusing the ISEA site one day last year in September. I was immediately captivated by a question about teacher leadership and mentors and responded to a question from the site administrator. Based on my response and the responses of some other teachers throughout the state of Iowa, we were invited to become a collaborative group to write up a detailed proposal entailing the mechanics of implementing stronger teacher leader programs in schools that would not necessarily replace mentoring programs but add and/or enhance existing teacher leader programs. This proposal would first be presented to the ISEA in Des Moines, Iowa and then to the Iowa Governor and the Department of Education.
I could not believe I jumped into this group because I had just started taking my Master's classes online with Walden and in order to participate in this group, there would be a month of intensive online communication with the VIVA administrators and other teachers from Iowa. But I felt honored to be asked to be a part of this group of nine and was very passionate about the topic of teacher leaders and how they can enhance the teaching experience in schools. So this collective group went through the five stages of team development in a matter of four months (Abudi, 2010). I was thankful that the VIVA team leaders had a clear vision in mind and kept us on track in such a short time (Abudi, 2010). The team leaders were also very respectful of all of our input and time we were committing to this project (Abudi, 2010). We were basically working off of a Google document which was a new and rewarding experience for me.
In November 2012, we met for the first time in person as a group which was scary and exciting all at once because not only were we meeting for the first time face to face but we were also presenting together for the first time at the ISEA. Our proposal had been printed for the ISEA and we were requested to be at their meeting to field any questions that they might have in order to revise our report for the Governor. The ISEA was very receptive to our group attending and praised us for our hard work and dedication to this project. This aspect was part of the performing stage (Abudi, 2010). The team leaders were so grateful for our time and commitment that they offered to take us out for lunch after the meeting to show their appreciation and celebrate our project (Abudi, 2010). That lunch gave us a chance as a team to talk to each other face to face and find out a little more about each other. We also knew as a team that this might be the only time we would be able to get together because there would only be about 2 or 3 of us able to go back to Des Moines in December 2012 to present to the governor.
Although I did not get to be part of this group for very long, I felt connected instantly to the people on this team because we shared a vision and wanted our vision to become a reality. I believe the adjourning process for teams disbanding is very important because so much time and energy is contributed by team members and the adjournment process helps to recognize those contributions and allow the team closure.
One of the things that I appreciate at the end of each Master's classes I have had at Walden is when our instructor encourages us to let our colleagues know how much we have appreciated them in class through their blogs and/or final discussion posts. This helps to bring closure to that particular class and also with the people in class.
One song that comes to mind when thinking of closure is Green Day's "Time of Your Life" (YouTube, n.d.). You can watch and listen to it above:)!
I could not believe I jumped into this group because I had just started taking my Master's classes online with Walden and in order to participate in this group, there would be a month of intensive online communication with the VIVA administrators and other teachers from Iowa. But I felt honored to be asked to be a part of this group of nine and was very passionate about the topic of teacher leaders and how they can enhance the teaching experience in schools. So this collective group went through the five stages of team development in a matter of four months (Abudi, 2010). I was thankful that the VIVA team leaders had a clear vision in mind and kept us on track in such a short time (Abudi, 2010). The team leaders were also very respectful of all of our input and time we were committing to this project (Abudi, 2010). We were basically working off of a Google document which was a new and rewarding experience for me.
In November 2012, we met for the first time in person as a group which was scary and exciting all at once because not only were we meeting for the first time face to face but we were also presenting together for the first time at the ISEA. Our proposal had been printed for the ISEA and we were requested to be at their meeting to field any questions that they might have in order to revise our report for the Governor. The ISEA was very receptive to our group attending and praised us for our hard work and dedication to this project. This aspect was part of the performing stage (Abudi, 2010). The team leaders were so grateful for our time and commitment that they offered to take us out for lunch after the meeting to show their appreciation and celebrate our project (Abudi, 2010). That lunch gave us a chance as a team to talk to each other face to face and find out a little more about each other. We also knew as a team that this might be the only time we would be able to get together because there would only be about 2 or 3 of us able to go back to Des Moines in December 2012 to present to the governor.
Although I did not get to be part of this group for very long, I felt connected instantly to the people on this team because we shared a vision and wanted our vision to become a reality. I believe the adjourning process for teams disbanding is very important because so much time and energy is contributed by team members and the adjournment process helps to recognize those contributions and allow the team closure.
One of the things that I appreciate at the end of each Master's classes I have had at Walden is when our instructor encourages us to let our colleagues know how much we have appreciated them in class through their blogs and/or final discussion posts. This helps to bring closure to that particular class and also with the people in class.
One song that comes to mind when thinking of closure is Green Day's "Time of Your Life" (YouTube, n.d.). You can watch and listen to it above:)!
References
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
VIVA Teachers. (2012). Re-Imagining School Leadership for the 21st Century. Retrieved
from http://vivateachers.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/VIVA-ISEA_2_Final.pdf
YouTube (n.d.). Time of Your Life (Good Riddance) Lyrics. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bTdLi0YUVM
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Conflict Resolution
I feel as though this week has been a plethora of conflict resolution because as I was trying to deal with one conflict resolution, others seemed to erupt so much that it drained me physically and emotionally.
This past week, I had conflict with a colleague from an outside agency and I believe that one of the reasons it is draining me so much is because the conflict felt like the final straw for me with this person and so when I am usually trying diligently to "fix the problem" in most cases, I am not feeling the motivation to resolve the conflict this time. However, I realize that if I do not resolve it, one of us is going to have to leave our job or there will be tension whenever I am communicating with this person. I realize that the 3R's are not achieving communication harmony with this person because this person uses strategies to get what she wants and not create a stronger, meaningful relationship with me (The Center, n.d.). I really am at a loss as what to do with this colleague and the conflict we are having but I am willing to continue to "request what I need from her clearly and specifically" (The Center, n.d.) in order to preserve our working relationship. I am hoping that after my week of reflection, I will be able to overcome my feelings of judgment and criticism of this colleague and continue to work to repair our working relationship (The Center, n.d.).
The other important realization that I came to this week is that this particular conflict I encountered affected the rest of my life and filtered into my family life. It was difficult to communicate with my husband at the end of the week when he had a bad day because I was still in my own little world with this conflict.
I always say that life is too short to dwell on things and to make the best of each moment you are given. I was able to put aside my conflict issues to listen to my husband and his conflict issues for the week. I hope I am back to making progress with my communication skills!
References
This past week, I had conflict with a colleague from an outside agency and I believe that one of the reasons it is draining me so much is because the conflict felt like the final straw for me with this person and so when I am usually trying diligently to "fix the problem" in most cases, I am not feeling the motivation to resolve the conflict this time. However, I realize that if I do not resolve it, one of us is going to have to leave our job or there will be tension whenever I am communicating with this person. I realize that the 3R's are not achieving communication harmony with this person because this person uses strategies to get what she wants and not create a stronger, meaningful relationship with me (The Center, n.d.). I really am at a loss as what to do with this colleague and the conflict we are having but I am willing to continue to "request what I need from her clearly and specifically" (The Center, n.d.) in order to preserve our working relationship. I am hoping that after my week of reflection, I will be able to overcome my feelings of judgment and criticism of this colleague and continue to work to repair our working relationship (The Center, n.d.).
The other important realization that I came to this week is that this particular conflict I encountered affected the rest of my life and filtered into my family life. It was difficult to communicate with my husband at the end of the week when he had a bad day because I was still in my own little world with this conflict.
I always say that life is too short to dwell on things and to make the best of each moment you are given. I was able to put aside my conflict issues to listen to my husband and his conflict issues for the week. I hope I am back to making progress with my communication skills!
References
The Center for Nonviolent Communication. (n.d.). The center for
nonviolent communication.
Retrieved from http://www.cnvc.org/
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