Thank you and Best Wishes

I would like to thank God for allowing our paths to cross. Through out this course I have learned so much from each of you. The blogs and discussion board is were all of our interactions take places. It is always a joyous feeling reading your responses. We all have come thus far and I wish you all the best of luck as we continue this journey. I know that each of us will continue to excel in the program and we must thank Dr. Darragh for her hard work and dedication to ensure that we are effective communicators to help us better serve children and families. She made the learning process worthwhile and helped me grow as an individual. I hope to have the same impact on my students when I become an educator.Most of the children within our classroom community will come from diverse backgrounds. In order to be effective communicators we must be optimistic and set aside our biases so that we can display equity and provide children with quality learning opportunities despite of their culture.  I will not say good bye. I rather say see you later because I look forward to running across you guys in another course. May God less all of you and good luck on your future endeavors!

Team Building

When I was a junior in college I was a part of the “Be a Star mentoring Program”. A group of my classmates and I would go to the local elementary school near our college to assist teachers with after school tutorial. We would volunteer to help out in any way(s) possible.  We all shared a common goal which was to help meet the needs of children who were not excelling in their learning. After several months of working with the students we were advised that the after school tutorials will end. There were some funding issues so all after school programs and extracurricular activities were being removed. 

Over the months the children had grown so much. Children who were not able to read begin to recognize words and put them together to form sentences. Seeing their growth brought so much joy. Knowing that we only had a couple of days left to work with the students, the staff put together a farewell luncheon. At the luncheon the children gave speeches and cards to show their appreciation for all the hard work that we had done to help them. With tears in my eyes I hugged the children one by one. This was the hardest adjourning for me because I could not understand how the education system could not see this as a much needed service.  The staff exchanged emails with us. On some occasions we would go up to the school to help grade papers, sit in and observe the teachers and help out in the classroom when needed.

It is going to be hard leaving my colleagues who I have grown with throughout this online journey. Logging into class and seeing familiar names make this course much smoother because I feel so comfortable with all of you. Discussion board and blogs were where all of our interactions took place. I am always looking forward to the posts week after week. At some point we will have to adjourn and aim toward our future endeavors. I hope to keep in contact with my colleagues so that we can offer each other advice that can help us become even better educators.

Adjourning is an essential part of team work because you get to talk about your growth. You get to share what you have accomplished or hoped to accomplish. Despite leaving the group you can still form friendships that could last a lifetime. Adjourning brings closure and new insight and ideas as we embark on new beginnings

Conflict

I recently had a conflict with my supervisor about my schedule change. I try my hardest not to be a confrontational person but when I feel that I am not being treated fairly I will speak up for myself.  

About two weeks ago I moved to a new area and the traffic is really bad which would cause me to be in traffic on my route home for work. A month prior to my move I asked my supervisor  if I could  change my work schedule so that I can get off at 3:30 pm instead of four so I could get a head of traffic. I was willing to take a thirty minute lunch instead of an hour so that I can still have a 40 day work week. The advantage about my job is that I scheduled client’s appointments at my discretion.  I see my last client at 2:30 pm which would not be an issue if I changed my work schedule. Instead of approving my schedule my supervisor sent back her suggested schedule for me in which I would come in later to work and get off work late in the evening after the workday traffic.

It made me very upset because being a fiancé’, student, and expecting mother, I really did not want to get off any later. I turned the schedule that my supervisor suggested for me down and continued with my normal work schedule. I generally made it home about 6:00 pm.

About a week after getting home late I went back to my supervisor and asked her why she did not approve my schedule change. She indicated that my caseload was extremely high and she was not sure if I can see all of my clients in a timely manner if I got off early. I then explained to her that I see my last client daily at 2:30 pm. I went on to explain to her how I got my calendar set to where I do not see client’s on Fridays which give me time to do paperwork. After Identifying to her that I was able to manage my caseload, without hesitation my supervisor approved my schedule change.

This experience has helped me understand that in order to resolve a conflict you have to come up with the best rationale to fix the problem. Because I went back to my supervisor to see what the problem was, I was able to resolve the matter. Being able to fix the problem allowed me and my supervisor to have a better understanding of one another. Now she come to my office and asked me things about my caseload instead of making assumptions. We now have a great working relationship which make the workday much smoother.