EDUC-6165 Week 4

My scores for the assessments are as follows:

Listening Style: 38-(group 1: people oriented) “You are empathetic and concerned with the emotions of others. This style helps you to build relationships, but it can interfere with proper judgement because you tend to be very trusting of others.

Verbal Aggressiveness Scale: 61-(moderate)“You maintain a good balance between respect and consideration for others’ viewpoints, and the ability to argue fairly by attacking the facts of a position rather than the person attacking that position.

Communication Anxiety Inventory: 30-(Low) “You reported that you feel comfortable communicating in most situations and feel confident in anticipating such encounters. 

There were more similarities than differences between how I evaluated myself as a communicator and how my husband and my co-worker evaluated me. The scores for Listening Style and Communication Anxiety had similar scores and Verbal Aggressiveness Scale was the one that was a little bit different. On the Verbal Aggressiveness scale I evaluated myself as moderate and they evaluated me as LOW. Even though moderate and low are very similar, they did mention that even though I am very respectful, I try very hard to change people's minds, ideas, and/thoughts, especially when we are discussing a topic that I feel passionate about. 

Being able to hear how others perceive me as a communicator, helps me to evaluate myself and improve on what needs improvement. I did not know that I may come across as trying to change people's thoughts and ideas by being persistent or by pushing my own ideas on them so even though I will stay true to my ideas and beliefs and who I am, I am going to try to be more conscious when I communicate with others. I don't want people to feel that I don't value their thoughts, opinions, and/or ideas. I want to be able to have open communication with everyone and encourage them to share their own ideas with me. I will try to find other techniques and learn how to  recognize cultural differences, learn about people's backgrounds, beliefs, and ask as many questions as I need to so I can get to know that person better (O'Hair et al., 2015). 

Reference:

O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J.  (2015). Real communication (3rd. 

             ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's. 

EDUC-6165 Week 3

• Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?

          When I worked as a parent facilitator and as I home base teacher, I observed myself changing gears a lot when it came to the way that I communicated with each individual family/person. I worked with families from different cultural backgrounds as well as from different age groups so I had to communicate with them in a way that they understood what I was saying. I also had to use different terminology, especially with my Latino families since some words have different meanings in the Spanish language. I remember that one time I used the word "fresco" which to me means fresh, but to my Colombian family it meant "calm down/chill out."  To my Guatemalan family it meant "juice" and to one of my Mexican families from the state of Guerrero, it meant "gay". This is just one example of the many things that I have experienced through out my career in the early childhood field. 

          I also see this happening in my personal life as well because I have been living in a cul de sac for the past 7 years and I have Vietnamese, Filipino, Mexican, Caucasian, and Cambodian neighbors. 

If yes, in what ways do you communicate differently?

I use different communication styles with each neighbor, especially with the ones that I do not know very well. 

• My neighbor from Vietnam is very friendly. She greets me with a hug and we laugh a lot together. When we talk, I make a lot of eye contact and I sometimes even place my hand on her shoulder depending on the topic. With her, I also use a louder tone of voice because her tone is loud and I feel comfortable. I also reinforce with body language with what I am saying since her English is limited and sometimes she does not fully understand what I mean. 

• With my neighbor from the Philippines, I use a soft tone of voice, make eye contact, and I mostly just ask how his children are doing and nothing more. 

• My neighbors from Mexico are a young family of four and we just smile and wave at each other because they are very private and keep to themselves.

• My caucasian neighbor is an older lady and we do not see each other a lot, but when we do, we greet each other. I use a soft tone of voice, make eye contact, nod, ask questions, I have good posture so she can know that I am listening to her, and I wait until she's completely done speaking before I speak. 

• I have two neighbors from Cambodia. We don't really communicate with each other and what I have noticed is that they also do not communicate with any of the other neighbors besides with each other. I have seen that they greet each other and say a few words in their language, but they do not even look my way. I also turn my face and try not to make eye contact because I really do not know how to even begin a conversation with them. They are also older people and they keep to themselves. One day the mailman left their mail in my mailbox and I went over, rang the door bell, and I could see that they were in the living room watching television, but they did not come to the door so I left their mail in their mailbox and left. 

Based on what you have learned this week, share at least three strategies you could use to help you communicate more effectively with the people or groups you have identified.

The three strategies that I am going to use to help me communicate more effectively are:

1. I will definitely try to learn more about the different cultures, especially the Cambodian culture so I can begin to build a relationship with my neighbors or so I can at least understand where they are coming from. I think that if I at least greet them it would be a win for me because we have been neighbors for 7 years and I don't even know their names.

2. Identifying something that I may have in common instead of the differences. Identifying something that people have in common helps build bridges (Beebe et al, 2011). 

3. Another strategy that I would use is to have an open mind and not stereotype or make assumption because not every person from the same culture shares the same values, beliefs, or point of views. We have learned that their own personal experiences shapes the way that they see the world. 

Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

EDUC 6165-Week 2

Blog Assignment-Week 2

As you have been learning, communication is not always straightforward. Everyone, at some time or another, makes assumptions based on messages communicated through body language and facial expressions.

For this assignment, again consider what you have been learning about communication skills and styles. Then record an episode of a television show you do not normally watch. Watch the show with the sound turned off.

The television show that I watched is FRIENDS. The episode title is: "THE ONE WITH MRS. BING."

• What do you think the characters' relationships are based on the ways in which they are communicating?

The characters are obviously all friends and very good friends I would say. They seem to be very comfortable with each other. They speak to each other in a friendly manner as well as get in each others face. At times, they smiled and seemed to be joking with each other and at other times, it seemed like if they yelled and got upset and even walked away slamming the door on their way out, but by the next minute, they were together again and smiling with each other.

What are they feeling and expressing based on the nonverbal behavior you are observing?

Some of the feelings that I observed were of content because they seemed to be smiling a lot with each other. They also seemed to be upset with each other because they waved their arms,  frowned their faces and seemed to be raising their voices at each other. They also seemed to be very comfortable with each other because they smacked each others arms and shushed each other at times. I also saw sadness in one of the character's face (Ross) because his eyes were droopy and he slouched and dragged his feet when he walked. 

What assumptions did you make about the characters and plot based on the ways in which you interpreted the communication you observed?

One of the assumptions that I made was that Chandler was upset and jealous of Ross because the older blond lady kissed him. I thought that Chandler had a crush on the lady, but it happens that the lady (Mrs. Bing) was his mother. I also thought that the lady wanted Ross because she kissed him, but in reality, she was trying to make him feel better because he was sad and depressed due to the fact that Rachel (his crush) was lovey dovey with her new boyfriend. 


The other assumption that I made was that Phoebe and Monica were tending to the guy that got ran over by the ambulance because it was their fault that he did and they felt bad. They both spent many days at the hospital caring for him. They shaved him, sang to him, and even dressed him. I found out that they were both interested in him romantically and did not really care that he was hurt. They both wanted him to see that they cared for him while he was in a coma and to get chosen to date. They had ulterior motives and were upset when he did not choose either one of them. 

• Would your assumptions have been more correct if you had been watching a show you know well?

Yes, I do think that my assumptions would have been more correct if I would have been watching a show that I knew well because you get to know each character and how they act. I think that I am even able to picture the characters of the shows that I do watch in my head and can kind of predict how they are going to act or what they are going to say just by the fact that I do pay attention if something is interesting to me. 




Wow! Before watching this episode without sound, I did not know that I made so many assumptions. I basically changed the entire story. Now I know how important it is to not only listen, but to really understand what is being said and not assume because when we do not, misunderstanding happen and it is unfortunate when misunderstanding happen with the people that we work with, especially the children's families. Relationships are built on trust and a way to gain trust is through effective communicating with each other. 

EDUC-6165 Blog Assignment Week 1

• 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?

                                                                                                                                                                                     

I can think of many people that I know that demonstrate competent communication skills, but the one person that stands out to me is my best friend Gisela. Gisela is a good listener and she displays good body language. When I communicate with her, she uses eye contact, engages in back and forth communication when needed, shows respect, empathy, asks questions, is open minded, and her tone of voice is friendly. I never have to worry about her being on her phone or getting 
distracted with other things.

          

I definitely want to model all communication behaviors after Gisela because she has great communication behaviors and makes everyone feel respected and important when talking with her. She gives her full attention and is very wise when giving back feedback. She observes and analyses things before making any comments.