Week 4-Blog

I think as myself as a good communicator but I become very nervous when communicating in front of a group of people.  My anxiety level starts to rise when I have to speak to a group of people.  Even when I start to talk in front of my staff at our monthly meetings. When it comes to listening I think I need to improve my skills.  I tend to try to multitask when communicating with others and i realized that I was not giving them entire attention and it was disrespectful.  I also realized that I need to slow down when communicating with others.  Because sometimes my verbiage can be confusing to others because I am talking to fast.

For my Collegues

I want to thank all of you for helping me understand how to be a better communicator and an effective listener.  You all wrote wonderful discussions and blogs and by doing this I had to examine myself and see what I needed to do to achieve my goals as an educator.  Many of you gave examples in your discussions that resembles some of the issues I deal with on a daily basis and it made me feel like I had people that understood what I do everyday and it is okay to feel unsure but at the same time still a good leader in this field.  Thank you so much for everything and I look forward to our next class together.

My personal email address is;  carerichardson74@gmail.com

Blog Assignment 6-Adjourning

Adjourning stage is the hardest stage because this where the team reflects on the project or overall experience.  "In the "adjourning stage" the project is coming to an end and the team members are moving into different directions.  This stage looks at the team from the perspective of the well-being of the team rather than from the perspective of managing a team though the original four stages of team growth (Abudi, G. 2010)."
After working at my preschool as the Assistant Director for eight years I transferred from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Grand Prairie, Texas.  I became part of a family of teachers who achieved so many recognitions from our company because of our enrollment and teacher turn over rate.  We piloted a new training program and it made a tremendous difference within our company.  Saying goodbye was extremely hard but when I do go back to Iowa I always stop by the old school.  But a lot has changed since then.  There are only two teachers that are currently working there and the children are all now in public school.  I still talk to some of my teachers and director thanks to face book.  I learned a lot about team work and letting go from that experience.  I am currently a director at a preschool in Cleburne, Texas and I have a strong team that are more like family.  We currently pulled together to be a Christmas float and last night we participated in the parade and it was a huge success. I have learned that I need to embrace in the daily achievements with my team because in this industry is can change at any time.  When I left Cedar Rapids we had a big going away party.
Another adjourning moment I have watched and saw how difficult it was for both my sons to play their last high school football game.  There were a lot of tears and no one wanted it to end.  Both boys have kept items from that time.  Of course they are in college and started a team again but they have told me it is not like the days in high school.  The boys had a big party at the end of the year.  Some of them still talk to each others.
As for the masters I think it will be easier to adjourn from Walden because for me it is an online class and really haven't connected with anyone because my professional life takes most of my time.  My children and finance also consume a lot of my time so I really do not get a chance to talk to other students.  And that makes me a little sad because I think that my colleagues are all amazing people.

Reference:

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved fromhttp://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html