Reflecting on Communication in the Early Childhood Field

I would like to thank all of my colleagues for your continued support. Some of you all I recognize from my very first course. It is comforting to see familiar names; it is almost like seeing a familiar face. I thank you all for your words of encouragement and questions. The questions that some of you all proposed to me pushed me to expand on my thoughts and even see things from a different light. I appreciate each and every one of you all and wish everyone nothing but the best through their education journey and throughout life.



ksaleh21@gmail.com

Team Building and Collaboration

Last school year, due to the budget crisis our school lost a wonderful vice principal, a counselor, and three teachers. Together we were a group that focused on working together and developed ways to help each other when in need. It was the hardest dealing with the last week of school and the last day of school was almost unbearably. I literally wanted to cry and had to hold back tears while saying good-bye. It was not the fact I felt I would never see them again but more because the bond was being broken. When you get use to working with certain people you begin to feel comfortable and then you are able to start building trust. Toward the end of the summer it was realized some of the cuts did not have to be made after all and a vice principal, counselor and one teacher were hired. It was too late to try and get the initial people back because they had already found jobs. It was hard getting use to the new people because they were new. In my mind I felt no connection.

 I do know it makes it much harder to say good-bye to a group who is high performing. In my past experiences with unproductive groups, I could not wait to say my good-byes and hoped I never had to cross paths with them again. However, through it all, I am able to have had the chance to work with those colleagues and the chance to say good-bye.

When this program concludes, I imagine adjourning from my colleagues through blogging. I feel I have developed a relationship with many of my colleagues. I would like to formally say my good-byes from the program but not from each other. I have learned so much from my colleagues and would like to continue learning from their experiences. 

Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Management

Due to uncontrollable circumstances I was asked to temporarily switch positions at work. I have been working with special education students and the classes are small. I was asked to take on another subject, grade and class size. My original class is being split up amongst other special education teachers. I am happy to help out until the teacher is able to come back but I am trying to adjust to this abrupt change. I now have seven class periods with 30 children in each. Behavior issues are an all time high for these junior high students. I understand it is an adjustment to them as well, not being use to have me in the classroom.  Recently, a colleague across the hall walks over during passing period and asked a student standing right in front of me do you think you all are better or worse since Ms. Saleh is here. The student who has behavior problems herself replies “oh I think we are way worse” the teacher shakes her head and say “oh”. I was completely shocked this teacher asked this student a question like that with me right there in front of her and I felt that was unprofessional. This is a Title 1 school and behavior has always been an issue for many teachers with years of experience including her. For the past three years, I have personally witnessed behavior issues. Since that statement was made I find myself putting distance between myself in this colleague. I talked with another colleague who is a teacher assistant (TA) and comes in during a few class periods to work directly with the special education children. I explained how my feelings were hurt because this colleague made it appear I am doing a horrible job. The TA reassured me it was not my fault and that I was doing my job. She also told me behavior issues have always been a problem for the class since the first day of school. The original teacher did not enforce the rules as much as other teachers. Also, she told me I should speak up more when there is something I do not like. For me I think I did the best thing by not saying anything originally because my feelings were definitely hurt by what she said. Sometimes when we get hurt our initial thought is to say something back that is hurtful. Now that I have time to think and especially after this week I could use the NVC principles and the three R’s. I can talk to her an address the issue to stop the casual verbal attacks and remind her we are all there for the same reason. Through that conversation I can implement respect and be able to get her response on the matter. There is a possibility she does not even know what she said was hurtful. 


Corso, R. M. (2007). Practices for enhancing children’s social-emotional development and preventing challenging behavior. Gifted Child Today, 30(3), 51–56.

O’Hair, D. & Wieman, M. (2009). Real Communication: An Introduction. Boston, MA: Bedford/St.Martin’s

The Center for Nonviolent Communication. (n.d.). The center for nonviolent communication. Retrieved from http://www.cnvc.org/

Who Am I as a Communicator?

During this week I was surprised that one of my friends rated my listening skills better than how I rated myself. I know at times I have other things on my mind and should listen more. Apparently I listen well enough to give the appropriate feedback and give the level of attention needed. As well, I was surprised with my own survey. Through this survey I realized I can be aggressive when I feel a person is not communicating the way I feel they should. This is something I know I really have to work on because as individuals we all are different, meaning we handle situations and communicate differently.  Being too aggressive can cause the conversation to abruptly end sour. Combined this awareness can help me to try to improve my listening skills even more and work on being less aggressive.  If I can work on these two communication skills it will better my personal and professional life. Lastly, I was reminded how certain situations can change how you communicate, such as lack of time.

Communication and Culture

I think as much as we hate to admit it many people find themselves communicating with people of the same age, race or religion. Reason being, there are more commonalities; you are more likely to have things in common. I do find myself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures. For instance, having a conversation at lunch may go completely different depending on what group of people you are talking to. I have experienced situations where I was talking to a colleague, who is a different race, religion and much older. The conversation appeared smooth but my feelings inside did not match. Actually, I was on edge with every word coming out of my mouth, not sure her perspective on issues or how she would interpret what I was saying.  I found myself wanting to agree with her just so the conversation would not go south. I also found myself talking about things I had no interest in or really wanted to talk about. Now, when I am talking to someone who I feel we share plenty in common close in age, race, religion etc. the conversation is differently. It may appear similar but I am more relaxed the conversation flows natural; we share commonalities without looking for something in common. If there is dead silence, I do not feel awkward. I can look at a person directly in the eye because I am not leery of what I am saying. It may be laziness not trying to put forward the effort to communicate with people who are different from us or fear at times but it is easier during certain situations to communicate with someone with similar likings. 

Communication Skills: Language, Nonverbal, Listening

I decided to watch a television show called “10 Things I Hate About You”. The title should have given things away but I wanted to watch the show and not incorporate the title. The show is based around teenagers in a High School setting. At the beginning of the episode I gathered that the relationships were two sisters and their father living in a house. Based on their behavior I sensed plenty of sarcasm. The sisters were giving each other side eye looks, batting their eyes, rolling their eyes at each other and long sighs. Sarcasm continued at school, it was obvious there was a popular girl who was full of herself from the way she walked as if she were bouncing on a trampoline with every step she took, throwing her hair constantly and making everyone move out of her way as she pranced around the school.  It was hard watching the show without hearing what they were saying. However, when I turned the sound on I was exactly right; the show was based on sarcasm and rude remarks toward each other. The conversation I gathered in my head was actually very similar to the actual conversation. If I had of watched a show I know well, I would not have second guessed my thoughts about what I was observing. After this assignment I feel more confident about my opinion about people from their expressions. We all at times we judge people by their actions and the last thing I want to do is misjudge anyone. 

What Is Communication?

Out of all the people I have ever met, my aunt is the person who demonstrates competent communication better than anyone I know. I have always felt comfortable talking with her because of her behavior and mannerism, she embraces my thoughts with a gently nod of the head. She looks at me straight in the eye, so I know I have her attention. She possesses wonderful listening skills and always listens completely before interjecting. I can clearly be wrong about a topic but she will never degrade me. Instead she will try to get me to think about a situation from a different perspective. Even as a child I would run to her before my mom because I knew she had the best communication skills. Whatever I had done, I knew when she told the story to my mom it would go more smoothly than if I had of told my mom. I definitely try to model my communication skills after my aunt. I try to listen to a person’s thoughts completely before expressing my opinion. As well, I try to ensure people that whatever we talk about stays confidential and I never try to put anyone down for feeling a certain way. My goal is to incorporate what I have learned from my aunt and what I will learn in this class to better my communication skills.