Thank You!

Thank you to all of my classmates for sharing your experiences and wisdom.  I have learned a lot through this course about effective communication and collaboration, and feel that thanks to you all I have stregthened my skills in these areas!
I look forward to working with you more in future courses.  Happy Holidays!

Team work and Team building

I have worked with several different groups and teams in my career.  It seemed to me that the group that was hardest to leave was a team of behavioral therapist that I worked with several years ago in an early childhood special ed. setting.  I had already known many of these therapists before working in the same classroom as them, so the forming stage had already begun, and we became very bonded as a unit.  I would say that our established norms for our group was an area of weakness in our team because we were friends prior to being coworkers.  Ours strength was in performing.  We were very effective and enjoyed each other and our students very much!  Adjourning was very difficult with this group because we worked so well together.  However it was determined that we would be more effective working in separate locations where we could help train other staff.  We have remained friends since then.  We now share personal and professional stories and advice.

The adjourning stage for any group is important because it reflects what was learned and benefited from the group work.  It is my hope that through these courses, I am creating a network of colleagues which will assist me throughout the program, and perhaps throughout my career.

Conflict

I often have conflicts with my sister.  Typically I do not handle the conflicts in the most appropriate manner, at least not initially.  I tend to react impulsively and make insulting comments.  My sister seems to be the only person this occurs with.  Our relationship has a lot of ups and downs, and I often wish we were closer.  Perhaps using nonviolent communication along with the 3 R’s (Respectful, Reciprocal, and Responsive), our conflicts would be resolved in a more appropriate way, and our relationship would grow closer with each disagreement, rather than further apart as it seems to do. 

It seems that I have conflict with those in my family more than I do with anyone else.  Does anyone else feel the same way? And if so, do you find yourself handling the conflicts in a nonviolent, respectful manner?