Similarities and Differences on Communication Evaluations

I asked my co-teacher and husband to evaluate me on my communication skills concerning verbal aggressiveness, comunication anxiety and listening skills. While both my hushband and co-teacher gave me similar scores and great feedback on my  the level of communication anxiety and my listening skills, there was a huge difference in their evaluation with my verbal aggressiveness. My co-teacher felt like I was on the low end of the spectum while my husband felt like I was on the high end of verbal agressiveness. I was able to understand the computer score of my verbal aggressiveness after reflecting on the comments of my husband and co-teacher. In the professional envrionment I am more consisous and considerate  of other people's feelings and view points while in my personal life I tend to be more agressive with trying to get my point across. This was defineltly a news flash for me. The information from this assignment has shown me that I am a great listerner, have low to mild communication anxiety and situational verbal aggressiveness. I look forward to working on my verbal aggressiveness and making sure that it doe not damage the quality of my communication skills. 

Cultural, Diversity and Communication

I learned at a young age, how to adapt my communication styles and dialect according to the culture that I interact with from receiving educational training in a majority white school but being raised in an African American neighborhood.   As an adult I am able to use this skill to communicate effectively with  the dominant as well as minority cultures in this country.  When I am around the dominant culture, especially in the professional environment I listen attentively, take my time and think about everything that I say, and do my best to use an intensive but proper vocabulary to prove my intelligence and competence in the early education field. When I am around my own culture, I believe I communicate more with my hands, talk faster and use more slang.  I tend to gauge weather my communication response is going to be formal or informal by the vibe of the person  and the environment of where communication is taking place. Regardless of what culture I communicate with I try my best to be pleasant by smiling, being respectful, and being a good listener.

Communication Styles

The show I decided to use for this assignment was "The Modern Family"! I thought it was interesting that I gained more insight about the show from the non-verbal gestures and cues than when I decided to watch the show with the sound. From the non-verbal gestures I could tell there was three families, one with which include  a gay male couple on the show and I could determine the relationship title of the main characters such as mother, father, husband, wife, sister, and brother. I was intrigued to find that the man that played Al Bundie in , "Married with Children" was a main character in the Modern Family sitcom. With out the sound I assumed that his character was similar to the role that he played in Married with Children. With the sound I found out that I was someone what correct. Jay Pritchett is the name of his character in the Modern Family and he portrays a husband that is married to a younger woman with which they are expecting their first child together.

What I found interesting about observing the show with sound and with out sound is that I gained more information about the show without the sound than with the sound. I randomly picked an episode from season five and what I found was that I was confused about the pilot and extra characters of the show once I heard the characters speak. I am a committed Scandal fan and since I have been watching this show from day one I believe I could watch the show with out sound and still know what is going on. Observing the random episode of Modern Family has peeked my interest and if I have the extra time I believe it may be a show I decide to catch up on.

 It was amazing to learn firsthand how much non-verbal gestures influence how we interpret each other' communication signals. From this assignment I have learned how important it is to make sure that my non-verbal communication cues match my verbal. It can be a big mess in a person's professional and persona life if the verbal and nonverbal communication gestures are misleading!

Communication Role Model

Ms. Cathy Remes, my infant director is my communication role model. She had great listening and verbal skills. She does a great job at letting each of the teachers and staff in the center know what they need to do to provide the best care for the families that we interact with. The most significant communication skill that I believe Cathy Remes has is that she is easy to talk to and is a great conflict mediator. Mondays are a great transition time for parents, children and teachers at the center. Many of these people flood Ms. Remes office with issues and problems that need to be fixed. People may enter Cathy's office feeling upset, disappointed, or discouraged, but when they leave they are smiles and have solutions for their problems. I look up to Ms. Remes and hope when I have my own business to run I can handle it with just as taste and poise as she does.