Farewell!

With each new course, I have grown to appreciate my colleagues and the many ways that they help me learn within each course. There are some that I turn to when I am unsure of exactly which angle I should take in answering questions. There are others to who provide so much valuable insight from perspectives I may not have otherwise considered. With each new class, I feel like I have grown to know you all personally to some extent. 

 To my colleagues, we've reached our adjourning phase, I wish you all much success in all that you do. For many of us, we have a lot on our plates. We’re working full time jobs, with families that depend on us and so many other things that are required of us, but we are almost at the finish line. I have faith that everyone will successfully complete this program and continue to live out their dreams. 

Continue to positively impact the children that you encounter, because in many cases, we are all these children have!! Take care and be blessed!

Team Building and Collaboration, Part I

As I think of the adjourning phase of groups, the thought of leaving a job comes to mind. Regardless of the field of work, when you work for a corporation, organization or whatever, you work as a part of a team. When a person has to leave that team for whatever reason, unless it is abrupt, there is an adjourning phase. Thus far in my life, I have had about five different jobs, currently employed with the fifth. For each job I had stayed for at least 2 years, sometimes overlapping. Each time that I left a job for one reason or another, I was able to provide notices well ahead of time, rather it was relocating or finding a better paying position. With each group, there was an adjourning phase and within that phase there was a termination ritual of some sort. In one case where we gathered to celebrate our achievements and relationships developed during our time together, my job through me a surprise going away party. I had worked within the Health Services program of my college since late in my freshman year of school and throughout college. During that time, I made a lot of life long lasting relationships. As the youngest employee within the office, I was able to take in a lot from the people around me. Working within the program was a great overall experience and I hated leaving, but I knew it was time to spread my wings. It was really hard to leave this group in particular, but they were very supportive and we all kept in touch well after I left, even up to now. The adjourning phase was necessary for this situation, because during out termination ritual, I was reassured that they had my best interest at heart. They were able to provide words of encouragement and shed light on the skills and assets they felt I brought to the table, which helped to build my self-confidence.

Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Managemen

A conflict that I am currently experiencing is a struggle with grades. For the last year and a half, I have had custody of my niece, now 14, and my nephew, soon to be 12. My nephew is currently in the 7th grade, but last year, his first year in middle school, he struggled a bit. It was my belief that he was trying to find his way in a new school setting, with new teachers and more advanced requirements. It was rough at first, but he made it through the school year passing all of his courses with a B average and passing all of his required state required testing as well. This year, he is doing awesome academically, it is still very early on, but I have faith that he will finish strong. My niece on the other hand, is more social and has always struggled academically. Last year she made it out of the eighth grade by the skin of her teeth and even had to retake some of her state required testing to be promoted to the ninth grade. She is now struggling in the ninth grade and though it is still early, I want her to understand the importance of getting good grades in the beginning and keeping them up because it is hard to pull up failing grades. I want to consider the fact that her brother struggled his first year in middle school and this is her first year in high school. The only issue with that is their two very different children with too different drives. She is showing improvement, staying after school, completing extra credit assignments, but I just want her to understand the idea that it is so much easier if you get it right the first time around. I have tried everything from getting her a tutor to grounding her from her cell phone. She is a very sweet, very mannerable child, but I need her to understand how important her education is and push her to value that. Within our conflict, I am always sure to communicate to her how I feel about her grades, I congratulate her on her progress, but I also stress to her that I want her to understand why her grades should be more important to her than they are to me. I am sure to communicate to her that I believe in her and what she is capable of, but this conflict is one that I cannot wait to wave goodbye to.