Communication, what is that? Part 1

Over the last couple weeks, I have had the opportunity to attend two interesting workshops/trainings. The first was held by Mrs/Ms. Vicki Stapleton, who has worked with the Cara Program, called "Understanding Your Communication Style" while the other was put on by the Wright Institute and called "Boosting Your Social and Emotional Intelligence." Both dealt with ways of looking at yourself to enhance interpersonal communication. This first part will focus on the topic of "Understanding Your Communication Style"


Mrs./Ms. Stapleton brought up many important points about communication. Things important to consider when dealing with first impressions: "What you show me is what I give you." Basically, how you enter a room, the way you sound when you talk, and how you appear to be all impacts the way others will respond to you. People are naturally inclined to be social and part of being social entails understanding how others are feeling. If you walk into a room feeling self-conscious and unenthusiastic, the interactions you have with others will very likely end up being in more of the negative spectrum or will at least be unpleasant. Also, when interacting with others it is important to be sincere and authentic. If you are not true to yourself, how can you represent yourself positively to others?

A few ideas mentioned in the communications training, stuck with me. The first, "If you don't want this for yourself, you will not be happy in life." This idea is in line with intrinsic motivation. One must be personally invested in what they are doing in order to find value in it. I can think of a few jobs that I talked myself into liking initially ("It will helping me improve my counseling skills." or "I love music and other entertainment subjects so I will like this job") that I grew to dislike in the long run. I just wasn't personally invested in them. One particular job at a call center would make me unhappy and cause me to feel physically ill when I went. As Ms./Mrs. Stapleton mentioned, we have to learn when it is okay to leave. There are other options out there in life. If you quit a job, eventually you will find another.

Another idea that stood out was that your personal and professional life go hand in hand. This is very different than what my counseling training has said. So often in graduate school, professors and other staff would emphasize the importance of separating your work life from your home life. I guess in a helping profession like that you have to teach yourself to separate as a way to keep your head as clear as possible. However, being human means realizing we are not perfect. No matter how hard we try, sometimes your personal life creeps into your working life and vice versa. In counseling this is referred to as transference and counter-transference. There are just some people or situations in life that will remind you of someone you know or a situation in your own life. It will also evoke strong emotions. It is important to know yourself enough to recognize when this happens so you can work through it. Also, in order to have a well rounded life, one must be balanced. You must find peace with the ups and downs of life and embrace them for what they are. Mistakes and problems are opportunities to grow. Without them, we would all be stagnant. Ms./Mrs. Stapleton also mentioned that people you interact with in your job are like a second family. You will be impacted by them on a day to day basis whether you are close with them or not. It is important to choose your job carefully to ensure that they are a family you want to be around or a part of.

I have to say that the training with Ms./Mrs. Stapleton was very thought provoking. She brought up a lot of key ideas which are very important to consider throughout our day to day lives. I can only hope that this year does provide me with the opportunity to really analyze who I am more fully and what direction I want to go in. I also hope it allows others to reflect on themselves and think about what direction they are headed too.

Final Food for thought (via Ms./Mrs. Stapleton): Think about the mask(s) you wear....

Next post: Communication, what is that? Part 2.

More Initial Insights

Along with the goals of self-confidence and follow through, another goal is to become immersed in as much information as I can surrounding Virtual Education. I want to be able to be a meaningful contributor at CPS. I just found out recently that while there are a couple policies regarding virtual education, there still needs to be a full policy written regarding the ins and outs of virtual education at CPS and how it is to be operated and run. Without these policies in place, I imagine the schools who have yet to try their hand in the online courses feel a little lost as to how to begin. My hope this year is to be able to assist those schools is understanding how the process works. Who knows, maybe I will even be able to help assist writing the policies surrounding virtual education by the end of my ten months here.

While a majority of the work I have been doing is research based, I do feel like this past month was quite a conductive one. I managed to compile 30-40 documents consisting of articles, policies, rules and regulations for various virtual schools, and documents which talk in detail about what other virtual schools/programs are up to. From these articles, I have managed to write or create a number of Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents which go over best practices, implementation ideas, Twitter information, a list of useful websites, and a list of virtual programs organized by state. I have also watched and written notes on a webcast of a 2003 panel on Virtual Education put on by the US Department of Education, three PBS programs on Virtual Education and the online world's impact on youth, and numberous blogs/videos posted on MSNBC's Education Nation. All of this information has helped me begin to piece together a foundation for what I am hoping to accomplish over the year at CPS. I also assisted with editing the best practices guide which mentors will be using at CPS.

My current projects I am working on include summarizing the local, state, and national policies surrounding virtual learning, adding more content to the intranet website, preparing to work with the continuing education department at CPS, and preparing materials to send out for various schools. Future projects that I am looking forward to include: working on the newsletters, going out to the schools to view the online courses in action, helping to organize and facilitate the three trainings during the year, and building a substantial website for the mentors to utilize. I am also hoping that I will be able to assist in creating resources for onsite teachers to help make their classes blended.

By the end of this month placement wise, I am hoping to add at least two more resources (one resource does not equal one content piece added, it is more like a section of content added.) I am also hoping to have a firm grasp of what the policies are currently in the US, Illinois, and Chicago regarding Virtual Learning. I would like to have worked with at least one other department. Finally, I would like to have visited at least two or three schools. We will see where my actual progress lands in terms of these goals.

In terms of my TSP, I am really excited to find out where my group will be working with. It is pretty amazing that we only have one more month before we have to have our contract and research completed. Fingers crosssed that we know our communities by Friday. Once we find out, I plan to venture out and see what assets and needs I discover about the said community. My TSP group seems pretty great. I am hoping the project we implement makes a positive impact in the community we go into. I am looking forward to assisting a community or organization accomplish something they have been wanting to do but have not had the manpower to make happen. My goal with the group is to make sure that I keep my mind focused on what the community/organization really wants to happen. I just hope that wherever we go, said organization/community will be open to our suggestions and project ideas. I think the hardest part of the TSP experience will be to organize a time we can all meet. Due to the nature of Public Allies, we are all quite busy with our placements and with training. There are only so many hours in a day sadly. I am considering compiling a list of possible ideas for various types of findings my group may come across, but I am hesitant to do this idea as well because I really want to put first what the community wants first. There is a lot of work to be done with the TSP over the next nine months.

Well that is all for now. Next post: Communication? What is that?