adjourning

I think when you have a good group the leaving at the end of the project is hard. Some projects sometimes take up a large portion of the class and you become friends with the people in your group and once its over you don't get to talk to them anymore, unless you have traded contacts.

I think that high performing groups are hard to leave because they are successful and you trust everyone in the group because you know they all want the same result and that is to get a good grade.

I don't have many groups that I have felt not happy that it was over with. I have had a few friends in some of the classes I was in and I wasn't happy it ended because I wouldn't get to see them as much anymore because we are in different classes.

I feel like with getting my Masters degree it will be kind of sad to finish it because I enjoy reading about everyone else's experiences with their work and school and how they do things in their classrooms.

Adjourning is an essential part of the group project process because it teaches you how to end things in a healthy manner.

conflict resolution

A conflict that I have had at work is that some people have been accusing me of making them feel "uncomfortable" because they know I am a lesbian. I have been called into the office a few times and spoken to about it. I have never tried to make anyone feel uncomfortable and I usually only talk to my friends at work. I go to work to do my job and all the children and parents love me. The ways that I have resolved the accusations is that I keep to myself and stay away from the ones who are saying things to my boss. I also have a friend who approached my boss and told her that people are talking about me and are trying to get me in trouble, and that if they do not stop doing this to me she will be forced to quit because she is a bi-sexual person and is feeling discriminated against as well.

To my colleagues, do you have any advice on what I should do?

similarities and differences

The similarities I had with my mom and friend who did was that they got the anxiety and listening ones the same as me because I am very predictable. However, the verbal aggression one they got lower and I got a much higher score. I felt like it was weird that I got a high score because I usually let people say what they want and don't usually say anything negative towards them at all. I felt like I should have gotten the same score my mom and friend got because they got a low score that makes sense when it applies to me.

cultural diversity

I have found myself talking differently to people of different culture because in my town we don't see much difference with people. My town is all Caucasian people and a few African Americans but not many. I took a class while getting my Bachelor degree and a lot of the people in my class were of the Muslim culture and wore gowns and masks so you could only see their eyes. Me and the other Caucasian girls all judged them because they were different. I did eventually have to be in a group with them and found out we had a lot in common and we got along very well. It's sad that in this day and age, that if you look different you automatically get judged. The way I communicated differently was I tried using as small of words as I could just in case they didn't understand me. I took that assumption that they couldn't speak fluent English, and I was wrong. They were very intelligent. I now make sure to not judge a book by its cover, because it really could have made me not make friends in the class and I wouldn't have learned about their culture, which I found very interesting.

Tv show

I watched a new show called "resurrection" and it was on silent the whole time. I found myself trying to figure out very fast. I couldn't tell who was good and bad. It was very difficult. I could tell people were upset, but I didn't know why. The facial expressions were sometimes easy to read. When they raised their hands around you could tell they were angry. It was easy to see they were sad when they cried, however, I didn't know why.

I turned the volume up and then found out who the good and bad guys were in the show. I found out why they were yelling. I couldn't imagine being deaf, because I can't read peoples expressions that well. I find that people cant read my expressions either, because my facial expressions are very hard to hide, and then people tend to ask me what is wrong and I never know why.

thank you

One thing I want children and families to be able to do is always talk to me if they are feeling uncomfortable or judged in my classroom. I want it to be a place for everyone to feel welcomed and able to say anything they want without judgment.

A goal I am going to try to do is be more open minded to other people's culture and traditions. It is hard sometimes when you see a parent doing something to the child when it is not the same in our country.

To my colleagues, thank you so much for your stories on your blogs and the feedback you give me on mine. It has given me a lot more knowledge and insight about diversity and how to deal with certain situations if I ever come across it.

country of origin - Mexico

I am working in a child care center and a little girl from Mexico comes into my classroom. The first thing I would do after meeting the little girl and her family is look up the Mexican culture and traditions. When looking up Mexico, I learned there is no actual language for Mexican people. Most of it is in fact Spanish, but there are other kinds of languages too. I would learn about their religion to know in fact if I have any children in common with them. The internet said that "90% of Mexicans are Catholic". I would look up the Catholic traditions and what they celebrate to be sure I am not offending anyone. The next thing I would look up is how they live. I found that they enjoy having parties and celebrate things every chance they get. They also take family very seriously and are always there for their immediate family. This allows me to make sure I get to know the family and make them feel very comfortable in their new setting.
By doing these things, it will allow the family to feel welcomed into our classroom and see that their child is not being discriminated against and that we accept everyone regardless of where they are from.