A Thank You to the Class

This communication class has been a great experience to learn effective communication and collaboration skills. I want to take a moment to thank my colleagues and professor in this course for providing such a supportive learning environment than encouraged new thinking and reflection on who I am as a communicator and a collaborator. I hope to see many of you in the next courses, and that we can stay in touch throughout the course and perhaps beyond it, as we can always continue to learn from each other!

Adjourning In Team Work

When reflecting on groups I have been a part of in the past, and groups I am part of now, I think that the hardest goodbyes have come from the groups with the most cohesion and trust. When I was doing my student teaching and my first special education job I worked at a small elementary school with a very small but tight-knit group of staff. There were two self-contained programs and a resource room in the building, plus Mrs. F., our school counselor/psychologist. Student study teams involved all special education staff, and when discussing how to best help children there were never conflicts over program restrictions or being unable to help serve a child because he did not “fit” one program or another. It was extremely clear that the group’s goal was to keep the child first at all times, and Mrs. F. served as a facilitator that would help us figure out how to spread out the support so no one felt overwhelmed or under-supported.

This high-performing group was hard to leave because, despite conflicts that might have arose during different issues, the group always had the same goal in mind, which helped us to always keep each other’s perspectives in mind. Every meeting was a positive experience because we knew whatever issues arose we would work through them and come out a stronger group in the end. Unfortunately we did not have a closing ritual, as I took another job over the summer and did not return. Mrs. F. retired shortly after, though we still keep in touch. I wish we could have had one opportunity to get together for a real goodbye, as many of us have gone our separate ways- though we do see each other at some special education gatherings since we work in neighboring districts.

I imagine that there will be some sadness when this group disbands at the end of this Master’s program, although I have already left one group behind, as I doubled-up on classes this summer and moved up one semester. There is one gal, Lois, in particular that I miss having discussion posts with, but we still stay connected through FaceBook and e-mail. I hope that when this course is over I will still stay in contact with some members of this Master’s group, as it has been a great experience to learn about other people through discussions, both on a professional and personal level.

Adjourning is an important process of group work because it brings closure as well as an opportunity to celebrate the group’s accomplishments. I think these celebrations and acknowledgment of relationships we have built encourage us to continue to work positively in other groups (or continue working in old groups, but with new goals) as it lets us reflect on the positive work that can be achieved through working together. It also reminds us that we are not alone in our mission of serving young children and their families to the best of our abilities.

Conflicts in the Workplace

This blog assignment was perfectly timed, as there have been some conflict at my work as we start new schedules, and those of us working with children who have many different special services during their school week struggle to make it all work without “fighting” over children’s limited time. The children I teach have global delays, so in addition to spending all academic times in specially designed instructional groups, they also must be pulled out of class for speech and occupational therapies. It can be very difficult to find times to meet their special needs that do not coincide with other needs, such as their general education socializing, lunch, recess, and educational areas not served by special education, such as science and social studies.

This week, the Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), as she is trying to start serving students, wanted to serve one of them during his science time. I felt I needed to advocate for this student’s time in his general education classroom, receiving access to education that he does not get anywhere else. The SLP felt she needed to advocate for his much needed communication goals. Both of us had legitimate concerns about the use of this student’s time, and both of us felt we were advocating for the right thing. Instead of attempting to compromise or find an alternate time, the SLP said she would leave the decision up to me, and if the student went to science that she would just tell our director that he did not get his speech minutes met that week because I would not let him go. I perceived this as a threat, and told her that I did not want her to “throw me under the bus”, and so she could take him during science, and we would “work it out” later. Neither of us handled the situation well, but thankfully we were able to turn it around later. We both apologized, as we were both communicating while we were stressed out. We decided that she would speak with the teacher in charge of science to find out the specific days and times students would not be available, since I did not have all that information, and I would remove myself from that decision making, as I was only serving as a middle man, and perhaps adding to the confusion. I know that the SLP is a very sensitive person, and she takes conflict very personally, so I made sure to express to her that in no way was our relationship “damaged” and that it was ok that we occasionally disagree, because I understand her desire to advocate for the students is the same as mine. We both made a commitment to meet and hash out our schedules, and that we would find compromises on both ends.

Being sensitive to her emotions, seeing things from her perspective as well as mine, and working together to compromise and collaborate were all strategies that turned our unproductive conflict into a productive one. As a result, we are working together to meet the needs of students and we both have a better understanding of time restraints on each other’s schedules and jobs.