My Collaborative Learning Community

     Building relationships and in some cases friendships is very important in any career field. Healthy relationships provide positive reinforcement. For example, I have a friend who is also a coworker of mine and every time I want to have a meltdown she always have some encouraging words to say. After I talk to her I feel better and I excel in my work. Positive feedback is very important with everything that we do. I have experienced that in this class with my colleagues. 

     I appreciate all of the positive feedback that I have been given throughout this program from the instructors and my colleagues. I tried my best to make sure that I returned the favor to some of my colleagues as well. Having a support system is very important in achieving your goals. I wish all of my colleagues well as they continue their professional path. Good luck and well wishes!!!!

Erica 

http://www.waldenu.edu

Team Development

I have been involved in many group some professional and some personal. When the group ends it is always bittersweet. Adjourning a group means that it is time to reflect and celebrate. I am currently working together in a group now and we have until October 16 to make sure that all of our component areas are at 100%. I am so looking forward to the celebrating part and unfortunately I will not miss this group. We had some struggles, verbal exchanges, and bad body language. I do not like the fact that there is no trust in this group and everyone is out for themselves. There is nothing wrong with a little competition at work, but these people I work with have taken it to a whole new level.

The hardest group adjournment I was in was in undergrad. I really enjoyed working with my classmates and when it was time to end the group it was difficult for me. I had made some good relationships and we had very good communication with each other. We went out to dinner to celebrate and talk about the outcome of our project. Some of us promised to keep in touch and to communicate with each other outside the group. We exchanged phone numbers and email addresses. There is one person from that group that I still talk to and we have became best of friends. I was named her child's godmother and she is my child's godmother since she is the reason I met my child's father. We have been through some ups and downs, but we remain friends.

I imagine that I will adjourn this group of colleagues with clear communication. I have learned to communicate with my colleagues and I will miss the positive and support feedback I have received in the discussion questions and blogs. Some of my colleagues I have been grouped with since the beginning of the master's degree program. I truly wish all of them well and I am going to miss the interactions we have had during this course.

http://www.waldenu.edu

Conflict?

Conflict is something I deal with on a daily basis. I have conflict with my supervisor, colleagues, and parents. There is not a dull day at my job when I do not have conflict. It is either because I disagree with something or someone has lied on me. I tell people all the time that it is like being in high school at my job. A bunch of unhappy women trying to hurt each other. I do not understand why, but I know that I do not like it and I am trying to get out of that place.

 An example of conflict in my professional life:
I had planned a trip to Chuck E Cheese for the end of school year celebration. I had submitted a requisition to our finance department for the number of children enrolled, staff, and parent volunteers. On the day of the trip there were some children who did not come to school, so we had extra money left over. With the extra money I took it upon myself to purchase food for the staff. As I was taking care of business another teacher decided to help me by passing out the cup of tokens to each class. She went up to the teachers and asked how many children do you have? All the teachers told her their correct number of children except 1. Because this teacher was dishonest and wanted to keep tokens for herself I had to purchase tokens out of my own money for the children who did not receive tokens. I was so upset and I wanted to kick the teacher behind, but I waited until we got back and I informed my supervisor who did not do a thing. I did not talk to this teacher for a week. I was trying to let it go, but I could not believe that this teacher would lie and steal from a child. The teacher finally came to me and we talked about it. I told her that I was more disappointed than upset. She is suppose to be a teacher, a leader, a educator. I told her what kind of example does she think that set for the children and parents who volunteered on this trip. They saw a whole other side and they were not pleased. The parents got together and gave me my money back and some even took their children out of our program. I should have did like the text said I should have discussed the issue with the teacher and arrived to a solution. This is what O'Hair and Wiemann calls a win-win situation. The fact that my supervisor did nothing also showed me that I was in this thing alone.


In my personal life I try not have any conflicts. Even though I have disagreements with my family and friends I try to avoid having conflicts by changing the subject. I try to turn the situation into something positive. I always make jokes or make light of the situation. I feel that my family deserve respect instead of arguing with them over something small. I chose alternatives instead of having a conflict.

Do anyone have any suggestions on what I should do about my job?

http://www.waldenu.edu