Goodbye and Farewell

This has been an amazing journey. I am so grateful for the feedback of my colleagues and professor Parrish. I learned a lot about myself during this course when it comes to communication, and I have gained a lot of great skills that I can take with me in both my personal and professional life. It is great to share this experience with others because our experiences help shape who we are, and others can learn from what we have experienced and gained over time. I wish all of you the best in your academic journeys, and hope to keep in contact with you throughout our academic journey. I thank Professor Parrish for all of her great feedback as well and encouragement. Good luck everyone!

Adjourning Phase

I have been in several groups in the past, and the adjourning phase has always been simple. The group of individuals where the adjourning phase was the hardest is in situations where the adjourning phase is abrupt. When you work with people, you are a team; you have a common goal, and you form bonds that last outside of the work day and group you are in. even though I have not had a job where I had a specific project and team members, I count my jobs with team members as my teammates as well as groups I have worked with in the past while working on academics.

 One of the jobs I had when I lived in Georgia, I was an early preschool teacher for this company for over two years. This was a big accomplishment for me because I had never been at a company that long, and I loved the children, families, and colleagues I worked with; well, the teachers at least. There were new owners that took over, and soon started to ‘clean house’. I remember coming in on a Monday and working that day, and that day seem to be off for me. At the end of the day, the owners told me to come into the office, and they fired me for reasons that were made up and false, and I had to leave without saying goodbye to my coworkers, children, and families. I was so distraught and hurt by this action because I had been with these ladies for over two years, and we had formed a wonderful bond, and we worked on being the best educators we could be, and to have it ripped away from you, and not be able to say good-bye or have what you have done celebrated makes the adjourning phase more difficult.

I wish that I could have left on terms that were my own, and have been able to talk to my families and children and coworkers so that it wouldn’t have been such a shock. My families in my classroom were so hurt and disappointed in the management team. I even some parents pull their children from the program because of my abrupt departure. I did work for a school that celebrated me leaving by throwing me a surprise going away party. That brought tears to my eyes, and it is something I will never forget because it was special and made me feel appreciated and special; it made me feel part of a team.

I think I will take a lot away from the individuals I have worked with and met via my online program, but I imagine the adjourning phase to be simple and sweet because there has been no face to face meetings. I think that adjourning is an important phase because it is completing and ending properly. You can sit back and discuss things on terms that puts what you have done into perspective, as well as any last or final thoughts so that you can truly learn from your peers.

Conflict Resolution

I started a new job about a month ago, and I had a classroom that had absolutely no structure. I was told by the director to follow the schedule that is set for my age group, which is 2 1/2 - 3. The children are set to go outside at 11 am, and there must be no more than two classrooms out at a time, and in particular, my class can not be out with the younger class, which is understandable. Before I came, the children did not get a lot of curriculum, and now they do, which means I take them out at the scheduled time at 11 for 45 mins. The younger classroom of toddlers used to go out at that time, but that is not their true schedule, just something the teacher does. The toddler teacher wants me to not follow my schedule to allow for things to stay the same, and I disagree, and follow my schedule set by the owners and directors. The teacher and I do not see eye to eye. What I could possibly do is compromise and maybe go out at 1130-1200, allowing for her to take her children out at 11, or I could use the 3 R;s by respecting the teacher by empathizing, yet explaining the need to stick to the schedule set by the director, reciprocate by compromising or alternating the play schedule, and be responsive to the needs of not just the teacher, but the needs of my students.  As of now, it remains that I follow the schedule, but possible, once we can communicate more effectively, we can compromise and make a decision we are both happy with. What do you all think I should do?