National/Federal Communities of Practice

Government Services Administration
The GSA assists federal workers in obtaining workplace childcare facilities. I chose this community of practice due to my support of quality childcare options working-class families. Too often the working class is forgotten in terms of affordable and accessible childcare options for their children.
https://www.gsa.gov/resources-for/citizens-consumers/child-care/child-care-services

FEMA
FEMA provides child care assistance to families that have experienced disaster-related financial burden. I chose this community of practice due to the increasing amount of natural disasters affecting families all over the nation.
https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/133703

Department of Family and Children Services
DFCS is an essential community of practice that protects the health and safety of all children. The well-being of children is always at the forefront of my work within this field, hence why I chose this community of practice.
https://dfcs.georgia.gov/private-agencies

DFCS Field Program Specialist
This sole responsibility of the person in this position is to monitor the health and well-being of children and families within a specific region. In order to obtain this position, I would need a related  Masters degree and two years of supervisory experience.

Communities of Practice

The following are communities of practice that I currently am apart of and that share a common passion for children and early childhood education:

NAEYC: The overall goal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children is to promote quality learning experiences for children ages birth through eight. I chose NAEYC specifically because of their push for quality within the early childhood setting. For me, quality is the basis of every contribution I make to this field. Therefore, it was a no-brainer to choose NAEYC as a contender for a community of practice that I am drawn towards.

GAEYC: GAEYC is the Georgia Association for the Education of Young Children. It mimics NAEYC in the same regards to assuring quality within early childhood programs. This community of practice is a little more intimate, and focuses distinctly on the needs of children and families in the state of Georgia.

Bright from the Start: This entity is an extension of the Georgia Department of Education. Bright from the Start is the licensing agency for every childcare entity in Georgia. I chose this community of practice because it clearly communicates the expectations for keeping children safe and healthy while in our care.

Job Opportunities:

Field Director- A field director travels to centers in need of a director, whether they may be out on leave or the center may not have one in place yet. This position interests me because it would present me with the opportunity to travel the country, experience new things, and share my experiences/knowledge with childcare centers in various locations. I would need to further develop my knowledge of fiscal management and critical policies/procedures for each center and state.

Regional Manager- The regional manager oversees several centers at once, and works remotely to resolve issues, improve client relations, and ensure quality. In order to be successful in this role, I would need to improve my communication skills and interactions with clients.

Team Development

One of my favorite places I've ever worked was an elementary school where I taught pre-k. Of course we had our ups and downs, but for the most part our team felt like a family...so much so that we still have strong relationships to this day. It was hard to leave this team because of the "family" feel. We all had each other's backs, supported one another (both professionally and personally), and laughed like no other. When I left this position there were a lot of tears and reminiscing, and soon after I left many people from the school moved on as well due to a change in leadership. A closing ritual we implemented was getting together for dinner to reflect on the good times, which served as a confirmation that we would all keep in touch. We turned this into a tradition, and at the end of each school year we still get together for dinner to catch up.

From this program, I would like it if all of us could adjourn by congratulating each other for completing the program and posting a photo of our degrees to some sort of photo thread. This would allow me to see that all of the colleagues I've met along the way completed this journey with me and that we were all successful.

Adjournment is so important because it gives everyone a sense of completion and accomplishment. Even though adjournment is celebrating the ending of something that was once good, it still serves as  time to reflect and celebrate accomplishments.

NVC & The Three R's

I recently had a conflict with one of my teachers regarding non-submission of lesson plans. This is a repeat offender whom always has issues with submitting things on time and fulfilling classroom responsibilities. She also has a tendency to be combative when addressed with feedback. While having the conversation (or any conversation with her) based on our history, I tend to enter the conversation already agitated and visibly frustrated. Through what I have learned, what I give people is what I will reciprocate...which is one element of the three R's. In order to have mutual respect between the two of us, I must also learn to listen for understanding, rather than just listening as a requirement or just to respond.

I asked one of my fellow EC's for advice on communicating with staff, and she explained that I should commit to going into conversations/feedback with a mindset of understanding rather than walking in with a plan as to how the conversation should go. When you go into a conversation with pre-conceived ideas and actions, you tend to not listen as effectively as you should.

Who Am I as a Communicator?

This week, I chose to have one of the teachers on my staff and my oldest sister to evaluate me through the assessments. My teacher's results were almost the same as my own, the only difference was she did not sense any of my communication anxiety. My sister, however, scored me higher on my verbal aggressiveness in the sense that she feels I get aggressive in conversation when I don't agree with someone. I have heard throughout life that we tend to give people different versions of ourselves, and that is what I believe these assessments mostly revealed.

Diversity in the Workplace

The staff at my current place of employment is quite diverse. We have a large mix of racial and religious backgrounds presented throughout our teaching and administrative staff. At times, I do find myself speaking to individual people in different ways, yet it is not because of their cultural background. I do however have an awareness of each person on staff and how they best receive information. Just as we cater to the children and their individual learning styles, I cater to each person whom I come into contact with and their communication styles. This takes a while to master, and it takes for one to get to know people on both a personal and professional level. Catering to communication styles and reception in each and every person can continue to foster healthy lines of communication and overall effectiveness.

Communication through "Friends"

I chose to evaluate communication cues through the show "Friends". I have never really watched the show, so I chose it due to the fact that I am unaware of the relationships amongst the characters.

In the episode I first viewed the opening scene in silence. The characters are all sitting around talking in a group setting. The conversation seems to be light hearted and genuine between friends. Everyone's non-verbal cues speak to their strong bond as friends. Each of the five characters in the scene seemed relaxed in nature and their body language signaled me to believe that they all got along within the group. Another character enters the room and seems sad. Many of the characters reach out to touch and comfort him, while the others seemed confused as to what was going on with him. One character in particular seemed unbothered with the other character's emotions, as he continued to read a magazine with his feet propped on the table throughout the encounter.

After watching the scene with sound, I now know that the scene does consist of a group of friends sitting in a coffee shop discussing topics such as relationships and past experiences. The group was grilling one of the female characters regarding a date with a new guy. The conversation was indeed light-hearted and consisted of light banter and jokes between friends. When the sad character walks into the coffee shop, he is visibly upset and only one friend in the group seems to know why. The uninterested friend attempts to lighten the mood by offering him a cookie. I learned that the character is sad due to someone named Carol (a former girlfriend) moved her things out of his home earlier that day and left him. The group continues to banter on and the uninterested friend makes jokes pertaining to how he should have known his girlfriend was a lesbian all along and he wouldn't be hurt.

It would be much easier to interpret the scene if i'd seen the show prior to this moment and knew the characters as well as their situations.