communication through TV

Communication and tv.

I watched The Mentalist for the first time.  The commercials seemed interesting to me because it reminded me of one of my favorite shows Psych.  I watched it with the volume off at first.

What do you think the characters’ relationships are based on the ways in which they are communicating?

Looking at the interactions of the characters I saw them as a team.  They talked a lot to each other and were always around each other.

What are they feeling and expressing based on the nonverbal behavior you are observing?

I saw confused faces, fingers pointing, and embracing of victims’ families.

Now, watch the show with the sound turned on.

What assumptions did you make about the characters and plot based on the ways in which you interpreted the communication you observed?

I first tried to decide who was in charge on the show because the person that appeared to be the one that everyone kept reporting to wasn’t the person that was solving the cases.  I assumed that a man had feelings for one of the detectives by the way he looked at her and continued to try to be around her.

Would your assumptions have been more correct if you had been watching a show you know well?

My assumptions probably would have been better had I been more familiar with the show because I could have had the background information on the characters and the makeup of the program.

Write about your experience in your blog, including what you learned about communication from this experience and insights or “aha” moments you believe would be helpful to your colleagues.

Aha moments that I had watching this show was that you can look at the way people move and their body language and detect some of their feelings.  However, you still have to be careful because everyone might use the same action for different reasons.  For example, someone yelling might not be in anger but they might be trying to warn someone of danger.

Communication and Collaboration in Early Childood

         I like the way President Obama holds his temper.  I have seen blatant disrespect of him on television that I personally know that I would not be able to keep my cool if I were in the same situation.  I don’t think that you have to like everything a person stands for and you certainly don’t have to agree but I do think that each person deserves respect without the hidden racism or criticisms that he often receives.  This may be just because he is the president but either way I feel that someone else in these situations might respond differently.

            I think that his calm demeanor helps to keep situations under control and encourages respect of

 others.  I would want to model myself after him because I have dealt with racism and it is not always easy

to maintain a sense of composure.  For me, keeping my cool and showing others is the ultimate sign of my

strength because I feel that it would take a lot to show people that I can be Godly even if they aren’t.

Personal hopes and goals

            One hope that I would have for myself with regards to working with children and families from diverse backgrounds is that I would be open minded and accepting.  I would hope that I would take the time to get to know the student and their parents before making conclusions about their religion, home environment, and culture.  I would want the same applied to me so I can only reach out and expand my knowledge about people that might come from different backgrounds than me so that I can continue to strive to be the best teacher that I can be.

            One goal that I would like to set for the education field regarding diversity, equity, and social justice would be to inform others of the importance of education and what it takes to help children succeed regardless of their backgrounds.  I think that children from all areas of the globe deserve the opportunity to receive quality education and I think that it should be standard regardless of where you live.  In my opinion children that live in less than favorable conditions should have quality education and services that would help them become great students and want to be positive members of society.  I feel that in order to do this we have to recognize each student as an individual and respect the student’s differences so that we are learning as teachers while we are teaching our students.

            I would like to thank all of my fellow classmates that have given a voice to this topic and that have shared their experiences with me.  I think that as long as we keep pushing forward in a positive manner we can help make our communities better a little bit at a time.  Enjoy your future classes.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

As I child I never felt that there was prejudices against me.  Even though I grew up in the projects I never realized that they were projects until I was much older.  I felt that there were biases against Blacks as I go older.  I remember that there were two community centers in our neighborhood.  One that was used mostly by the Blacks and one that was used mostly by the Whites.  Although no one ever said that we had to use one facility or the other it was understood by some that there should have been that division.  Well with my ignorance to the situation I usually went to the mostly White facility.  What I found there was that the people were very nice and respectful. I swam and enjoyed the company of my friends.  I also found that I was more comfortable there.  The facility was nicer and the atmosphere was better.  I think that when we cause divisions in our communities it creates an element of anger and hatred.  It’s hatred for those who don’t think that you are as special as they are but also hatred for yourself.  You want to change who you are to fit in and that’s never an okay scenario.

I believe that this incident diminished equity by encouraging one race of people to feel more dominant than another.  I also feel that it allowed the less dominant culture to feel as though they weren’t good enough which caused them to develop low self esteem issues and issues of low self worth.  On the flip side I think that when this happens communities begin to rally together to make changes for the better good of the people.  My community tried to embrace and bring people together.  We began sharing the centers and there were always events at both centers that invited others to come and take part in.

For me this incident was a learning experience because it allowed me to see that people were afraid.  They were afraid of things that they didn’t know and of change.  I think that this was true on both sides of the color barriers.  People are often afraid of things that are out of the norm for them.  If they feel that change is about to happen and it isn’t what they are use to then it causes them to panic.  Instead of embracing the changes that are for the good of man we tend to shy away and fight to keep things the same.

In order for this incident to become better in the equity department I think that change would have to start inside of one person and move on to the next.  I think that if one person changes the way that they think then maybe the next person will change and so on and so forth.  I believe that if we work together with our communities to make changes it will catch on and eventually people will start to see the importance of caring for others that are different than themselves.

Practicing awareness of microaggressions

Describe at least one example of a microaggression which you detected this week or remember from another time. In what context did the microaggression happen?

In today’s time there is a lot of talk about politics.  People are trying to decide who to vote for and why.  There is so much controversy on every topic that it begins to heat up whenever people gather to discuss it.  This was the case for my observation.  I observed people in my school during lunch breaks.  The topic of politics came up between 3 teachers.  They were discussing the Marriage Amendment. Two ladies said that they were devote Christians and that they didn’t believe that two people of the same gender should be married.  One stated that she felt that all people should have the same benefits but just not change the word “marriage”.  The third lady said that she felt like it was fine to change the definition of marriage but that she didn’t like the fact that the government had been given the right to decide which people should get what.  As the conversation progressed the first lady became frustrated because she said that it was just wrong for “those people” to want to change everything to fit their needs.  The third lady asked her what she meant by “those people” and she said gay people.  She asked why they couldn’t just live the way they wanted to without wanting to change everything to fit their lifestyles. 

I found that this conversation showed examples of micro aggressions from the sexual orientation level.  It should feelings of anger and resentment as well as concern.  People didn’t want to see their lives changed and didn’t understand the lives of others.

 What did you think and feel when you observed the microaggression or when you found yourself as the target of a microaggression?

During this conversation I wanted to remain unbiased so I stayed quite even though I have taken part of this same type of dialogue before.  I felt awkward listening to people discuss the fate of others as though they had the right to.  I also felt defensive because I could see how the conversation could easily change into something involving race or religion.  I understood the arguments of all the parties but it is hard to remain positive when you are so passionate about any topic.  I think this is what happened with these ladies.  They all had strong opinions and they wanted to share and maybe even get the other person to agree with their point of view.

In what ways did your observation experiences this week affect your perception of the effects of discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes on people.

This observation allowed me to see how passionate and forceful people are about topics that they believe in.  People are not willing to change their opinions unless they see a strong reason to do so.  They are willing to fight, yell, and scream in order to get their points of view across.  I also see how the perceptions of which you were taught can influence your way of thinking.  The “Christian” women were strong in their feelings because this is what they had been taught their entire Christian lives.  The other woman may have been just as religious but was somewhat more laid back and willing to explore other options.

Perspectives on diversity and culture

It seems that my friends have similar views on what is culture and what is diversity as you will see when you read their definitions.  After discussing this issue with them I can say that we all need to recognize and respect the differences in culture so that each person can feel appreciated and embraced.

Tasha-

Her definition of culture is traditions, race traditions, heritage and your ancestry, and the environment in which we live.

Her definition of diversity is to be an individual and to be different.

   

Nia-

Her definition of culture is the language, food you eat, your family background, and your environment.

Her definition of diversity is multiple ethnicities, and cultures.

 

Tabitha

Her definition of culture is that it’s a way of living, different ways of thinking.

Her definition of diversity is mixture of cultures and different backgrounds.

 

Some of the aspects that I received and that we discussed in class are: background, families and their traditions, differences, and different ethnicities.

 

 

Talking to these friends allowed me to see how similar we are in our thinking.  We all felt that our backgrounds and families were important.  We also felt that our environments encouraged the way we think about ourselves and how we think about others.

 

Some of the aspects of culture and diversity that I feel came have been acknowledged in this course and by my friends are:

-Culture is a heritage

-Culture is a way of living

-We have to be accepting of diversity

-We have to be accepting of differences

One main aspect that I think we all struggle with that has been left out is our need to be knowledgeable of others and their beliefs.  We say that we are accepting until we have to deal with it directly.  I think that by looking at ourselves and finding the issues that we might have prejudices against, we can begin to change our way of thinking and therefore change the way that we act towards others.

I think that looking at the way other people think has helped me to better understand how important culture and heritage is.  Sometimes I think that I take for granted the traditions that my family has.  I feel that it’s just “supposed” to be that way.  Truth is after my mom passed away I saw a lot of changes in our family.  My mom was only 53 when she died but she affected the way our family did things.  It is sad to see traditions change but it makes me fight harder to keep them going.

My family culture

A description of the three items you would choose

If I had to uproot my family and move with only 3 necessities I would take:

-Birth certificates

-Pictures

-Cuddle item that means something to my kids.

How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you

I would take the birth certificates so that my children and I could prove where we were born and revisit our birth places when given the chance.  I would take pictures so that the children could remember where they had lived and feel close to something that is familiar.  I would also take a cuddle item for them so they wouldn’t feel entirely lost in a new world and in a new environment.

Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you

If I was told that I had to give up 2 of the items I would be disappointed and hurt.  I think that these items would help us to be able to reestablish ourselves in a new world.  If I had to give up 2 items they would be the pictures and cuddle items. I think that it would be more important for us to be able to prove where we had come from and where we need to be.

Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise,

An insight that I gained about myself is that I am focused on my children and their comfort zone.  I want only what’s best for them and would absolutely put them and my husband first.  I do think that as long as we were able to stick together as a family would could make it through anything.