Communication Evauations

The one thing that surprised me about the others who evaluated me is that their score of my communication and listening skills were in sync with my own evaluations. I really was surprised that my listening evaluations rated me as people oriented. And the high rating of my communication skills as being something I do not need to worry about. I take this survey by others as positive reinforcement. My self-esteem in communication was average because I learned some excellent listening skills I needed to employ. I have responsibilities to the teachers and families where I work, and sometimes I have less time than work. Feeling hurried, I had the impressions I was rushing conversations to get to the facts so I could address them and move on. I am sure that is the case in my mind, and that would not promote effective listening skills. I will be working on my communication and listening skills continuously.

One thing I learned from the exercise in initial impressions, is that I should wait on facts before concluding my observations. This is an excellent tool to use when meeting children and their families, I have to allow room for shared communication, asking questions, sharing information about myself, and listening. I will never again be able to think my first impressions are facts.

The lesson reinforced this week was that perceptions can be bias. I like to think that I am a positive person looking for the best in others. Sadly, that statement is not always right, and I realize how it has impacted my vision. Perceptions are natural attributes we all have, but the ability to allow these perceptions to dominate our treatment of others is overzealous. I will try to temper my reliance on believing I know what is beyond my knowledge. I am motivated to improve my understanding of others before I believe what I see or think.