Week 4

Week 4

Reflecting on the similarities and differences between how I evaluated myself as a communicator and how others evaluated me one thing that surprised me the most was how close the overall scores were. The first-grade teacher that took the evaluations scored within a few points of mine. I also had a family member do the evaluations and his score was within ten points or less than mine. The results surprised me because I didn’t think they would be so close to mine. I thought the family member would be closer than my colleague. Two other insights about communication I gained this week are how significant nonverbal communication is and how listening styles vary.  This might inform my professional work and personal life by making me aware of my nonverbal gestures such as body language and my facial expressions which I know I need to work on. When in my classroom with twenty-five kindergartners, I use many expressions to communicate but have to remember when communicating with adults, my exaggerated expressions may be misinterpreted!  The other insight about communication I gained this week was the varied elements of listening styles. It was interesting learning how others listen. Taking the self-assessment and having two other people take the evaluation analyzing my listening style was enlightening. I have e few things to work on!  This might inform my professional work and personal life by making me more aware of my listening during communication interactions. I want to be sure that how I listen truly reflects what I am thinking as I listen.