Final Blog

It has been a great year!  Many of us have shared previous courses and have been apart of this journey together!  I wish you ALL well as we transition to our specializations.

I have decided to enroll in the new tempo program and hopefully complete the program by the end of the summer.  It is self-paced.  

No blogs.  No discussions post.  I will be studying administration, management and leadership.

It has been very informative to read others view points as well as 

learn about programming form different parts of the country.

I have also very much enjoyed sharing my knowledge

especially with my work on the reservation.

Good luck as you continue your education.

Thank you for supporting children and families.  

Building Trust

In my career I haven't had many "projects" that I have been apart of.  Many positions in the beginning of my career as a home-visitor I worked alone with my case-loads.  Then I moved into supervising supervisors and really have been more directive in my roles.

The hardest group (position) I ever experienced was when I resigned at Group Health.  I had been a child birth educator with them for 12 years.  I was leaving a position, a family and a population that I loved serving.  I had been their child birth educator for teens.  For many, many years I was the only educator in the Puget Sound area that served only teens.  It was a difficult decision but since I was moving to Arizona I didn't have much choice.  I cried as I informed my supervisor.  We had a good-bye lunch in which they gave me very nice gifts.  On my last day I taught a class and slipped out the back door.  I hate good-byes.  My position was now over.  I have stayed in contact with all the staff that I worked with over these last few years.  For the first year they still relied on me to provide them with information for pregnant moms as they did not replace my position.  I consider them family and will always have a connection.

I haven't formed a group of colleagues while working on my master's degree.  I have a friendship with one individual who is no longer in the cohort.  She and I were each others support system during the first few classes.  I imagine I will finish the degree and there will not be any need for adjourning for me.

Wrapping things up when apart of a group is essential so that you can discuss what was successful and what things could have made the project better if there was a next time (Abudi, 2010).

 Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

Conflict Resolution

Recently, a friend of mine purchased a new car.  I didn't agree with his actions as he always makes bad financial decisions.  I have tried to advice and guide him but yet he does what he wants to do regardless of the circumstances he gets himself into. During the recent conversation I decided to just respect the decision he had made and give feedback to support him with this car purchase.  Two days later he was having buyer’s remorse and I responded to him in a positive manner although my thought process was “I told you so”.  I have decided that the relationship is more to be valued than me continuing to state how I feel about his decisions.  At the end of the day they are his decisions and he is the one that has to continue to face them until he is ready to be financially stable.  I can respect him but it doesn't mean I have to agree with him.  Yesterday, we were talking and he noticed that I was not commenting.  I was providing eye contact, nodding and he said I would simply state I understand.  That kept an argument from stirring over something that really doesn't matter in day but I was able to listen to him vent about his circumstances.  It’s too easy to disagree with someone.  It’s too easy to say if you had listened to me you wouldn't be in the circumstance.  Yet, at the same time it is not respectful and a way to further build a relationship if you are putting your friends down.  Instead I will choose to listen and watch.  People at times have to learn the hard way.