Rachel Gillen's Blog

I have had group experiences where I have been relieved that a group project has come to an end and there have been a few times in my professional life where I have been sad to see a project come to an end. I recently left a team of supervisors at my old job that was extremely hard to walk away from. Although we had our challenges amongst each other, we were a very hard working group who was extremely close. Due to the field we worked in, we had all been through crisis situations together which I think always make you stronger as a team. It has become a tradition in that group that whenever a person leaves, we go out and celebrate together to ensure that we have closure. Unfortunately, the majority of this group has left over the past year. I do believe this group was hard to leave due to the level of functioning we were at as a team. I was very scared to walk away and never experience another team like that again.  It will definitely be interesting to adjourn from my master's

I have recently started a new position at a new agency. Due to this, I wouldn't say I am experiencing any major disagreements or conflicts but, more challenges in communication due to learning how my new coworkers, supervisors, and staff communicate. We recently opened two additional classrooms in our school and there were times that I disagreed with my new supervisor on a specific item for the new classrooms. In the past, at my previous job, we were really pushed to lead with the facts and then tell our story based on a training called Crucial Conversations. I have found this to be extremely successful when communicating in disagreements or conflicts. It was helpful to tell the facts behind why I thought what I thought regarding the classroom and then finish with how I felt. Another incredibly important piece is allowing the other party to present their facts and stories as well. After this, it leads you to a resolution which could ultimately be a compromise. I think Crucial Conve

One of the people I asked to complete the questionnaires for this assignment has been a supervisor and a friend and that made things more interesting. She didn't necessarily look at my communication in regard to only my professional world or only my personal life, she looked at both. The other person I asked to complete the questionnaire mainly looked at my professional communication and I would say I did the same. There were definitely times where my supervisor and friend struggled to answer the question because I might communicate differently in a professional setting than a personal setting.  I learned this week that communication can cause anxiety even when you feel extremely confident in communication. I believe I am confident when communicating with parents but, I have recently experienced a lack of confidence when working with new families. I definitely think this showed in the questionnaires.  I think these questionnaires will help my communication growth in the futu