Classroom Confidential Ch. 11

After reading Schmidt chapter eleven, I realized there is a lot more to good communication than enunciating your words and speaking clearly. The thought of communication being about enlightenment was something that had never crossed my mind but made perfect sense once explained. One of the main reasons we communicate is to share thoughts and ideas, often in hopes of bring about a change or some action together. In order to do so accurately, however, we must also learn the ways that others may respond and communicate differently from ourselves. In the past, I often presumed good communication was what my dad taught me. As a communications major, he had me practice conversations. I had to look him in the eye, speak clearly and directly, and articulate my thoughts without filler words. As I’ve grown I’ve realized that though I may do all these things proficiently, my communication has not always produced the results I’d imagined it would.

Chapter eleven provides ten essential elements of effective communication.  Many of these things I knew, minus a couple helpful hints such as including co-custodial parents in communication. What really helped me was reading about the different types of cultural communication practices. Well, helped and scared me! At first reading about all the things I could do wrong when engaging my parents left me feeling very insecure. Nonetheless, I realized that these aren’t things I am expected to know now but to make myself sensitive to uncovering if I were to have families of diverse backgrounds in my class.

I feel much more prepared for parent teacher conferences as well, having some tools such as a conference information sheet and preparation packet to help both the parents and myself have a common “road map”. Both the parents and I will feel less overwhelmed and more like allies when we are jointly being enlightened about the other’s world. I’m a fairly confident person but have a driving need to feel and get “prepared” for all the day’s circumstances to really shine my best (whether or not I actually am fully prepared). The idea of walking into situations and being able to say “I’ve put work in to ready myself for this”, is a huge confidence boost for me. The tips in this book will definitely help guide my readiness process!