Professionalism

I love the main points in the reading. they seem like common sense but I see people who never act lijke this.
1. Common Courtesy-Be polite. Talk kindly and don't use slan or cuss words. Talk to them as if they were the president.
2.Be respectful. If they dont feel respect from you they won't hire you.
3. Thank the Employers for their time. Wouldn't you want thanked for the time you took out of your day to interview you?
4. Be flexible. If you are flexible they will return the favor. The world always throws curveballs at you so it is good to know you will be able to adapt to changes.
5. Look good. My roomate was applying for a job at Montana Wheat. She was dressed in jeans and a plain t shirt. I stopped her before she walked out the door and made her change. I told her that even if you are going to get a job for selling food. Show that you care and look nice so they are sold the minute you walk through the door.
I need to remember to talk calmly and in a way that they can undersatnd me. I need to avoid um's and run on sentences.

Service Hours 2

BBQ- 3 hours. Another activity I did for service learning was help put on a bbq for the team at the Bozone Brewery. It unfortunately was not a success due to the fact our communication skill were lacking. Me and JR went to Costco to get food and it was fun running around and finding everything. We should have been organized and wrote a list however because we almost forgot a lot of the food. While we were shopping we texted our teamamtes and made sure there was a bbq that we could use and they assured us that someone was bringing us a bbq. After getting the food and plates and drinks we went home to get ready and drove to the Bozone. When we arrived we found that there was no bbq and we all frantically called everyone we knew to find one. We started an hour late and when we started cooking the wind picked up and we lost a lot of our plates.

Watching the church Kids- 4 hours I wrote a paper on this experience so i just included it in here.

Every weekend that I return to my small Montana hometown I ask my grandma if she would like me to teach her Sunday school class for her. My grandpa is the pastor of a small country Baptist church and my grandma hardly ever has any help and never gets to listen to the service. My passion is for kids so I love reading to them the stories that I had read to me and help them with the same crafts that I was so proud to give to my father after the service.

     This particular weekend was very busy which is unusual for our small town. It is very hard for everyone to make church on a regular basis with chores like haying and calving. This last weekend however, was my grandparent’s 50^th wedding anniversary and everyone in the community and my family in Montana decided to have a banquet for them Saturday night.

     Because everyone in the community knew and adored my grandparents there were roughly 15-20 young children at the church. The youngest infant only about 2 months old stayed close to her mom’s side, asleep in her carrier. The next youngest was a little over a year. She was my cousin’s youngest daughter ShyAnne and a very quiet little girl. The rest of the kid’s ages varied from three years to ten. Children older than that hung out in a different room with an old pool table and couches and air hockey. Most of the older kids were my cousins or children I grew up with in the valley. The room used for day care was a very colorful room with a mural on the wall of a scene you would find in the movie Bambi. There were deer, bunnies, birds, raccoons, skunks, birds, and squirrels. My grandma is an artist and painted the room herself before I was born. There is a crib and a wall of shelves loaded with toys. Some of the toys are very old and some are newer donations. There is a rocking chair and a table with paper and crayons and legos. The daycare is attached to a bigger room with two picnic tables painted yellow and red. On the walls are cartoon pictures of Bible stories. In the front of the room is a craft closet, an easel with a felt story board, a dresser full of art supplies, and a treasure chest filled with small trinkets. The treasure chest served as an incentive to most of the children. If they behave like perfect ladies and gentleman and can tell the teacher one thing that they learned in class they are allowed to reach into the chest and pull something out. The chest is filled with balls, beads, plastic watches, animals, stickers, and other cheap little shiny things that can brighten up a child’s night.

      Saturday night my best friend Katie helped me out with the large group of children we had. We were not necessarily having a lesson because it was not an actual Sunday sermon but we were taking the children after they had eaten with their parents so that the parents could socialize and listen to the various speeches that were being given out. After we had eaten Katie went into the nursery and I went into the classroom with the kids that wanted to do a craft. I decided to make a small poster that said Happy 50^th Anniversary. After outlining the letters I let the two oldest kid’s color them in however they wanted and let the other children draw pictures or write what they wanted on the rest of the poster. All of the children that were participating in the coloring were girls. The oldest girl was named Lizzie and her little brother Connor was only three and kept running from the nursery into the classroom because he was nervous and scared of the other children in the daycare. He is not a very confident little boy and constantly wanted his sister to play with him. I asked if he wanted to color and held him on my lap as he scribbled with a crayon. His fine motor skills had not developed yet so he was mostly pressing very hard with the crayon and dragging it across his paper. The other children were worried about him ruining their poster so I gave Connor his own paper to draw on. I then got a small sheet of bible story stickers and let him try to pull the stickers off. I mostly let him do it on his own but when I noticed that he was struggling I stepped in. The other children’s fine motor skills such as holding a pencil were becoming more developed and you could tell that ten year old Lizzie had better control of her pencil than 7 year old Hayden. The difference is obvious when you look over all the age groups. Small movements such as coloring in the lines are easier for the older kids who have motor skills that are more developed (Burroughs lecture, 2012).

Looking over the ages and the development of the different children you can see different stages they are in. The older kids have more of a vocabulary and can speak in more complete sentences while Connor speaks with only words to present a whole thought. Connor is at a pre-operational stage. This stage is where kids begin to represent objects by images, words, and drawings. There are a few girls and boys at the next stage of Piaget’s Theory of Cognition. This stage is the Concrete Operations where children like Lizzie and Hayden are making appropriate uses of logic. This is the point where egocentrism begins to disappear (Berger,2010). When looking at Erickson’s Stages you can see where Connor is at the end of Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. Connor’s insecurity and the way he holds onto his sister shows that he doesn’t have a great sense of autonomy and doesn’t like to handle situations alone. Hayden and Lizzie are at the stage of Industry vs. Inferiority where they are more aware of themselves as individuals and know more about what is wrong and right (Berger, 2010). In the nursery the youngest is ShyAnne and she is in the stage of Trust vs. Mistrust. In this stage consistency in her care is necessary for her to develop trust for her parents and they need to regularly fulfill her basic needs (Burroughs lecture, 2012)

     As the night went on most kids traveled back and forth from room to room. Some of the younger ones needed help in the bathroom and when looking back on the different kids you can see different the different parenting styles. Jaclyn’s parents are very permissive and at almost six years old she acts younger than her age since they have no expectations for maturity and she has no control on her own actions. She throws fits and cries when games don’t go her way. Connor and Lizzie’s parents are more authoritarian. The children are obedient and well behaved but I never see Lizzie very happy. The most authoritative parents are Wyatt and Trey’s parents. They have and enforce their rules but the children have room to make mistakes and are guided or corrected when they are needed.

     You can see the different styles of parenting be displayed as the children play throughout the night. My young cousins are very rough and tumble and I know that is how they are raised. They play a lot of shooting and hunting games and at 5, 7, and 10 they are quite the handful. Bridger is the youngest and he and Tristan have been hunting with their dad several times. They are all state wrestling champions and it’s almost impossible to pull them apart from each other. I tried last Thanksgiving and I collided with Bridger’s hard head and chipped a tooth. Most of the other kids stay away from them because of their rough play. Trey plays with legos and Wyatt and Connor play with a ball. Some of the young girls play house and talk to the dolls like a mother would talk to her baby. This kind of play helps them with their social skills and lets them practice their control over their emotions (Berger 2010).

     As I interact with the different kids I talk softer with the younger children and separate them if they can’t get along. With the older children I do not use a baby voice but treat them as if they are older. When handling my cousins I use a pretty stern voice to get their attention because I know how they play and I do not need them hurting someone else’s child.

    The night goes smoothly for the most part. Wyatt got tired and frustrated and we decided to return him to his mother before he became too distraught. Lizzie and Hayden helped me clean up the art supplies and I let a few of the children take the poster to my grandpa. I think over the course of the night it was interesting to use what I read in the book to look at the different stages of the children. I could see how the younger children displayed egocentrism and the different ways the children acted depending on their parenting. I know most of the parents so I can confirm how the different parents act with their children.  Overall it was a fun experience but very tiring so I was glad that the next morning at Sunday service there would be fewer children to watch.

Systems Thinking

Everything is very interconnected. What one person does can have a big affect on another person. This can relate to emotional intelligence and self awareness. Also to decision making. You need to know that decisions that you make are going to have a big reflection on yourself and sometimes others. It is like dropping a pebble in a pond. The effectr is small but the rings spread farther and farther as time goes on.

Kouzes Chapter 8

I have learned a lot about being a leader the past few months. I think the most important thing that I have learned is to be self-aware and ask for feedback. I have become more aware of how I act and how I affect others. My testimony is that at the beginning of the semester I was always defensive when touchy subjects were brought up and although I was very good at caring for others emotions and good at knowing how they were doing, I was not good at knowing about myself. Now, I have had a big change. I know I am earth and water and I know how to act with my roommate who is fire. I am not being as defensive and I am not shutting down when she tries to bring things up. Now, most often, I bring up the important things that we need to talk about because I know that it will be good for us to get it out in the open. I also now know that before I lead others I have to motivated, and know what I want for myself. I put in twice as much work and am enthusiastic and it is showing in my everyday life.

1.       I hope that people talk about me and the things that I have accomplished in a good way. I hope that they can see that I am always very motivated and that I am hardworking. I hope they see my passion for kids in what I do and that they can see that it is my driving force in what I do. I hope they say I am organized and always there when I am needed. I also hope they say that I am good at balancing my social life, work life, and my alone time.

2.       I need to keep myself organized and on track. I need to be committed. I already have the passion and I will how it through the decisions that I make. I will be there for those who need be and practice emotional intelligence to do so.

II

One time I was in charge of teaching a class. I loved the fact that I was in control of what we focused time on and what we skipped over. I loved that I felt prepared and that I was teaching. I did not like the idea of being in front of a lot of people but as soon as I got talking, that all went away.

As a group leader I have headed a fundraiser that made over $5oo in a few hours.

As a group or team member I have participated in services that benefit others.

I facilitated change by making organized charts giving everyone a responsibility that they could do and was aware of.

I am motivated to put in extra effort because I like to be the one that people say; “she did her part” not “she wasn’t there when needed”

I am good at dealing with conflict because I am self aware of how I am during conflict and I know what to do when it arises.

Leading Class

Well, I think leading class went exceptionally well. To lead class Shaheen, Nick, Marissa and I met in the library for over two hours to assign duties, plan a syllabus for the day and discuss the topic of decision making. Shaheen had met with Marisa Bueno and she had given us a lot of good information and resources. We talked about what she had discussed and emitted some information and added a twist of our own. Shaheen told us that his flight was getting in at one so if it was even a little bit late that we would have to do his two elements without him. We all had read over all the material so it wasnt much of a problem. over the weekend. I went over the material two more times and reviewed my lecture slides and gave my speel to an imaginary audience. I also typed notes of what i could say for each slide. The day of class it was very nice weather and I wore a dress to look nice but also because I felt like dressing like spring. Me and Marissa met in Wilson at noon and went over the slides and printed notes. We also bought a small prize and ballloons for our game. When class started we began as soon as Deedee handed out papers. My two Australian friends joined us as well as Shaheen's friend from New Zealand. Shaheen was still not there so we started without them. We started and immediaitely jumped into a fun game that showed how you subconciously make decisions all the time. After the first two minutes I relaxed and I had a lot of fun leading the class. I liked it a lot and i felt very prepared and that I was ready for whatever came my way. I tried to share the spotlight and I feel like we did that really well. Class went smoothly. Some students were not talking much but that is okay because we had a lot of material to go through. We were running late so we decided to skip over some stories and other activities. We made time to ask questions to the foreign students and Matt in particular was pretty talkative. This semester I have found the foreign kids to be the nicest and some of the most fun. They are innocent fun and we always do a lot of outdoor activities.
     i think the best part about teaching class is the worksheet we made with the steps of decision making.. It has already helped me out a lot. :) Shaheen never showed up but he put a lot of effort into it from behind the scenes. He met up with Marisa because I had no time and he organized the powerpoint . Our class went really well but would have been even better if he had been there with us. He had a lot of stories to tell and points that he told us he was going the make that really sent the message home. I think being the leader was a lot of fun and I would love to do it again.

Decision Making

Decision making is done every day. Sometimes we make difficult decisions like where to go to college or simple every day ones like what to wear. Lots of things influence our decisions like weather, peers, money and others. Helpful Frames, Creative Alternatives, Useful Information, Clear Values, Sound Reasoning, Commitment to Follow Through are the six essential elements on decision making. Framing is outlining the situation or problem and deciding what needs to be decided, when, and who needs to be involved in the process. In a good decision one should cycle through it several times and make rough drafts of the procedure and only acting on it when they feel there doesn’t need to be anymore improvement. When framing it is important to avoid hidden assumptions and anchors that could be chaotic when making decisions. Looking at alternatives is important because sometimes there is a better fix to a situation than the obvious. Also, situations change, it is a part of life and having alternatives are essential when the world sends you unexpected curveballs. When making alternatives it is important to be creative and get as much information about a situation before acting. As an individual it is hard to know everything so when everyone comes together you can find essential information that you were previously missing. In almost every decision there is a list of pros and cons. You have to look at what values mean the most to you when making difficult choices and whether the trade-offs are worth it.

Earlier in the year we asked for feedback and we looked at what values we hold the highest. It’s important to know what others see of you. It widens the section of the Joharri Window that is what we both know.  Your actions help others decide what they think you value. When we make decisions it promotes these values. After thinking of your individual values make sure that your reasoning on your decision is sound. Sometimes what we think is reasonable in our minds seems crazy to others.

The last element is commitment to follow through. Everyone can have great ideas and make good decisions but following through with them is another thing entirely. Every decision needs time, effort, money and other resources. Make sure you add this in to your calculations when, making your decisions.

Kouzes Chapter 6 and 7

Ego can be a big problem. The balance between confidence and independence to being ignorant and believing you’re the best is important. If organizations, clubs, teams, and families could be run by a single individual than that would be the way they are constructed. But the fact is that they cannot function without the work of several individuals coming together with their skills. My team this last weekend had to deal with an ego problem. One of the girls decided to be a ball hog. And in Rugby that is impossible. But this girl wasn’t passing the ball to the backline and kept keeping the ball in the ruck, something the team continually was penalized for. As soon as we had time to tell her to start passing the ball out we began to gain ground. I hope she realized that she plays a vital role, but it is one of many that benefit the team.

The reason we began to gain ground was the ability of that single player to LISTEN to the team. She was not hurt or sad that we corrected her. She knew by listening she could learn some more about the game.

Kouzes Chapter 6

1.       I remember a time before I was in high school and I was super good at numbers and also at using maps, compasses and GPS’s and we were split into teams on this amazing race type of game. We were combined with students from another school and I remember it felt awesome being picked as captain as a team and I remember my teacher saying “ I know Kelly will help you out a lot because I know her Dad well and he taught her to use a compass and map. It was very empowering and I felt even better when I won.

a.       This weekend I felt so hurt when this man complemented my friend in her powerful legs because of her position in rugby and then commented on mine being not as healthy as her’s….I retorted and mentioned that I was a different position. For a reason!

2.       Learn to Delegate

a.       Make sure you give people jobs that they have resources to complete. Some people have more time and the resources needed to complete something.

b.      Know everyone’s strength and weaknesses. Pair someone who is not as motivated but has great ideas with someone that is a go getter. They will compliment someone.

3.       Ask Questions

a.       Do you guys have an interest in this?

b.      What problems would we run into?  

c.       Who is willing to do what?

Chapter 7

1.       Michelle Knurr

2.       Montana State University and Bozeman. There was lots of interest in Rugby but no team or coach

3.       She relentlessly called everyone she knew, decided to coach herself. She recruited in classrooms, the gym, by phone and at Men’s Games. She eventually had enough for a team.

4.       Finally an established team we have played several games and won several!

Milestone

Making an Easter Egg Extravaganza for a fundraiser