Competent Communication

Someone I know who demonstrates competent communication would be a co-worker and friend of mine would be Ms. Shaheed.  She is the family outreach consultant at our school and I feel that she exhibits many effective communication skills.  She is very polite and respectful towards everyone.  I think these two qualities demonstrate a sense of expectation that should be reciprocated.  If you are polite and respectful to others then others are more likely to show you the same courtesy.  She does this by welcoming students and family members with a smile and positive gestures.  Since most of the parents at our school are Spanish speaking and she is not she uses her body language and tone to show that she is interested in making them feel comfortable and it works.  She is also a great listener and does this by making eye contact and nodding in agreement when you are speaking to her. 

I would definitely like to model some of my own communication behaviors after her because I feel that she does what she can to mediate situations and be biased.  I have been at meetings with parents where they are accusing teachers of things and she is able to calm everyone and come to an understanding.  It is not an easy thing to do because parents are obviously very concerned when it comes to matters about their child but she does a very good job of resolving problems.  Even though her verbal communication is limited I still think she does an excellent job of letting parents know that she is committed to providing quality services to them and their children.