Sara Meshreky

One thing I learned from this module that I found interesting and would like to work on is affirm and acknowledge. I believe I do my best with my students and repeat what they tell me to clarify but I should do more to affirm them and "hear what they're saying"  - a powerful tool when building a relationship. 

Through the Belbin model, I learned that each member of a team plays a role. It's also important to assess your time prior to the start of a project to identify any missing areas that can be of concern. 

Looking for improvement opportunities and taking initiative to make things better are two crucial things I learned in the process of collaboration. I hope to use this by taking initiative when I see an issue arise that I see an opportunity for improvement. 

It's important to consider others' preference of communication over your own.  

This module provided insight on the range of people you will encounter at work and how to use that information to communicate with each person with a different lens. I intend to use this information as I work with both students and coworkers from different generations that share different values.  

Active listening is so important to help students feel heard and validated. A part of active listening that I found fascinating was body language of both the listener and the speaker. As a listener it's important to be aware of the speaker's body language as that can also relay a certain message. Also, I found that listening requires control an interesting concept. This helps steer the conversation into the intended direction to achieve the set-out goal. 

One of the greatest things learned is to listen more and talk less. Even more so, to talk with empathy and to push away any bias. I truly believe students can read into these cues and appreciate when we are active listening and treating them with respect. 

The concept of talk less and listen more is really helpful in student interactions. Sometimes students just want to vent, and after you listen you can then offer them a helping hand with a careful choice of words rather than just try to interject and explain something prematurely. 

Both open and close-ended questions are beneficial, each having a purpose to help clarify or further a discussion. 

It's important to catch up students who miss orientation or the first week! Additionally, early intervention in terms of attendance, grades or conduct is so important to better help the student and address any needs early on.