Teaching

I was given the suggestion by my current teacher Kristi that I need to start building my teaching portfolio. I finished with teaching one class last week and this fall I plan to teach at a few locations. The class I just finished teaching was a computer class at Morey Recreation Center on 14th and Emerson. It was targeted toward adults in the community. There were a lot of challenges-most students were in different places as far as knowledge goes, so I had to teach a whole spectrum of topics. Also, I had taken over the class from a woman who moved out of town, so I had to take her teaching style and see how I could adapt my own. These challenges were fundamental to me seeing what it is like to teach and learning how to be flexible.

The second class I hope to teach this fall is Conflict and Anger Management at The Conflict Center, a non profit that teaches conflict resolution to youth and adults. First, I have to take the course and then I go through a "train the trainer" workshop to learn how to teach the course. I started last Tuesday and it goes for 6 sessions. Not only did I view the class as a potential teacher, I am able to grow from the class as just a human being, living and working in a world with other humans. Conflict is inevitable, so the important part is how I deal with conflict. Do I escalate conflict by acting or saying something, or do I de-escalate conflict by saying or doing something different? What I am eager to learn is the methods of communication-what can be said to de-escalate a situation, because it is easy to escalate conflict. A lot of it is about decision making, but a lot of it is about "honoring yourself" and how you feel. I can't wait to go through the next 5 sessions and will keep the blog updated with what I learn.

I got this card at the Center and I have it my office:
Ten Tips for Creative Conflict Resolution
1. Respect everyone's ideas and needs
2. Turn problems into possibilities
3. Listen so people will talk, and talk so people will listen
4. Focus on the problem, not the person
5. Build "power with" instead of "power over" others
6. Express feelings without blaming others
7. Own your part of the conflict
8. Strategize to reach mutually agreeable solutions
9. Create options...one way always creates losers
10. Solve the problem and build the relationship

Hmmm...maybe I should send this card to our political leaders when it comes to foreign policy? I am considering studying conflict management in more detail once I take this class and see what I think. I feel as though the topic brings together many of my interests, and I see it being something I can do in the community as well as in higher education. It feels so good to find something that I am really, truly interested in!

For more on The Conflict Center, visit this link (like the PR plug?):www.conflictcenter.org