There are several groups of people that I communicate with on a regular basis. At work, I communicate with groups of parents, students, and coworkers. In the evenings and on weekends I communicate with family and church family. Several other groups that I communicate with every so often are friends from Spain, college friends, and a group of moms from my area.
I find that I communicate in a "normal" way with my coworkers, family, and church family. By normal I mean that we are all from the same area/culture and communicate in the same way. Our values tend to line up with each other and we share many of the same views and opinions. When communicating with parents of my students I find myself listening more and talking less which is a great thing that I have been able to get to that point. I think that I need to transfer that skill to all people that I communicate with! Of course I communicate with my prek students in a different way. My language is not complex, I use a lot of questions to get them to think on their own, I talk much more than I do in a normal conversation, and facial expressions & gestures are much more pronounced! I think that I need to learn to listen a little more to my students, yet find a balance between listening and communicating verbally with them. I want them to feel important and know that I value what they have to say/think but at the same time they need to be reminded daily of who is in charge. The last group that I communicate a bit differently with is my friends from Spain. I find myself using what would probably be considered Spanglish, lots of hand gestures, and speaking much faster and with more expression. Their communication style rubs off on me immediately and I'm reminded of what it was like to live with them for several summers just outside of Madrid.
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