Decoding

I enjoyed learning about decoding messages, listening and perception.
Each of these terms posses a great amount of information and relate to each other on many levels. I think it would be fun to explore it a little more. There is so much information we take in on a daily and even hourly basis. Which means we must listen to ourselves, others and our surroundings to decode the messages being absorbed in order to create a perception. I love this concept and requirement for us to listen. So many people forget to do really this and I think it's important. Also the way we listen and reasons why we interpret things different is fascinating to learn about. It ties in to our culture and upbringing, our likes and dislikes and why we get along so well with some and not at all with others.
I think it's definitely a strength to be able to understand any individual on some level with respect and openness. Therefore, I would have enjoyed exploring more into decoding messages, listening and perception! But I had a great time and learn a lot about Communication with myself and the society and culture I am apart of!

Thank you for that!

Thank YOU!

I have learned so much from this class from how to engage in effective group communication to persuasive speaking and evaluating research methods and credibility. I am enjoying being a communications major and feel every class truly helps create and maintain new concepts and ideas. One of my favorite things about this class was blogging. I have never blogged before and really enjoyed it. I hate writing essays, they stress me out and I always feel like I never express what I actually want to say. Blogging however, I feel is more relaxed and easier for me to express myself. I also really like being connected to my classmates through Blogger, there are too many professors that rely on their students just emailing each other to communicate and review each other. I don't learn that way. I enjoyed writing comments on others blogs and reading the comments they wrote on mine. I feel it's much more effective than a discussion board or email.
I honestly have no complaints about this class at all. I feel at ease with the ability to communicate with my fellow classmates and professor. I never felt lost or unaware of the requirements for any assignment and believed the quizzes and exams accurately challenged me.

Thank you for making this such a wonderful learning experience and opportunity to explore Communication methods. I would 100% recommend this course as well as you, Mrs. Perez!! Thank you for everything!

Favorite Concepts!

There are so many concepts and theories I have enjoyed learning about this summer that it's hard to pick just a few. Although the concepts that first come to mind are nonverbal communication, the social constructionist model and the way men and women use different language. 
I found nonverbal communication to be extremely useful and diverse. I find myself interpreting and noticing others body language and positions just as much as their words. Big Brother on CBS is one of my favorite shows and I constantly critique their nonverbal communication because while their lips moves and lies pour out, their facial expressions and body language give them away. 
The other concept, social constructionist model I enjoyed learning about as well. The ability to create worlds within worlds within the entire world is humorous and clever of ourselves. We have a world in our home, with our friends, at our jobs, school, community, etc. we literally live in a world made up of worlds we create and maintain. And to think something so important in my world could mean nothing to someone else's.
Lastly, the way men and women communicate with different language is also interesting and very true. It's funny because it seems girls are always the one's gossiping and dissecting the verbal dialog while the men just hang out and watch sports. I think this concepts ties in to the nonverbal communication theories because while women express with so many words I think men give away a lot of clues to their feelings through nonverbal cues. While men could careless who wore what to some party women enjoy critiquing and commenting. I don't think the conversations are useless they are just different. It's fun to compare and I feel important to have some kind of understanding of both types of language.

That's the Key!

One of the terms that caught my attention from Chapter two was: key

Key when communicating relates to the tone or spirit in which a given activity is undertaken, for example: joking, being aggressive, or excited. I chose this term because I thought of the sarcastic humor my family shares. Being sarcastic is sometimes dangerous because not everyone understands that humor and are often times offended or think I'm a total idiot. There are numerous ways to be sarcastic and it can be very entertaining but again it's also lost on some.
My sisters and I are all very different and at the same time exactly the same. My younger sister is hilarious and filled with dark humor; she wants to be an actress and her creative mind always provides a good ab and facial workout. My youngest sister is witty and also quick with her one-liner insults or ridiculously obvious observations. She is about seven years younger than me and watching her grow up has been a trip.
Not everyone thinks or talks the same and the key to conversations can be difficult to interpret but they are always there. It's important to pick up on the key even if it isn't in the words, it can be a facial expression or body position. We give away clues to how we are feeling and they run parallel to the key in conversation.

Let the Games Begin

The pragmatic perspective relates to a system of intertwined and interdependent variables which create a communication pattern over time. Meaning, this pattern and perspective is really a game people play when communicating with others. I think to an extent it makes sense that the pragmatic perspective displays communication as a pattern due to the fact that in order to communicate we need to send, receive and interpret messages and then respond to them over and over again. But I believe there is more to it than that. 

If communication is a game it must be a team sport because you cannot communicate by yourself. We could think of the words, body language and facial expressions as a ball being passed back and forth between ourselves and whoever else we choose to talk to. But this game is never ending because to be successful in life communication skills are vital. But the break down of acts, interacts, playoffs... seems robotic. We are not chess pieces, there are too many variables in life and wildcards to strategically play with another partner.  

I feel communication is different from a game because not everyone will play by the same rules and not everyone can openly communication properly with just anyone. We decide who and when we want to communicate with someone, if that other person does not communicate with you, there is no game to play because their action was to ignore you. Resulting in no interacting and no playoffs. 

Social Constructionist Perspective

An individual participating in the social constructionist perspective, collects communication tools given to them by their culture and creates a reality of it. In this perspective communication and culture are linked together. Therefore, without either of the two reality to some wouldn't exist. The world we live in we see through our eyes and our mind interprets what we are seeing and categorizes it based on the culture we are apart of. Each culture has different beliefs and values which makes happiness and success available to anyone. However, what one culture might consider successful another may deem dishonorable. I think that being apart of a culture is important but I think it's critical to remember what you as a person want for yourself and what you consider true happiness and success; because truthfully it doesn't matter what your culture thinks of you if you aren't happy with yourself. Life is all about perspective and the great thing about that is, it can change every day.

Open Minded

I liked the term triangulation.
It means to approach a research question from multiple perspectives. Which I think is a great way to approach any question or situation in life. It's called being open minded. Challenging your brain to think from another perspective and plan ahead or predict the outcomes. I know too many people who are closed minded and can only see things from where they are seated. I pity them because there is more to life than thinking only for yourself. On a communication level it is really difficult to carry on a conversation with someone only interested in their side. Throughout high school I made a lot of friends and the friendships I found challenge to keep were with those who had narrow thoughts. It's more fun to be open and almost free spirited about everything in life. Those who execute triangulation I feel are better off in life. They can anticipate behavior and have a better understanding for those in life. I want to be a person of triangular thoughts and approaches.