Thank You!!

    I would like to thank my colleagues and Dr. Bird-Pickens for another exciting and enlightening course together that has provided knowledge, wisdom, and commonalities for me to grow and become stronger in the field. I have shared knowledge gained with others and I have  implemented some of your strategies within my own program. I admire all of you for what you do in the early childhood field and I wish you all continued success, peace, and happiness!  Happy Holidays!

Stage Five of Team Development - Adjourning

     Considering various groups that I have been in involved in over the years and reflecting on the adjourning stage which is stage five of Team Development also known as the "Time to Wrap Up" stage. The aspects of the group that was the hardest to leave was when I worked in Germany at a child development center where we were stationed at Wuerzburg. It was for me because I developed strong trusting bonds with the people that I worked with mainly because I had no family or friends from the states. The people in Germany were my family as well as my co-workers so we relied on each other for support, personally and professionally. When one spouse would deploy the rest of us took care of that family, we even lost some soldiers due to deployment in Afghanistan. I keep in touch with some of my co-workers to this day and just recently one of the teachers I worked with in Germany has transferred to Fort Belvoir! What a reunion we had! Saying good-bye to my Germany family was filled with tears, hugs, and well wishes.
     Closing rituals that I have experienced were farewell dinners where staff and their families would gather at a popular restaurant to eat, drink, give gifts, and small speeches were made in honor the person leaving. I have also experienced gathering at dance clubs to enjoy each others company with dancing and getting "wasted" ALL night long!
     I imagine that I will adjourn from the group of colleagues I have formed while working on my master's degree in this program by wishing them continued success, meeting them in person for the first time during our graduation where hugs, tears, and  laughs will be shared. Maybe I will even network with some of my colleagues for future references.
     adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because it allows the members to appreciate the efforts of all team members that made the end results successful. It also allows members to reflect and decide if they would be interested in recruiting some of the same team members, or not for future projects based on their personal experience.