Habit #5 - Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

I have a good opportunity coming up to practice the seek first to understand, then to be understood habit.  I have a student who has been having problems with her group project (multiple absences, poor communication with her group members), to the point where her group kicked her out.  E-mails and warnings sent to her by her group were never acknowledged, so they implemented the clause in their group contract that allowed them to remove her from the group.  I thought this was a cut and dry case, but the student’s mother believed it to be unfair and strongly protested the removal.  So now we’re going to have a meeting in person, to see how we can resolve the issue together.  This will be a great opportunity for me to seek first to understand (mom’s position), and only then to be understood.  As far as teaching this concept, I will apply it in my Music Appreciation class.  We are gearing up for our big concert, and often times problems arise in a band, when some band member may feel as though others are not pulling their weight.  I will teach them this concept, so that inter-band members issues can be resolved more thoughtfully, and the true roots of problems can be brought out into the open.