Saturday, September 26, 2009

Thing #1 - Reflections on Lifelong Learning

After watching the 7 1/2 Habits of Effective Lifelong Learners one phrase jumped out at me above all else. "Attitude is everything. I can, I will, I do." This wasn't even one of the habits given, but personally I felt it was the most important idea in the entire presentation. We as teachers are lifelong learners whether we want to or not. It is not a matter of if we are learning, it is a matter of what we do with the information once it is presented to us. For any of us to be successful in the classroom, we must continue our education each day because the number of new ideas given to reach our students is already vast and it's only growing with newer technology.

Of the 7 1/2 habits, I believe the most difficult is to begin with the end in mind. I have no problem setting goals for myself, however because I don't know specifically what I can take from this class and implement into my own classroom setting a goal seems difficult. I know after reading the Web 2.0 article (which I'll discuss in a later post) I LOVED the idea of using multiple technology platforms in not only my class but the entire school. Therefore, I feel like I need to start with a small goal like setting up my own classroom blog.

Habits 6-7 1/2 are by far the easiest in my eyes. I have always been a little bit of a technology guru, and look forward to introducing something new to those around me. Little things like the customization of a browser like Firefox or the idea of podcasting a classroom discussion excite that technology "nerd" side of me.

The most important habit as I work through this course will be view problems as challenges. I know there are going to be things new that I won't understand, and I have to go out and seek that extra knowledge in order to fully utilize the ideas given to me. Also, I know I'm going to struggle with the simple problem of trying to personalize all the strategies so they fit my specific class situations.