Reflections on lifelong learning - Activity 1

I consider myself a lifelong learner.  After viewing the video 7 1/2 habits of effective life long learners, I found myself identifying with some of the habits, falling short of others and wondering why some habits I thought should be included were missing.

Identified with...

Right from the beginning, I felt connected with Habit 1 - Begin with the end in mind.  When it comes to teaching, I am a big picture thinker.  I think of what I want my students to have learned in my class - what are the big goals (the end goals)?  I want them to be able to act and think like scientists.  I want them to be able to design their own labs, obtain good data, critically analyze that data, justify results, communicate findings, try something that fails and try again, etc..  I sometimes get frustrated when dealing with targets (although I find them very important and useful for my students.) My frustrations only come when they fail to include these big ideas and end goals in mind.  So what are my end goals as a student for this class? I realize that I do not make full use of the many advantages that Web 2.0 can offer myself and my students.  I am eagerly looking forward to learning what I can add to my classroom to increase student learning and communication. How can Web 2.0 help with my big end goals for my class?

Falling short....

I also quickly felt that I fell very short on Habit 3 - View problems as challenges.  Especially when dealing with technology, I view problems as headaches, a crisis to deal with, and not as learning opportunities.  I have often even avoided using technology because of the headaches and unreliability.  Even while I am writing this, I am feeling very hypocritical.  I tell my students all the time that failure in the lab (when you are designing your own procedures)  is to be expected and this is often where we learn the most.  I tell them they need to try again. This often frustrates them, but also is truly rewarding in the end, and it is the nature of doing science.  I have not had this same approach to technology, but it is true that I have learned many new tricks of the trade when mistakes have come along.  

Missing....

After the video, I felt like some important habits (or traits) were missing.  I think effective lifelong learners are people who are curious and follow through.  They always want to learn more and then find a way to learn it.  

Most need for for this course....

For me personally to succeed in this course, I think I want to concentrate on creating my own learning toolbox (or a better one) - Habit 5.  As I commented on this in the video, I have a good start with two of daughters who do web programming for a living (although I forget to ask them for help!), but I would like to learn more to help me in those crisis moments.  I want to be more confident in being able to use technology in the classroom and to be able to handle the problems as they come along, because they always do!