Thing 3

The 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Effective Learners was interesting and holds truth. Each habit brought on a series of thoughts to me, but two of the habits truly made a statement. The easiest habit for me is PLAY. I take pride in my effectiveness at play and I do feel that I am quite good at it! The hours fly by as I play on the computer reading blogs and Web-sites related to my profession and other areas of interest. My favorite adventure regarding technology is creating movies. I take pictures of my students and record movies and sounds within the classroom. At the end of the year, I put together a video slide show adding music and recordings of the students speaking about their thoughts pertaining to the information they have learned through out the year.

The hardest habit for me that causes the most challenge is to HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF AS A COMPETENT, EFFECTIVE LEARNER. As I take technology classes and ask many questions, I feel that I am becoming more and more comfortable with all that computers offer. I remember back in the late-1990's attending graduate school. Although I just bought my first computer prior to grad school, I lived an active lifestyle of teaching and bicycling, whereas technology was the furthest thought from my mind. I was overwhelmed with the amount of computer programs I was required to learn at grad school. The programs consisted of your basic PC Microsoft Office package and the ones required for the assessment and statistics class. Ten years later much technology has been learned! The biggest strides were made with the purchase of an Apple computer and gradually incorporating some of the programs into my professional and personal life.