Week 1 Activity 2

I am definitely a lifelong learner. The fact that I became a library media teacher after twenty five years in the classroom is evidence that I do not shy away from hard work or new learning. I had never even searched the Internet or sent or received an email when I began the Masters program at San Jose State in 1998. Now I am able to create web pages. And this summer I am learning the Web2 skills that CSLA so generously made available online.

I enjoyed the PowerPoint presentation 7 1/2 Habits of Life Long Learning. Numbers 2 & 6 are my strengths. I am fond of learning and a self-starter. I had to go online to learn how to enable the cookie functionality on my browser in order to get my blog going, and after may tries in the Internet options under the tools tab, I finally googled "cookie functionality" and found simple directions.

My weakness is number 7. I am afraid of coming across as a "know it all" or of upstaging other teachers, so I do not teach others or mentor them as much as I could. My most successful times of helping teachers in my school are when they watch me show a student or a class how to do something on the Internet or with Microsoft Word. Quite often a teacher will come back after school or email me and thank me.

On the other hand, I love sharing what I learn with students. They often know more than me, and I also love learning from them. When I teach a student how to do something, for instance submitting work to an online folder, I will ask that student to help the next student who is ready, and so on. I know the value of teaching others so that your own learning becomes solidified.