Reflections on Lifelong Learning (Thing 1)

Of all the things that have changed in the education field in the last decades, I think one thing that has remained constant has been the idea of "lifelong learning." It may have looked different in different times, but I think you would be hard-pressed to find a teacher who didn't want his or her students to continue learning after they left his or her classroom.

I also think that the 7 1/2 habits outlined in the video have remained largely constant; again, the technology that was available to people has changed pretty dramatically, but the basic premise behind the habits is timeless. Setting goals, accepting responsibility for your own learning, viewing problems as challenges rather than obstacles, having confidence in yourself as a learner, creating your own learning "toolbox", using technology to your advantage, teaching/mentoring others, and playing with the knowledge you gain are teaching strategies that have been around for a long time. And if they haven't, we have been doing a disservice to our students.

Where people - educators and politicians and parents and students and almost every other "stakeholder" in education today - may differ is in their interpretations of these habits. Accepting responsibility for your own learning, for example, may look like one thing to one person and a totally different thing to another. When I post the day's activities, homework, and handouts on Schoology, it is my understanding that the students will use that resource and try to figure out what they missed if they were absent. To me, using Schoology instead of emailing me about the homework is taking responsibility for their own learning because I have set it up to help them. However, they may think that going directly to the source is more responsible and will often reach out to me before checking our course page online.

I think the most challenging habit for me will be to teach or mentor others since I am not totally comfortable with all the technology we are using yet. Teaching someone else before you have a good understanding of something usually leads to disaster (at least it has for me). I need a very strong understanding of something before I can try to explain it. However, some of the tools we have used this week have been familiar to me, so I will try to help others with those I know.

Another challenging habit - one that will be very important to me as I continue my work in this course - will be to see problems as challenges and not obstacles. I love physical books, paper, pen and pencil, post-its...and I have grudgingly accepted Google Docs and Schoology work submissions into my life because they really have made my teaching easier and more efficient. However, much of the other technology that I have tried to incorporate into my classroom has failed me or derailed my teaching. When I make the move from a paper quiz to one on Schoology and the Schoology server is down, my entire lesson plan has gone down the drain. When I forget my laptop at home or it is being worked on and I can't project something because my new Ladibug document camera is linked to my laptop, that's frustrating since my old one was not and I liked it like that. When I want my students to work on their online vocabulary through the Wordly Wise 3000 program - a program that has a paper version I have used for years and loved - but the app keeps crashing, the students are sidetracked. I tend to focus on the negative when it comes to technology in the classroom because I believe that we are, in many situations, putting the cart before the proverbial horse and trying to force technology into school without thinking about whether it actually solves more problems than it causes. However, after working with programs and tools that have been successful, my lessons do take on an extra dimension and lead to more engaged students. For them, I need to work on my attitude.

One thing that I have always been good at is creating my own learning "toolbox" - mostly in the form of finding out who knows what I don't and then going to that person for help. I learned that lesson very early in my pre-teaching career, and it has never failed me. The online teaching community is so strong, especially around reading and writing, and I feel very comfortable reaching out for help on just about anything. I'm teaching writing to elementary students this summer, and as a middle school teacher, I was pretty anxious about my interactions with younger kids. I posed some questions to Twitter and Facebook, and within an hour, I had dozens of tips and lesson ideas. Of course, I also reached out in person to my friends who were elementary teachers, and they had great ideas as well. So, technology and the online community are excellent support systems, but I don't think anything will replace the face-to-face conversations I had with my colleagues.

Admittedly, I am going into this course with pre-existing ideas about technology and education. The 7 1/2 habits presentation reinforced what I think is an unfair attitude about "old school" teaching: that there is something inherently wrong with being quiet and seated. In order to get new information, sometimes you have to be quiet and seated - look at the kids who are reading books or searching online or simply listening to a teacher (or other student) explain something. Students who do not have the ability to do this or have never been taught to do this will suffer, not just in the classroom, but in their jobs (it seems like all the videos also promoted the idea that lifelong learning was just to get ahead in the workforce, which I disagree with as well) and relationships as they grow. And sometimes students ARE tardy and need to be helped with time and materials management, whatever is stopping them from getting to class on time. Tardiness in the world beyond the schoolhouse is not tolerated or encouraged (either professionally or personally), so not holding them responsible for that would be a failure on my part. Of course, lifelong learning will not always happen in a classroom, but when they are expected to be a part of a classroom (and beyond), these "old school" skills - which I wholeheartedly believe we still need to teach - are important.