Thing 3--Lifelong Learning/71/2 Habits
The easiest thing for me is the sixth habit: To use technology to my advantage. Sometimes when I have learned something new and interesting, such as learning how to create a narrated "photostory, or a power point narrated with audacity, (I like the recording options in Audacity better than Power point) and have shown the students what I have done, they have enthusiastic created projects with what they have learned. That motivates me to learn more and share more with my students so they can continue to grow as active learners.
The most difficult thing for me is the third habit: To view problems as challenges, although, I can easily see, in hindsight, how overcoming problems has pushed me to learn things in a more thorough way than I would have otherwise. When I encounter challenges when I'm learning or using technology it can be frustrating and time consuming. It seems every "new thing" including twitter, school home pages, blogging, Smartboards, web pages, wikkis, and Moodle classes, use many different techniques. Getting to know each communication form takes time, and one has to be willing to "play around" with it a bit. Although it's so rewarding after I learn how to use the specific the technology, getting there creates cognitive dissonance. In other words it can feel frustrating.
Here is an interesting approach to learning and practicing the English language. It was created by an ELL student this year...
Sorry, you can't see the video here because somehow it failed to upload, although it was a Window's Media File. I spent 30 minutes tying to upload this. The message only continued to say: "processing video". It never said "failed" or "error". How is one to know if one should just wait until "processing" is done?--30 minutes? When does one give up? I'm viewing this problem as a challenge and will learn how to upload video soon. Any suggestions?
The easiest thing for me is the sixth habit: To use technology to my advantage. Sometimes when I have learned something new and interesting, such as learning how to create a narrated "photostory, or a power point narrated with audacity, (I like the recording options in Audacity better than Power point) and have shown the students what I have done, they have enthusiastic created projects with what they have learned. That motivates me to learn more and share more with my students so they can continue to grow as active learners.
The most difficult thing for me is the third habit: To view problems as challenges, although, I can easily see, in hindsight, how overcoming problems has pushed me to learn things in a more thorough way than I would have otherwise. When I encounter challenges when I'm learning or using technology it can be frustrating and time consuming. It seems every "new thing" including twitter, school home pages, blogging, Smartboards, web pages, wikkis, and Moodle classes, use many different techniques. Getting to know each communication form takes time, and one has to be willing to "play around" with it a bit. Although it's so rewarding after I learn how to use the specific the technology, getting there creates cognitive dissonance. In other words it can feel frustrating.
Here is an interesting approach to learning and practicing the English language. It was created by an ELL student this year...
Sorry, you can't see the video here because somehow it failed to upload, although it was a Window's Media File. I spent 30 minutes tying to upload this. The message only continued to say: "processing video". It never said "failed" or "error". How is one to know if one should just wait until "processing" is done?--30 minutes? When does one give up? I'm viewing this problem as a challenge and will learn how to upload video soon. Any suggestions?