Week #1 Thing #2

I think of the 7.5 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners the easiest step for me is Habit number 4; Have Confidence in Yourself as a Competent, Effective Learner. The skill that is the most difficult for me to achieve is Habit number 3; View problems as challenges.

I have confidence in myself as a competent, effective learner. I feel that I can jump in and get up to speed on any topic. I am not afraid of trying things on the Internet and learning as I go. I know I can be a resource. The internet is the present and it is the future. My children are 18 and 21 and very internet savvy. I use them as resources. But they are surprised by how I can bring information on internet use and safety to the table. The world is changing. I regularly tell kids, "don't post anything you don't want your grandmother to read." I graduated from college in 1985, and then jumped back in 20 years later to take a Children's Literature Course from BYU and found continued learning a pleasure. I have entered new occupations at times when friends have been in their same job for decades. I enjoy learning and improving the process as I go. I can approach any challenge with a "can do" attitude. My goal later in retirement is to write a children's book based on my great grandmother's challenges in Nova Scotia. It’s been a long time since my college creative writing class – so I know I’ll have more learning ahead of me!

I think my most challenging habit of the Highly Successful Lifelong Learners is to view problems as challenges. I'm a very organized person and don't find great pleasure in things going awry. I do become grumpy when the computer crashes or websites are down. On the plus side, I tend to handle things pretty well in a state of chaos. But it definitely isn't my favorite mode of operation. I depend on my email and get tense when it doesn't come up. Still I can survive in the case of computer crash and quickly come up with alternative plans. One of my problems is that I am definitely more capable on PC's than on Mac's. It's hard to instruct on an Apple when I don't know the correct hot keys and simple instructions. I hope this will be remedied as my principal wants to give me her Mac after the roll over at our school so I can become proficient in this area.

I think my ability as a confident, effective learner is a plus in instructing the next generation. I will need to continue to view problems as challenges in the future. I am looking forward to this class and becoming more proficient in this important area of library and information technology.