Thing #1 Reflections on Lifelong Learning

One of the things that I appreciate the most about Mesquite ISD is their commitment to lifelong learning. Through staff development, speaker and specialists who are invited and graduate study stipends, our district demonstrates how they value lifelong learning among their employees.
On my journey of lifelong learning, I feel that the most challenging habit will be to view problems as challenges. I love using technology and am happy to integrate it into my lesson plan as long as it works correctly and in a timely manner. It seems that too often days that are technology intensive are also the days that the network is running slow, or the printer cannot be found, or the wireless internet fails to connect. These "hiccups" are enough to make me want to throw up my hands.
The easiest habit to employ will be to accept responsibility for my learning. I love staff development opportunities because I like to know up-and-coming instructional practices. I have only been teaching for a couple of years, so I am regularly looking for new ways to create products or streamline classroom practices. I am willing to try new learning tools and enjoy sharing them with colleagues.
To me, the most important learning habit is to begin with the end in mind. The implementation of technology must be purposeful. Our campus studied a book by Alan November that discussed the differences between informating and automating. Most schools are automating in that they are using technology on top of what they are already doing. Examples include document cameras or typing a paper in a word processor. November advocates for informating, which is to use technology in a new way or to provide an opportunity that would not have previously been there. Web 2.0 tools are instrumental in informating because of the ability that they have to connect a wide variety of people.
I look forward to learning more as we travel through these 23 Things.