7 ½
habits of lifelong learners:
1.
Begin with the
end in mind.
2.
Accept
responsibility for your own learning.
3.
View problems as
challenges.
4.
Have confidence
in yourself as a competent, effective learner.
5.
Create your own
learning toolbox.
6.
Use technology to
your advantage.
7.
Teach/mentor
others.
7 7 ½ Play!
Lifelong
learning is something that everyone should strive to accomplish, whether they
consider themselves “smart” or not. You don’t have to take a class in order to
be a lifelong learner. Learning comes in so many different forms, and many of
them have nothing even related to school. Most people might stop going to
school after the age of twenty or thirty, but no one should stop learning,
ever.
My
two strengths from this list would definitely have to be begin with the end in
mind and accept responsibly for your own learning. For as long as I can
remember I’ve always put a huge value on education and its role in my life.
I’ve always thought about the end goal, from the moment I walked into high
school and started to ask myself, “Well, what do I want to do with my own
life?” I grew up as a first generation college student, and my parents never
put a lot of emphasis on education. Throughout my life I became a great learner
and took responsibly for myself, simply because my parents never taught me
that. I eventually decided to become a teacher because of my love for learning,
and I hope to show my students that they are responsible for their learning,
not the teacher or their parents.
My
biggest weakness is by far having confidence in myself as a competent,
effective learner. All my life I’ve lacked confidence in my learning. It took
me many years to even take honors classes because I never felt smart enough to
actually do them. I often compare myself to others and grow frustrated that I’m
not on the same level as them. I’ve since realized that even though we might
not all be on the same level with the same goals in mind, we all have different
ways and levels of learning. If I want confidence I need to strive to be the
best I can be and continue to push myself to be better in my learning goals.
Studying and commitment is everything, and I know I can do anything I set my
mind to if I want it bad enough.
