Words for Reflection: Life Long Learning

Horace Mann said," Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it."
.... well, a heavy cable is surely hard to break... and habits can be life affirming, life engaging...
Costa & Kallick, 2000 (www.habits-of-mind.net) have 16 habits of mind characteristic of good problem solvers:
persisting
thinking and communicating with clarity and precision
managing impulsivity
gathering data through all senses
listening with understanding and empathy
thinking flexibly
responding with wonderment and awe
thinking about thinking
taking responsible risks
striving for accuracy
finding humor
questioning and posing problems
thinking interdependently
applying past knowledge to new situations
remaining open to continuous learning

first minute apart

This first minute apart must be a combination of obligation and the nagging "gotta do this to keep the edge." Sure, some of this is just because of keeping on top of the class - in the making - but also... also... I guess we'll see.

I'm in this Web 2.0 Tutorial that I will have the "students/co-learners" take this fall. I find these words about life long learning:

7 ½ Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners

Habit 1: Begin with the end in mind
Habit 2: Accept responsibility for your own learning
Habit 3: View problems as challenges
Habit 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
Habit 5: Create your own learning toolbox
Habit 6: Use technology to your advantage
Habit 7: Teach/mentor others
Habit 7 ½: Play

I like these words... one of my daughters describes me as "really truly" someone who loves to learn. Gotta admit, it does energize me.

So What's With the Fire??

A couple things: We went camping in this very gorgeous place on the Summer Solstice. The fire is a metaphor for a whole bunch of things in my life right now. Perhaps I will dip into them. Here's a couple:

#1
June 22 evening, a mid summer’s night, on Potosi Creek in the Tobacco Root Mtns. The ancients referred to the midsummer’s night as the Festival of Fire and thought the veil between the world of humans and spirits was at it’s thinnest. Spirits could pass back and forth freely.

So I think ....... Festival of Fire Benny lookin' for those

fairies

#2

Mother Teresa's Anyway Poem
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;It was never between you and them anyway.

July 10 '08