NE Learns 2.0 - Lifelong Learning

iDanSimpson-Behold.com

Lifelong learning is something so important to me, especially over the last several years.  As I turned forty in the middle of working toward my teaching certificate, I asked myself many days what I thought I was doing.  I realized after viewing the presentation on the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners, that I often got caught up in the whirlwind.  I had a hard time viewing the roadblocks as anything other than another crisis and really had a difficult time with confidence in my own abilities.  Those were huge struggles for me and I often wished I could make the whole process go away or that I had never started it. However, the ability to overcome those two  roadblocks are the wells I have drawn from  in my first year as a librarian.  My experiences have also taught me that it's not about the destination, it's about the journey.

I have found that a big part of my journey is knowing I will never be through learning.  Seeing me as a committed lifelong learner is crucial to students’ understanding that they must be committed to learning, as well. Communicating that concept and modeling it to my students is so important. I have committed myself to strive to be on the edge of what's coming in my profession and to never let myself land in a rut.  I won't short change myself or my students. Lifelong learning is a key aspect of our global society, and our students need strong models who are willing to stretch, grow, and stumble along with them.

Part of that process is participating in the Nebraska Library Commission's Nebraska Learns 2.0 program. I am looking forward to trying each new idea and participating in "Book Thing" as part of my own commitment to lifelong learning.