Thing #1

Getting started is always the hardest part of anything we do. The habit that would be hardest for me is having confidence. I may be the oldest person taking this course and computers are, of course, new in the span of my life. I seem to be always afraid of doing something I cannot get out of or of making the problem worse. I have no problem accepting responsibility for my learning or I would not have taken this course. I have taken other technology courses and find that I do not learn from the "follow me" approach. I tend to get lost easily and definitely do not have the skills to catch up once I'm lost. I am hoping that this trial and error approach on my own time will bridge the gap. The most important habit I hope to gain is the filling of my toolbox. My goal is to use these computer skills to help my students learn math. I teach Basic Math to 7th and 8th graders in middle school. Many of the skills they need were not learned when they should have been learned. This may be due to a learning disability, but my hope is that the skills were not presented in a way that enabled learning. If my hope comes true, stimulation through computers may help them bridge the gap.