"Read like a writer and write like a reader" was a phrase at the forefront of my mind as a middle school language arts teacher. With an understanding that writers can enhance their craft by considering the experience of reading and readers can increase their comprehension by thinking about the craft of writing, I taught my students to notice. I introduced them to the concept of mentor texts and to think deeply about the intentional structure and choices that writers make. I taught them to notice what caught their attention and sustained their engagement as readers.

Eventually, as a teacher educator, I began to see a parallel with teaching and learning. I understood that I could enhance my instruction through considering my own experiences as a learner and listening to my students' voices. Considering the student side could powerfully shape my intentional moves as an instructor as I developed my courses and then supported students as they navigated the academic terms.

The first time I used the term teach like a learner, it was in connection with a summer research project that I did in order to consider what I could learn from reflecting on what I loved so much about the online scrapbooking courses I was taking for fun and ways in which I could then potentially enhance my own instruction.

Since then, I have seen the value in better understanding myself as a learner in a range of contexts - formal learning, casual learning, and independent learning. I have delighted in the process of considering creative ways to implement insights from the experiences and am excited to share different aspects of what I have learned along the way.

Questions for Reflection:

1. How have you continued learning throughout different seasons of your adult life? Do not just limit your list to traditional professional or academic learning. Consider the range of opportunities to learn something new or enhance the depth of your understanding. Think about professional growth, hobbies, and new interests. Reflect on both guided and independent learning.

2. What were some of the methods employed in order to learn? What did you love about the experiences?

3. What did you learn about yourself as a learner through the experiences? What might that mean for your own students, how they learn and how you might better meet their needs and sustain their engagement as a learner?