higher education
Today I went and took my first standardized test in over 20 years. With the GRE down, grad school - here I come!! Due to modern advances the test is given over a computer, so I registered last week and took the test today. Yesterday it occurred to me that I should probably know what the test is about, so I logged onto the practice website and spent an hour or so looking at tips and sample questions. Today I took the test, and even found out my scores before I left the room. Pretty nifty.
I'm finally going to pursue getting a Masters degree, and a friend asked me why in the world I would want to take the GRE and go through all that trouble. It really won't help me on the pay scale until I get a Master's degree plus an additional 18 credit hours, and I don't need it to stay in my job. I remembered a quote from Edith Hamilton, "It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless discussions about education so little stress is laid on the pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous interest it adds to life. To be able to be caught up into the world of thought -- that is to be educated."
One of the things I like about teaching is looking at a specific set of learning objectives and figuring out the best way to teach a specific group of kids. Every time I teach a unit, I learn more about learning and about students and about myself. To me, the opportunity to study education - especially curriculum design and instruction strategies - is exciting. I want to re-energize myself through the power and pleasure of learning. Taking classes, learning new stuff - that kind of excitement is authentic and transfers to students I teach. It also makes my life more fun.
The other thing I'm excited about in this whole process is not only learning how to teach better, it's helping raise the bar in my chosen profession. Teachers aren't always praised and appreciated by society. Sometimes that lack of respect is deserved; it's easy to be a bad teacher. Most times however, teachers are true believers who work hard and give of time and soul to help students. Lots of teachers just don't have a big enough tool bag to reach modern kids; I think I can help with that. I love teaching pre-service teachers in the summer, sharing my ideas of what makes a good teacher and helping them move in the direction of righteousness. Pursuing a Masters degree means I'll have more tools in my bag, more research-based information to present, and (to some) more credibility.
All in all, I'm excited about the new chapter of my life that's unfolding. Lots of unknowns - new job, new classes, new schedule - but it will be good.
You have learned something. That always feels at first as if you had lost something. ~H.G. Wells
Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back. ~Chinese Proverb
I'm finally going to pursue getting a Masters degree, and a friend asked me why in the world I would want to take the GRE and go through all that trouble. It really won't help me on the pay scale until I get a Master's degree plus an additional 18 credit hours, and I don't need it to stay in my job. I remembered a quote from Edith Hamilton, "It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless discussions about education so little stress is laid on the pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous interest it adds to life. To be able to be caught up into the world of thought -- that is to be educated."
One of the things I like about teaching is looking at a specific set of learning objectives and figuring out the best way to teach a specific group of kids. Every time I teach a unit, I learn more about learning and about students and about myself. To me, the opportunity to study education - especially curriculum design and instruction strategies - is exciting. I want to re-energize myself through the power and pleasure of learning. Taking classes, learning new stuff - that kind of excitement is authentic and transfers to students I teach. It also makes my life more fun.
The other thing I'm excited about in this whole process is not only learning how to teach better, it's helping raise the bar in my chosen profession. Teachers aren't always praised and appreciated by society. Sometimes that lack of respect is deserved; it's easy to be a bad teacher. Most times however, teachers are true believers who work hard and give of time and soul to help students. Lots of teachers just don't have a big enough tool bag to reach modern kids; I think I can help with that. I love teaching pre-service teachers in the summer, sharing my ideas of what makes a good teacher and helping them move in the direction of righteousness. Pursuing a Masters degree means I'll have more tools in my bag, more research-based information to present, and (to some) more credibility.
All in all, I'm excited about the new chapter of my life that's unfolding. Lots of unknowns - new job, new classes, new schedule - but it will be good.
You have learned something. That always feels at first as if you had lost something. ~H.G. Wells
Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back. ~Chinese Proverb
Comments