What I Forgot to Say Yesterday

                                             

You know what?  I really crack myself up, sometimes.  I get an idea in my head for a blog post, I sit down to start typing it, and then I get totally side swiped by other stuff....and end up going on off a tirade in a completely opposite direction than where I was originally heading.

Do you know what my original intention was BEFORE I started writing yesterday's post?  

To tell everyone that I'm seriously thinking about getting my master's degree.  

The whole "teacher is a lifelong learner" thing was supposed to be the introduction of explaining that I am considering going ahead and checking off another accomplishment in my life by furthering my education with the next degree level.

But, if I had a dollar for every time I start out with one blog post idea and end up with something completely different, I'd be a very rich woman right now.

Anywho, I AM thinking about trying to get my master's degree.  And, the only reason I've decided to think about it now, is because there is a good possibility that I might be able to do it by just staying at work a couple extra hours a week.

I recently found out that Williams Wood University is considering setting up a Master's cohort right in the very school I teach.  Meaning not having to drive to the university for classes, no logging on to a computer to read my lessons, an actual cohort of learners working together to get the same degree... and they will be people I work with.

I won't have to take on a full college workload in order to do it, either.  From what I understand, I'll stay after work one night a week for about 3 hours, and work through each class one after another until they are all completed.  It'll take about 18 months.  

Not bad AT ALL.

As of right now, I have NO desire to ever leave the classroom.  I mean, I've only wanted a classroom for 25 years, I'm not about to want out of it any time soon.  I am perfectly content doing what I do for the rest of my life.  But, ten, fifteen, even twenty years from now, there may be a possibility that I decide I want to move in to an administrative position.  I may decide that, one day, I'm ready to step out of the classroom and in to an assistant principal or principal's office.  

The offer being out there to obtain my master's the way it is being offered right now is something to strongly consider.  Get it done, now, and then I don't have to worry about it later. 

Who knows, maybe fifteen, twenty years from now I will have the title of "Dr." in front of my name.  HA!  

After graduating from college with my bachelor's, I was pretty content with just keeping it that way.  No real desire to keep going back to college, racking up more debt, just to have another diploma to hang on the wall.  But, that pesky "lifelong learner" thing keeps playing on my mind.  Am I really OK with not ever continuing my education?  Not really.  I mean, sure, I take TONS of professional development classes, I'm continuously learning new ideas and changes that are taking place, but how about learning about another aspect of the education world?  That of an administrator.

I have the choice of getting my Masters in Curriculum & Instruction or Administration.  Both have their perks.  But, knowing myself the way I do, if I ever do decide that I want a change I figure it'll be to try and become a principal.  

So, that's what I was originally going to announce in yesterday's post before I started going off in the direction I went.

I'm excited about learning new stuff.  I'm excited about notching another hole in my educational belt.  I mean, come on... a master's degree is pretty fancy stuff!  

Ten years ago, if you'd have told me that I would go to college and earn my bachelor's degree, I would have probably laughed at you and told you that was crazy talk.  I just didn't think it was in the cards for me, back then.

And, now, I do have that degree.  I do have the classroom I've always wanted.  But, why stop there? Why not move forward?  Why not throw another accolade on to the list of "stuff I never thought I'd be able to do"?

Nothing has been set in stone, as of yet.  Still a thinking out loud, strongly considering it, kinda thing.  I have to get more information, find out if the logistics will work out, if I'll be able to afford the extra burden of more student loans, and if I'll be able to handle the workload.  But, I've at least started the process of throwing out my interest.  

Now, it's waiting to see what happens next.

Right now?  What happens next is me going to get ready for work.

Have a great Thursday, everyone!!