Graduate School

For the past couple of years I have been thinking about returning to school to get my Master's degree.  Last year I actually applied for a program, got accepted, signed up for classes, ordered books, and then found out that I needed a credential to be a part of the program.  I was very upset because I really wanted to be a part of the program.  The sad part is that throughout the entire process, from the online literature, the school catalog, the application, and the acceptance letter, not once did it say that a credential was required for the program.  This broke my heart.  I have no intention of getting my credential because I teach at a private school that does not require it.  I have taken and passed all of my qualification tests and that is enough for me.  I want to move on to teaching college and in order to do that I need to get my Masters.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been researching new programs and I finally found one that seems to fit.  Today I started the application process, ordered transcripts, and started to contact people to complete letters of recommendation.  The process should take about three to four weeks and if all goes well, I will start school at the end of August.  My degree will be a MA in Education with an emphasis in Information Technology.  I figured that this would be a great fit for me considering not only my love of technology, but also my desire to bring the use of technology into the forefront withing my classroom.

Here is to hoping that this time it all works out.

Just the Beginning

Last summer I spent the majority of the summer building a website for the first time.  I created kirkmanenglish.wikidot.com.  When my creation was done, it felt like I had given birth to something that I knew would grow up to be a great idea.  Throughout the year I used the site to post homework, information on novels and authors, information on AP testing, and a forum discussion.  Each student was required to post two forum posts each week.  This worked out really well and the students enjoyed having a way to digitally contribute to the class.

Now, a year later I find myself wanting more.  I created a second site for my other AP class and am now considering the idea of using a blog with that site.  I would love to have one class learning the importance of blog writing while the class they take the next year learns the importance of forum posting.  I think that giving my students outlets like this will really help them to discover new things about themselves.

The only problem is that I can't decide how to do it.  Some people suggest doing one class blog that all students contribute to as authors and others suggest having each student make their own blog using sites like blogspot.com or wordpress.com and then linking them all to the main class website.  I am experimenting with both of these options over the summer.  In fact, I have recruited a couple of my students to help with the experimentation and so far they are being really helpful.  Hopefully I will figure it all out before we start classes on August 22nd.