One
benefit of being the first cohort going through a program [by the way, for all of you who do not know - Saint Mary's has a plethora of highly acclaimed maters programs in its school of education, but this is the first year that they are having a Master of Arts in Teaching program and it is specifically designed for teachers who received their teaching credential from SMC] is that there is no
one to tell me what his/her experience was like or what to expect in this
program. I believe that your attitude can
affect your experience (positively or negatively), so I appreciated not being
influenced by anyone’s past experiences.
I was able to start the program with an open mind and just “roll with
the flow.”
There
are many reasons why I decided to enroll in this program.
1)
The
first being that I only needed 8 more units of classes to get my masters! I really appreciated how this particular
masters program took into account all of the hard work I put in during my 11
month credential program and then allowed me the opportunity to get my masters
during the summer; thereby not having to take another year off work or postpone
the beginning of my teaching career.
2)
I
also liked that this Master of Arts in Teaching program was unlike the more
common Masters in Education degree. This
program would allow me to extend my knowledge base as a classroom teacher and
provide me the opportunity do more practical research – not as much theory of
education and philosophical approach (or so I thought!) because I had learned
so much of that during my credential program.
I wanted this degree to not just be “academic,” but also affect my
day-to-day life in the classroom.
3)
Having
the capstone project in place of a thesis paper was also a very attractive idea
to me. I could not only focus my research
on the area of study or the question I was interested in, but I would end up
with a culminating project based on my research that would be my contribution
to the field of education (i.e. website, curriculum, video, manual, etc.)
4)
Lastly,
I figured I might as well get my masters now while I am not married and do not
have kids. It is always harder to go
back to school later in life and since I was already in the school mindset from
the last year of my life, I decided I might as well just keep pushing through! (And of course, the fact that my dad was
willing to foot the bill was an added bonus.
If I decided to go back in a couple of years, I would be the one who
would have to pay for it… And Saint Mary’s ISN’T CHEAP – but it’s worth it!)
My
goals for this program are to extend my knowledge and skills as a professional
educator and to create a capstone project through research, interviews, and
in-classroom work that will be a positive contribution to the field of
education. I want to help fellow
teachers understand the struggle that many of their students have with learning
math and what strategies they can implement to change the students’ feelings
towards this particular subject area. I
think math is feared by so many because it was not taught in an effective
manner; many have said that they felt “stupid” when attempting to understand
different parts of it. I also believe
there is an overall acceptance of math phobia and math-gender stereotypes that
has permeated our culture and continues to be promoted and passed down to each
new generation.
I
look forward to my upcoming classes as I believe they will make me a better
educator and aid me in my great desire to put a stop to this negative stigma towards
math!
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