​The Decision

I had just returned from living in South Korea for a year and was residing in Kapolei, HI with my Air Force husband. The year was 2007. I had finished my Bachelor's degree two years earlier and knew the time was approaching to consider my next path in education. I had just started teaching in a classroom for students with emotional impairments. It was tough. The life of a special education teacher is never easy. There are after school meetings for IEPs, parent conferences, preparations for the next school day, and other school functions. I knew from my undergraduate experience that currently practicing teachers often missed classes due to commitments from their job. I didn't want that. However, I still explored attending the University of Hawaii in pursuit of my Master's degree.

 

I met with an adviser at the university, which on some days would be an hour commute from where I worked and an even longer commute to where I lived. It was the best option on a small island and the program seemed like a good one. Still, it did not seem like the best option for where I was in my life. We would be in Hawaii until 2010 and I would have to really push to finish the program before leaving. I decided to look into other options.

 

I had taken an online class before and with a military lifestyle, it was probably the best option for me. I somehow stumbled upon the online Master of Arts in Education at Michigan State University, one of the best schools for teacher education in the country. I know because I started my undergrad there before transferring. I could finally be an MSU graduate and all from the comfort of my home where ever the Air Force takes us.

 

When I told friends and family that I was pursuing a Master's all online, they were curious and maybe even a little concerned. After all, this sort of program was still not a conventional one and was far from the norm. Thinking back, I am reminded of a favorite poem from Robert Frost. "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by..." I have never been one to do exactly what is expected of me and this was going to be no exception.

 

My original plan was the pursue a Master's in special education. However, the special education concentration through MSU was meant for those without a special education background. I wanted to diversify anyway, so I chose to concentrate on literacy education, a concentration that I thought would be useful when working with my students. I chose a second concentration of math and science education because those two subjects seem to be lacking for women who are knowledgeable and passionate about the subject matter. I wanted to be the best role model possible for students entering my classroom.

 

​So It Begins...

The class I was most looking forward to when I started the program was Awards and Classics of Children's Literature (TE 836). I love books and want to pass that love on to my students. This class focused a lot on literature that had won awards. One thing that stuck with me is the fact that Charlotte's Web didn't win the Newberry Award. It was merely an honoree. The book that won that year, Secret of the Andes, isn't widely known. We discussed how others help to shape our literary history. A committee selected those books as winner and honoree, but it was ultimately the public who gave Charlotte's Web the power to remain prevalent in many people's literary histories. I am the one who makes choices for some of the books my students will read. I choose what to put in my classroom library and what to make an assignment. I need to consider that I want my students to have a vast and diverse literary history. The best way to do this is to provide them with a variety of choices to create their own literary histories.

 

Technology has always been an interest of mine in terms of education and using it in my classroom. I attended a training on podcasting and immediately used what I had learned with my students. I find technology very intriguing and easy to integrate into any lesson. Two of my favorite classes were Teaching School Subject Matters with Technology (TE 831) and Creativity in Teaching and Learning (CEP 818).

 

The students I work with can be difficult, but if I give them a computer, something clicks and they can be transformed. TE 831 gave me my first experience with being educated through a wiki. We stepped away from the Angel blackboard site to a different platform. It was intimidating at first, but that is something you just have to deal with when doing a program completely online. I was introduced to Photostory3, a digital storytelling program that I have been using since then to create slideshows for my son every year on his birthday. This program hasn't just been about enhancing my classroom, but also about gaining practical skills that I can use for me.

 

​CEP 818 introduced me to Weebly, a blog platform that I still use today. We submitted all of our work through our own website which was really different. It helped me to get familiar with the different features of Weebly and learn how using blogs could enhance my teaching and communication with parents. We also created a multimedia version of the textbook we used. This introduced me to other dimensions and ways of thinking that I had not considered or paid much attention to when reading the text. TE 831 actually made me consider changing my second concentration to technology, but then I found that I could take another technology related class as an elective while keeping my original concentrations.

 

I think the most useful and fulfilling class for me kept me in tune with my special education roots and was the final class in my program before the Capstone course. Educating Students with Challenging Behaviors (CEP 832) helped me to consider what was causing the behaviors in students I had worked with. I had to think about the antecedents, behaviors, and consequences in terms of what was happening with a specific student that I chose to focus on. I was not in a classroom at the time and had recently moved to South Korea, so my work was done from memory. I learned strategies that I had not used when working with my case study student and thought about how those strategies may have changed the way I worked with and connected with this particular student. I am keeping those strategies stored in my mental file for use when I return to the classroom.

 

Two Moves

This is an important part of my story. I was working full time and when I stopped working in the summer of 2010, I was a full time new, geographically single mommy. I made a choice to only take one class per semester because I wanted to give it my all and still have time for me and my family. I knew my program would take a while, but that I could still do it in the 5 year limit MSU imposed on Master's programs. I didn't want to cause myself unnecessary stress. I already had enough of that.

 

We have moved twice since I began my Master's in 2009. In June of 2011, my son and I moved to join my husband in Monterey, CA. The following January, we all moved to South Korea. Could I have finished a program at a university before June 2011? Yes, I probably could have, but not when I also mention that I should have moved to Monterey in October 2010. The Air Force is a creature of unpredictability. However, one thing I could predict was internet access and my ability to take my laptop no matter where I moved. I felt validated in my choice to take it slow and to pursue a degree entirely online.

 

The Final Class

I was excited to begin my Capstone Portfolio Course (ED 870) from Seoul, South Korea. I faced my first challenge only a few weeks into the course. I had gone through a couple moves, a couple computers, and a broken hard drive during my four years in this course. Tracking down work samples was going to be problematic. Suffice it to say, I got lucky. I had managed to back-up much of my work on CDs which found their way to Korea and could easily be obtained. A lot of other work was online in wikis and blogs. The lovely Dr. Laura Apol saved me with emailing work samples from TE 836. There was still a final course for which I could not track down any samples. Four years is a long time to devote to anything. It is especially long when you are trying to remember specific things that happened during that four year period. That has been the most difficult thing for me.

 

I made the choice to use a different platform to display that portfolio I created. I thought about using Weebly because it was familiar to me, but I like challenges. I like taking roads less traveled by. I decided to use Wix and I think it was a good choice. I had a lot to learn and not everything was ideal, but I like it. I am very proud of the work I have done and can't wait to share it with friends, family, and potential employers.

 

I enjoy the opportunity to write reflective essays as I have done for my portfolio. I like being able to reflect on where I have been and where I am going. It helps me to put things on paper. I am given the chance to consider my future and how the choices of my past will help me to get there. Reflecting also helps me to feel accomplished. I am able to put into perspective exactly how far I have come.

 

One Last Reflection

​There have been triumphs and there have been trials over the past four years. Some classes were easier than others and some taught me more than others, but they have all shaped who I am in the classroom. Could I have done things differently? Of course. Would I? Probably not. I thoroughly enjoyed this program and given the chance, would do another program entirely online. I recently turned 30, have a wonderful husband, the most awesome little boy, an unexpected job, and am about to earn my Master of Arts in Education. Maybe I didn't do it in a conventional matter, but I did it. Let me refer back to Mr. Frost, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."