A Quote for the Ages

I recently stumbled upon an interesting blog called Langwitches about integrating learning through technology. But regardless of whether or not you care about integrative technology, one post listed this quote should capture your attention:

"It is bad enough that one cannot learn anymore for the rest of one’s life. Our ancestors were able to hold on to the education they received in their youth; instead we must relearn every five years, if we want to keep up with the times."

--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This quote completely validates my personal learning and teaching philosophy which can be summed up as: "You don't have to know all the answers, you just have to know where to find the answers" and "Learning should be an ongoing, lifelong adventure."

Funny thing is, von Goethe lived in the early 1800s...how much more does this quote apply to our fast-pasted, technological-based world today?

I passed!

Today I was able to access my "unofficial" teacher certification test scores online...and I passed! I'm breathing a big sigh of relief because I would have been totally embarrassed had I not passed!

I'm a little uncertain of what I have to do next and I can't find out until I call the state's department of education on Monday. If I understand it correctly, it will happen like this:

1. I must be reviewed by a panel for licensure (Teacher Competency Review Panel or TCRP). I understand that it's not in-depth, but an approximately 15-minute interview.
2. TCRP forwards recommendation to state department of education, I pay any required fees and I am given an initial teaching license. I think that means I might be able to teach this fall, but I'm not certain.
3. I must complete a certain amount of professional education. In my case, I must complete six hours. The amount of hours varies from person-to-person based on their working/professional experience within the field they will be teaching. (In other words, I couldn't be a florist and just walk in and get a teaching certificate.) I can complete this after licensure. I think I will be completed with this portion of the requirements by December having taken one class in my master's studies this summer that should meet half of the requirements and the other class to be taken in the fall.
4. I must take the OPTE (Oklahoma Professional Teaching Exam) which assesses a person's knowledge about skills needed by educators in order to teach successfully. I can not take this test until after I receive my initial license, but I must complete it in order to receive a five-year teaching certificate. I plan to complete this test this fall.
5. Like all first-year teachers in the state of Oklahoma, I must be assigned a "mentor" during my first year who will regulate my progress and (I assume) be available for guidance.
6. When I complete my graduate studies, I will also have to take the certification test for Library Media Specialists. Additionally, I plan to take the English certification test since I was an English Ed major as a "traditional" student.

I'm pretty excited and much relieved. I will be calling the TCRP as soon as possible so I can get my interview set up (hopefully this summer) and send my resume to our local school administrators. I feel like I'm finally making progress!

Summer Vacation

"Vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it." --Robert Orben

According to this quote, I haven't officially started summer vacation. Even though my days are still busy and full, at least it's not filled with course work! I'm trying to catch up from being gone but so far, softball games, appointments and birthday parties have prevented me from doing so (yesterday I hosted a tea party for my daughter's 7th birthday--it was fun, but time consuming). I'm thinking I might be able to find an hour to hang out at our backyard pool today. Maybe I'll mow the lawn this afternoon and get so hot that the cold water will be irresistible to me. Here's to hoping!

Home Sweet Home

I'm home again and summer school is over! I'm SO glad that I did it--definitely worth the time commitment to get nine hours (nine tuition-free hours at that!) completed. For now, I'm going to focus on SUMMER and enjoy a little time with my family.

Time to Wrap it up

For almost three weeks we've had a great time at summer school learning, laughing and enjoying one another's company, but I think we've finally reached our threshold. It's clearly time to wrap it up here. Everyone is beginning to get cranky and sensitive. There is a lot of whining, complaining, and finger-pointing going on. People are starting to sweat the small stuff.

Personally, I find it amazing that we've lasted this long. Usually, when you get a bunch of women together for weeks on end, the drama begins before the end of week one--lol!

Like I've said before, I'm really glad I had this experience, but I will definitely be really glad to get back to my home, my family and my life, no matter how crazy it all may be. :)

Great Resources

Summer school has left me with a variety of valuable tools and resources, including:

• a new circle of friends and acquaintances for networking, brainstorming and who can help me survive the rest of grad school
• a list of electronic resources and online tools of which I had no previous knowledge
• books that I can use to create lesson plans
• ideas or "lessons learned" from other teachers who have "been there, done that" so that I don't have to
• more university contacts that I can turn to during grad school (for help) and beyond (for references)

On Time (and How It Flies)

It's funny how getting older changes how you view even the little things in life. Take exercise, for example: what once seemed like a huge waste of time (because there was plenty of metabolism to go around), now seems like a necessity. When I was a true freshman, time seemed to pass so slowly. It seemed like each week was dragging, postponing the arrival of the weekend. A semester seemed never ending. It was incomprehensible to think about four years of college-that was an ETERNITY to me!

When I was planning to be away for summer school, three weeks seemed like a pretty good chunk of my time. I was sure that the week would pass slowly and the weekend too quickly. Now, I'm back in my dorm room preparing for my final week here and I'm surprised at how quickly time has passed.

When I first stumbled upon the program, it did seem like a giant leap of faith and commitment on my family's part to dedicate three weeks of summer to school, especially since it meant living on campus. Yet, I decided to look at it from a long-term perspective, deciding that the benefits far outweighed the negatives. It really has. Just think: I have added six hours to my transcript in the past two weeks. SIX HOURS!!! By the end of this week, I will have added another three! That's without even mentioning all the great people I've met here, the fact that the whole program is FREE and that I've had time to focus on some personal goals. so thankful that I took advantage of this opportunity.

Here's to one last week of class....then, "Summer, ho!!!"