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Things are pretty wacky with Graduate School and working full time! But I will still try to do my best and blog when I can. I think that Quote of the Week Wednesdays might have to end.... for now at least.
I am in a New Media Class and we are working on digital drawing and painting right now so this is just too cool!
I successfully completed my GRE on Saturday! Because it is computer based the scores pop at the end and they were not too horrible! And to celebrate after, and because I was already pretty close, I drove out to Jones Beach. So that is one more thing off the list. I cannot believe that I am checking thing's off for graduate school.
Yesterday I registered for classes, and I had a department meeting last week. It feels surreal to be getting ready to start up again. I feel like I am still in College on this extended break and at the same time, as if I have been in the "real world" forever. It will be challenging to be in the classroom full time and going to school almost full time. However, I am up for it!
Next year, here I come.
If you are entering graduate school in New York for your initial teaching certification and you school did not originally require the GRE you are probably getting an email about now. It says surprise New York State just passed a law saying that if you want to be a teacher and get certified in graduate school you need to take the GRE and submit your scores before you start school!
This requirement is a formality. As of right now these scores do not matter you just need to sit for the test and have the score recored. However, if your program did not originally require this test there was probably a reason for it. For example, your program is Art Education. Lots of people entering this program probably went to Art School for their undergraduate program. Testing their math and reading comprehension skills is not necessarily the best way to find out if they will be good art teachers. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
But at the end of the day, I want to be a teacher in New York State. So through the hoop I go.
I think I'm ready!
I went to an accepted students tour last week and the Academic Festival yesterday and I think that I picked up enough stuff to be ready to start in the fall! I met some nice people, amazing professors, and learned some cool things about STEAM education. Why the A for arts wasn't in the acronym in the first place is beyond me but I'm glad to see it back in the mix.
Can't wait for orientation!
From November 19th to the 21st I attended a conference at Teachers College Columbia University. It gave me my first real look into the school that I am overjoyed to call my own starting Fall 2016. I met students and teachers from around the world who came together to discuss the history of our field.
I attended nine sessions all with two or more presenters in each. I heard at least 20 papers all about the history of education from primary sources and oral histories to biographical accounts of forgotten and unsung hero's of art education.
We discussed evaluation of art projects for grades in a traditional classroom, something everyone seemed passionate about. How to grade art is much contested and debated, there really is no "wrong way" to create art, and yet some how the educator is supposed to evaluate it.
The most important moment for me was when someone in the audience asked what the faculty of Teachers College hope to instill in their students that they can carry forward into their own classes. Professor Mary Hafeli, responded that she knows that every student and every classroom is different but that she hopes that all of her students know and understand that "all children are artists,". This singular moment made me feel like I finally knew I was in the right place. I felt the instant gut feeling that this was the place for me. Even thought I made the commitment months ago, it feels more real now than it ever has.
After I got out of the conference I went to the bookstore and bought my first Columbia sweatshirt. That has always felt symbolic to me, the school sweatshirt. It is a symbol of this life changing moment when this school becomes a part of your life. That choice will change who you are and the corse of your life. There are very few moments in life where we make these life changing decisions, going to graduate school is one of them.
I am thankful for this opportunity and all that is in store.
