The Big Reveal

We went back to Aggieland for the football game this weekend and we had the opportunity to take our friends' 12-year-old son. We had a great time and even got to meet A&M's Heisman winner, John David Crow! He was so gracious!

At some point, DJ asks Jacob if he has any idea what he wants to be when he grows up. Jacob has no idea, but this started us on the conversation of "what did you think you wanted to be when you were 12?" DJ's answer was an aeronautical engineer graduating from A&M. My answer was a teacher.   

This started us talking about how I always heard that I would change my mind by the time I got to college and maybe even multiple times while I was there, but I never did. In fact, my dad especially always said I needed to be a principal or professor. This always frustrated me and I would tell him that it's okay if I don't make a lot of money, I'm going to do what God has called me to do. I was and still am passionate about kids, so that was that! 

My dad also said I needed to get my Master's degree, but I always said that I was done with school after I finished my first degree at Texas A&M. It's funny how things change and sometimes your parents are right.  

I now have 2 Masters Degrees and dream to finish my doctorate possibly at some point. It's funny how God works. :) 

This brings me to my big news I have been waiting to share. I apologize for leaving you hanging for so long. I thought I was going to be allowed to share sooner.  

I have been asked to teach a class (as an adjunct instructor) at Hardin-Simmons University! (I know crazy!!!) I will begin teaching an undergraduate class in Early Childhood Education. It is an evening class once a week, so I will continue to teach 3rd grade during the day.  

I am honestly so humbled and honored by this opportunity. It has been a little crazy to be the one choosing a textbook and writing a syllabus, but I am so excited.  Thanks for being excited with me as I start this new chapter.  

The Waiting Game

Well, it's official... I have finished my second Masters degree! Yesterday I had Orals, which is a culmination of everything I have learned. It is definitely a little intimidating to walk into a room of your professors knowing that they have 45 minutes or so to ask you questions about everything you've learned. I finished my Reading Specialist Masters this time last year and I had almost enough classes to finish both degrees, so I did. A few of the classes overlapped, but I wasn't sure if they were going to ask me questions from any of the overlap classes or not. It would have been nice to know that I did not need to study those classes again! Oh well! When I arrived they decided to only ask me questions from my gifted ed. classes (and not to repeat Reading or Research questions), so that cut my orals down to 30 minutes. The 30 minutes flew by very quickly and before I knew it I was done. I felt like I had done well, but the scary part is when they send you out of the room to talk about you and decide whether or not you passed. Last year this part took less than 5 minutes. This year I waited, and waited, and waited. At first I was confident, then I thought I must have failed, then I wanted to cry, and then I waited and waited some more. After 20 minutes, the guy who had Orals after me showed up and we chatted for another 10 minutes or so. Finally, one of my professors came out to see if HE was ready to start his Orals. At that moment I said, "Um... are you going to tell me if I passed or not???" At that moment I could see the realization on her face that they had forgotten about me! She swept me up in a big hug, apologized profusely, and told me that I PASSED! Praise the Lord! They said that when I walked out they all said that I passed and they signed all my paper work, but forgot to call me back into the room. Then they started chatting and simply forgot me. I told them not to worry because it was a great story. I am just relieved to be FINISHED!!! WHOOP!!!

Busy Time

I have so much to be doing, so naturally I am blogging instead! However, I have been absent from my blog for so long I thought I would tell you where I have been. I have spent the last few months diligently working on a literature review about ability grouping (that sounds like great reading doesn't it?!) After I finished 25 pages of research I completed an article on the same topic that I am actually submitting for publication to a real journal! (TEMPO is the official peer-reviewed journal of the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT). If it actually gets published I will definitely let you know!

After that I have been working on preparing for Orals for my 2nd Masters degree (I know I am crazy! I'm really not an over-achiever, it just somehow worked out that I had almost enough credits for 2 masters when I finished the 1st. So I thought, why not?) For this degree, my professor requires that I prepare a gargantuan binder (the binder by itself cost $30!).


The binder has all the competencies for gifted ed, with lots of info on each and then I had to write a 3 page synthesis for each competency. I finally finished that last night and now I have exactly one week to prepare for Orals! On that note, I better go study, but I plan to be back after April 7 showing you pictures of how I refinished my kitchen table.