Master!

I did it! The 2 long years of working on my masters degree are finally over. I graduated from Emporia State University yesterday with my masters in Instructional Design and Technology. Other than being free from homeowrk, textbooks, and grades and of course the obvious of finally being finished, the best part of graduation was that I saw a student, Peter, (ok, my favorite, even though I know I'm not supposed to have favorites as a teacher) from my first 3rd grade class at Magdalen. His oldest sister gradauted from ESU too with a degree in elementary education!

Peter just finished his sophomore year in high school. He came to me as a 3rd grader, tall, gawky, and already hating school and his parents were looking for a way to keep him interested long enough to graduate from high school. I can't take full crdit for where Peter is today as he has dedicated parents and 3 older siblings looking out for him, but Peter had a special bond with Doug and me that year which for Doug and Peter meant lots of fishing. For me, Peter was the chance to prove I could teach. I like to think I at least made a small impression in Peter's life. I'll never forget the day Peter (who struggled to learn to read and whome all previous teachers had doubted) spelled SUPERCALLAFRAGALISTICEXPILADOCIOUS from memory. Not an earth shattering feat I know, but for Peter it meant the world at that moment. I think the satisfaction of acomplishing that goal was far more worthwhile than the accompanying Hershey's bar in his hand. It's the moment I knew I was supposed to be a teacher.