Today I officially graduated with my Master's in Education, emphasizing in Learning & Technology!
These past few months I've been doing extensive research and conducted a study on the impact of a "process over product" approach in the art classroom. I started in May and was able to use my students for the study this fall.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity I've had to further my education, and for the University that made it possible. WGU has you pay per semester, and you can fit in as many classes as you can complete in that 6 month block. With the summer off and the extra time 2020 has given us to stay at home, I was able to pack the normally 18 month program into 6 months!
Learning is so fun to me, especially when it is about something I'm passionate about. This program was both enjoyable and rewarding. I gathered lots of data and now have hard proof that my teaching methods and philosophy increases both creative thinking and overall confidence in my students! I care so much about teaching my students to be confident. I want them to know that they can learn to do anything they set their minds to. As only a second year teacher, I have a lot to learn myself and tons of room for improvement, but I feel like I'm headed in the right direction!
Being a student has been part of my identity for most of my life and I'm not exactly sure what my next step will be. A PhD? A Master's in Art History? Maybe neither? I've been working my way to this point for a long time, not really thinking about what comes next. Whatever it is though, I'm definitely going to take the next little while off of writing papers!
