Celebrate This Week

Today I'm joining Ruth Ayers and Celebrate this Week.

I've been a little absent lately around here and I want to celebrate why.

I'm fortunate to work in a district that supports continuing education through our salary advancement pay scale.  I just completed my Masters plus 45 hours on Friday.  During the past two weeks I've spent 7 days in classes, wrote my last required reflection paper, and I do have some mixed feelings about this.  When I graduated with my Masters I was pregnant with our first daughter and clueless about being a parent.  I also felt I didn't want to have several hours or lots of hours of just randomness because all of that randomness could equal another degree.  Well, N came and I couldn't leave her.  

Then, I discovered classes being offered that were current, relevant to my teaching and peaked my interested.  I remember leaving N to learn about Reggio Emilia and I do believe that made me a better parent.  There are times I love being a parent and a teacher and think each role has enriched the other.  Through the years I've dabbled and taken classes, always working it around what the girls had going on.  I've taken classes within my district quite often because the course is free and relevant to the goals and missions we have.  I've taken classes outside the district that peak my interest and stimulate my mind either by the topic or to be with my friends from other districts.  I've spent a lot of personal money on course work.  I had a burst of focus to get my Masters plus 30.  I realized a burst of focus had benefits and with another burst I could get to 45 hours. I've timed this last burst just before our college bills start coming in.

I've had fleeting thoughts this week about not having another degree in something that would let me take a different path in education and then I stop.  The path I took allowed me to be choosy about the classes I invested my time in. The path I took allowed me to work around my daughter's lives.  The path I took allowed me to probably have an easier course work load than if I was at a university.  So, yes today I am celebrating continuing education and choosing a path that let me find balance or attempt balance between home and school.

It feels great to say I don't have to take another class or write another paper or read another book as an assignment but the reality is, I'm a life long learner and I will probably still be reading, writing, reflecting, and you might see me in a class again.  I wove more celebrations than I intended to into this piece, writing brings surprises.