I’m going to be a student again!

Although I just graduated from the University of Louisville’s school of education in May, I’m very excited to begin working on my second masters this summer at Bank Street College of Education. The program could not be more perfect for me: 3 summers on site in NYC; 3 school years at my current school in Louisville; courses at Bank Street that lead to an M.Ed in Educational Leadership and courses at Sarah Lawrence that lead to its compliment in Creative Writing.

That means, I get to stay in Louisville and maintain what I have going here - personally and professionally - and I get to network in New York for three years. Where’s the compromise? Not only that, I can study BOTH leadership and creative writing, which satisfies my previous dilema between pursuing curriculum development, policy or administration. I’m very happy with the way things worked out.

So my students and I were talking about education today, and about what degrees it takes to pursue what career and so forth. It was so great to see them adding up the years and weighing their options. They asked me about my degrees and I told them I had a BA in English Literature and Religion from Colgate University (sniggering about toothpaste inevitably ensues), an MAT from UofL in Middle School Language Arts and Literacy, and that I was about to begin an M.Ed at Bank Street.

“Woah, you’ve been in school for…like…six years…and you’re going back for more?” Yes, it’s true. I think I prefer to be on the receiving end of education even more than I like being on the…coaxing end? organizational end? inspiring end? Certainly not the “giving end.” I don’t think I can GIVE them an education anymore than I can unscrew their little heads and pour in my knowledge.

I told them today (as I’ve told them before) that I’m not any smarter than them, just older (and hopefully wiser?) Morkell said: “But you a teacher!” True, true. But I have heard some pretty ignorant things come out of some teachers’ mouths.

*sigh*

And now I’m getting sad to think about that authority that the kids give us, even when we don’t realize it. And it makes me sad too to think about all the teachers who abuse their enormous, weighty power by telling lies, being cruel, humiliating students, cutting them down, and everything they do to gain the power that they don’t realize they already have.

Anyway, I’m excited to be relieved of the immense responsibility of teaching, and get back to being the student for a minute, even if it is only for a couple months out of the year.