I enjoyed earning my master’s degree through the University of Saint Joseph because of the relationships I made throughout the program. As a cohort, our group started each class together, completed the work, and celebrated each milestone along the way. The professors fostered a growth-oriented learning community.
I attended team building seminars and activities before, but none compared to the team building experience at the University of Saint Joseph. Most teacher development sessions and training seminars were with colleagues from the same department or school, working under the same administration. Many teaching strategies were in place for years with little or no variety or willingness to evolve. The University of Saint Joseph program offered much more diversity. My cohort included teaching professionals from different districts with a range of experiences. The diversity of our experiences drove our discussions and our program bubbled over with creative ideas.
I teach 7th through 12th grade. In my district, I interact with professionals of different subjects but with the same administration. During our projects at USJ, I worked teachers of different subjects and student ages, including from childbirth to age three. These teachers shared experiences and helped to develop my understanding of teaching at a deeper level. I learned about the educational experience of my students before they got to my classroom.
The wide range of experience was intriguing. Many of the strategies and experiences had surprising parallels. I enjoyed looking at my experience from my students’ perspective, with their questions and conversations. It was a genuinely collaborative experience. I marveled at their persistence, patience and resolve. Their reactions to my experience revitalized my purpose for teaching.
The master’s program at the University of Saint Joseph was valuable and important because of the professionals their program attracts. Throughout the program, I was able to modify and implement the strategies we discussed the night before. The students in my classroom were bemused when I would introduce a new style of engagement based on a discussion I had at my master’s class. I enjoyed my experience because I did not feel as though I were working for a certificate or a degree, but rather I was working to refine my craft through an exchange of ideas. To this day, I use some of the strategies I learned from elementary teachers in my high school classroom. Even high school students like a good round of “Simon Says!”