The Race to Recertify

Guess what time it is, folks?  That's right- it's time for recertification!  I have been teaching for about twenty years now, and each time this task rolls around, it sends me into a tizzy.  When I was in the classroom full time and had access to teacher workshops, staff development, and mentoring opportunities, it wasn't hard to accumulate recert points.  But since I have been out of the classroom and home with my boys, or working part time in my intervention role, I have had no other option but to take college courses to meet my requirements.

We all know that taking college courses is not easy when we are raising children, managing a home, AND teaching kids in the classroom.  It's pricey, it's time consuming, and it's inconvenient. Since I have my Masters' Degree in the state of Virginia, I am only required to take two 3 credit college courses to meet my 180 point minimum.  I have taken college courses before where I was required to drive to the college campus and attend night classes (yawwwwwwwwn....).  It was a bit overwhelming and exhausting to say the least.  Then I found out about the Professional Development Institute through the University of San Diego.  What a life saver!  I was able to take courses for college credit at a reasonable price.  Sometimes they even offer sales on tuition (luckily I caught one).  They have quite a few courses to choose from and they are not ridiculously time consuming or difficult.  I took a phonics course and a class on real world math that was fantastic.  Both courses gave me hands-on activities and ideas that I could use in my classroom.

They also mailed my transcripts super quickly so I could get the ball rolling and send my stuff in to the Virginia DOE.  I'm hoping to get my shiny new teaching license within the next few weeks.  I'm not a paid actor, and this is not an advertisement.  :)  Just wanted to give PDI a shout-out and share some info for those of you who might be in the same position. Thank goodness for online learning!

See you in five years, central office!!!