I Did It!

Late October-early November last year, I was informed I needed to complete 21 graduate credits in order to renew my teaching license. To say it compared to having a bucket of ice-cold water being dumped over my head is an understatement.

Panic ensued. The kind of panic that leaves you frozen in your tracks, unable to do anything for a couple of months. Ya; that kind.

With the persistent, yet gentle prodding from my resident Staff Development teacher, I started perusing course catalogs and getting over my panic about completing that many credits in less than 12 months.

I chose my first class: Studying Skillful Teaching Part 2 being sponsored by our County. Great; six Saturdays gone "poof". They weren't even consectutive Saturdays so I could just get them over with. Noooooo, they were spaced out until early May! Gah! What a pain; but doable. And I did it.

At the same time, I took my first correspondance class through Seattle Pacific University via armchaired.com. I was so freaked out about not being able to clarify points with an actual live person/instructor that even though I was done with the class by the end of February; it took me almost a month longer to actually submit it.

I passed both with A's. Yay, me!

Then came the realization I needed to get five more classes completed. Thankfully, one class was taken care of because I'd taken Studying Skillful Teaching 1 a few years earlier; it just had never made it into my file for some unknown reason. I then signed up for four more summer classes; worked my butt off and passed each and every one of them with an A!

I just got my grade for my very last class this week and it is an A as well.

I now have all the credits I need to recertify. Horray!

I now also have enough credits to change paylanes!!! How sweet is THAT?!

While I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone wait until the year before recertification to take 18 credits, I'm so happy they're done. And it really wasn't so bad.