Master's or PhD? My 10 Year Plan

As I've been twittering away my summer, I've been talking with other teachers about master's degrees, specialist degrees, PhD's, the works. I know it's something I want to do. I love school. Duh, I'm a teacher. I just don't know which direction I want to go in.

I found some information on Wilkes University. I've never heard of it before this, but they are teaming with Discovery Education to provide online master degrees. Um, yeah, exactly everything that I've been looking for!! Just let me list a few classes of the Instructional Media program: Digital Media in the Classroom, Technology Leadership, Project-Based Learning, Inquiry-Based Learning, Using Technology to Support Creativity. Are they spying on my Twitter feed? Plus it's only 30 hours and did I mention it's completely totally online?? I think Jesus may have e-mailed them on my behalf.

Now here's the other prong in my fork. My administrators are already talking to me about moving into administration. I've been working closely with the assistant superintendent on many projects and she is already retired but will be permanently retiring in the next couple years. I would love her job because I definitely don't want to be a principal. That's just not me. But to be assistant you have to be qualified to be the super which requires a master's and a specialist. Lot's of work, time, and money. But...I don't know that I want that job soon.

Say these two words with me: Teacher leadership. Now say these two: Instructional coaching. The combination of those four words makes my heart happy and my pulse speed up a bit. I love teaching so why wouldn't I love teaching other teachers! I love organization and structure and I would love to be able to give those to other teachers. Now, I don't know how all this works. There really is no position for teacher leadership in my district other than just volunteering to do everything first and then teaching everyone else. I wouldn't mind traveling a little bit and speaking to other teachers, but I'd still want to be in the classroom. Which poses some obvious problems.

And here's where the most obvious problem of all comes into play.....

MONEY!

Degrees aren't cheap and I haven't even started paying off my first one (which is turning out to be a little bit useless, but that's another post).

So with nearly everything in my life, I need a plan.

Without further ado, here are my 10tative 10 year plan(s):

Within 10 years or less, pay off my student loans from my bachelor degrees. Also within those 10 years get a master's degree in whatever interests me at that time.

Then in another 10 years or less I can work on that admin masters/specialist. That puts me at assistant superintendent at about age 45. Stay there for another 10 years and then I'm outta there! lol

Ok, so it may not be that easy but I can work a good plan. And changing it up keeps me interested and doesn't make me feel like I'm at a dead end job for my whole life (not that teaching is a dead end, but you know what I mean).

And anytime my rich husband or a lump sum of money wants to find me, that would fit perfectly into my plan.

I mean who do you know, really, that has a 20 year plan? lol

Who I do know, is a God who continually gives me favor. Favor gets me what I cannot afford. God has overwhelmingly favored me enough to open door after door and offer opportunity after opportunity.

Trusting that to continue is the whole key to my 20 year plan. =)