Master's Degree Complete!

To all......I would like to announce that as of this past Thursday (7/5/07) my advisors and program director approved me for graduation for my Master of Science in (Earth) Science (Secondary) Education, from the Montana State Univeristy for this summer semester!

It is a wonderful program, the courses and faculty were wonderful and very easy to work through. For those who may be interested in a program such as this, you can either choose science or mathematics as your main focus, in the sciences you can select your specific field (chem, bio, geo, phys, enviro). The program took me about 1 1/2 years to complete, this also requires a 1 summer residency to complete 2-3 sem hours in a field/lab course and the thesis/capstone defense.

Ironically, both of my direct advisors, were so excitied about my final paper, they have encouraged me to publish it, and also present it to a series of NSTA conferences...which one of my advisors is a board member.

Also, my main advisor is encouraging me to pursue a doctorate....in which he indicated that he would be willing to be my advisor for.... but he encourages me to take at least a year off for relaxation!

CHEERS!

 

Congrats....I'm sure we'll be hearing from you soon about the PhD program!

 

Congrats. Well done.

 

Congrats on your accomplishment(s) and to your future!

 

Congrats! Good luck in your future endeavors!

 

Wow, congratulations!

 

Congratulations!

 

Wonderful news. Congratulations to you, and best wishes for Detachment 450.

 

Congratulations!!

 

Congrats!

Best wishes - and good luck getting published!

Shawn

 

Way to go!

Thumbs up man! Now you have time to do my MBA homework.

 

Congratulations. I noticed you are in Florida. Does the Montana State Master's qualify you to teach in Florida?

 

8 years and three degrees, that is a full time pace. This shows dedication and organization, congratulations.

 

Congrats! I have one-week completed on my second master's.

Yay.

 

Congratulations!! - great job.

 

Congratulations! Yes, do publish your research. I managed to get a couple of publications and an abstract out of mine. This will help you decide on the PhD I think, essentially getting you excited about doing more research.

 

Congratulations!

 

...as Stan Lee would say 'Excelsior'!

 

Congratulations!
all the best!!

 

Congratulations!

Congrats! I spent an undergrad year in Bozeman and fell in love with both the place and the people. I'm sure it has changed in 30 years, but I'll bet it is still a great place.

My next advice to you would be to take the certification exams (while everything is still very fresh in your memory and you are still in 'student mode') so that you will be highly qualified as soon as possible . While I know that Montana is a state that does not require testing for teacher certification, most other states do. That's something you can do in your 'free time' now that your degree is complete and you are taking a year off before moving on to the PhD. The PRAXIS exams are the most widely accepted tests, but, as you probably already know, Florida has its own testing requirements. Anyway, that would be my best advice. Up until a few months ago, I hired teachers for a living and the biggest snags that we ran into were when we had a great teacher from another state who had not met testing requirements. There is reciprocity between most states, but not all states require all tests. I would recommend that you take a basic skills (equivalent of Praxis I), and a content and pedagogy. I'm not sure how all of the other states operate, but here in Maryland once you have met the cert requirements in one area (Earth Science, perhaps?) it is very easy to get a second endorsement in another by simply passing the Praxis content exam in the second area. Even if you never intend to teach in another subject area, you will certainly be marketable with multiple endorsements.

Best wishes!

Mary