So I've been stressing (as I'm prone to do) about not having all of my paperwork in for my Masters program, about not knowing exactly what my thesis/research was going to be on, etc. Today I met with my advisor for half an hour and I have now completed some important paperwork, have a good idea of what my thesis/research paper will be on and fell much better overall.
My advisor has this way of making me feel like I'm totally capable of doing everything I need to. Her confidence in me is unbelievably helpful. After half an hour with her I went from being unsure and nervous to being much more focussed and confident in myself and I've got my topic for my thesis. Half an hour. Seriously. She's really freaking good at her job. What can I say?!
Time to hit the books and start pulling together information. I am also looking into adding a Certificate in Online Teaching to my credentials. This certificate requires 9 credits - 3 are required for my Masters anyway and another 3 can be used towards my cognate area. It ties in directly with my cognate area. The only hitch is if the University will still be offering the classes, since the professor who was going to teach them has left. If they do offer the classes I will definitely be adding that to my repertoire. (yes I had to look up the spelling on that one ;)
So what is this newly discovered topic for my Research Paper?
Well it's going to go a little something like this:
What are effective strategies for using Blogs and Wikis in (Upper) Elementary Education?
I'll have to cover things like:
*Defining blogs and wikis
*Strengths and limitations
*Safety issues (confidentiality)
*Possibly interviewing teachers who may have used these tools...
I've got some books on this and I've been compiling a list of books related to this topic on my Amazon.com wishlist. I think I've kind of known what I wanted to do, but when my advisor suggested it for an option that cinched the deal. This is something I am interested in and that'll make it way more fun to do.
Rock on.