Class Times and Locations

The most pressing concern for teachers considering graduate school is scheduling. It may seem nearly impossible to have an interactive, fulfilling graduate experience while teaching full-time, but TU makes this possible. Students meet with their professors and classmates biweekly on a specified day in the evening. They know the dates and times for each meeting before the class begins, which makes scheduling meetings, childcare, and any other professional or other personal needs a breeze.

Not only are the meeting days and times convenient, but the locations are selected with teachers’ schedules in mind. TU offers cohorts in many counties around the state of Georgia, and these cohorts meet at convenient locations such as local schools. Furthermore, for many classes, cohort members can meet from the comfort of their own homes by using video conferencing technology.

Online Learning

As digital learning is increasingly prevalent, TU uses technology to make graduate learning more efficient for the working learner. The fact that students create and submit exclusively digital assignments means that learning can literally happen anywhere. As a graduate student, I was able to type assignments at home, at the beach, and anywhere in between. When I was on the go and needed to check grades or assignments quickly, I used the learning platform app to do so on my smartphone. Online learning makes the classroom available at all times, allowing teacher-learners to maximize work time.

Career Enhancing Work

TU is committed to building better teacher leaders through relevant coursework. The readings, assignments, and assessments all work toward the optimal goal of each graduate student leading students and fellow teachers toward success. During my time as a TU student, I used the skills that I learned in my classes to become a more effective teacher leader for my school and district. My TU assignments had a purpose that extended to my daily work as a teacher. I improved my classroom instruction, and I now lead training for teachers in my district because of my work as a graduate student.

TU’s division of education graduate programs are designed specifically for educators who are working in schools every day. Classes accommodate teacher schedules, and the classroom is literally available always. The convenience for teachers even extends beyond busy schedules, and allows for improvement of practice and completion coursework simultaneously. TU understands the unique and ever-increasing hats that teachers wear, and they built a program with them in mind.

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Innovative Ideas

During my first class at  Thomas University, our professor told us that she aimed to make her class useful in our careers. She wanted to provide us with valuable strategies that we could take back to our classrooms. This rang true throughout all of my classes at  Thomas University: All of our professors were educational leaders in some capacity. Being leaders, they were dedicated to engaging, effective instruction, and they had a wealth of observations to draw upon in addition to their own classroom experience. They modeled technology and protocols that I was able to use in my classroom immediately. Furthermore, they provided a wealth of knowledge about engaging adult learners. This was a skill that I had very little practice with, and  Thomas University gave me the adult learning strategies I needed to be effective in my professional learning community.

Community of Teachers

The cohort model was my favorite part of the  Thomas University experience. When I started my graduate school journey, I had no idea that my cohort members would become a wealth of resources and information. We were teachers who taught varying levels and subjects. From the seasoned teachers whose experience I gained from, to the new teachers whose fresh ideas and mastery of technology I learned from, every member of my cohort contributed to making me a better teacher. Even beyond graduation, I am able to lean on my cohort members when situations arise that fall within their respective areas of expertise. Furthermore, our classes provided several opportunities for us to showcase instructional strategies and activities. Observing my cohort members in action provided effective strategies that I could take back to the classroom.

Leadership

At  Thomas University, I didn’t just learn what teacher leadership is – I became a teacher leader. My coursework challenged me to identify issues affecting  my school, and use proven inquiry models to determine solutions. While at  Thomas University, I ceased to ponder what I would do as an administrator or district leader, and I realized the potential of what I can do right now as a teacher. It was this very thinking that lead me to apply to my district’s Teacher Leader Academy, where I worked with other teachers to affect change at every level. Through this experience, I began having regular conversations with district leadership about teacher and student needs, and I also lead other teachers in my district by facilitating professional development training. All of this was a result of my  Thomas University coursework and professors inspiring and challenging me to become a teacher leader.

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