Renaissance

Participation in the Southeast Iowa Writing Project propelled me into many things. As I read that second journal I realize it is just churning with ideas. It was a time of a renaissance of my mind. I was reflecting on my teaching, writing letters, submitting articles, dreaming about going to graduate school and much more.

I had, up to that time, thought the graduate school option just wasn’t there for me. My academic record was not all that good and I didn’t typically do to well on tests. The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) was required for entry and the College of Education at the University of Iowa had high standards for acceptance. In those days they had a nationally highly respected program and graduates were considered the cream of the crop. I thought I would be naive to think that I could do well on the test let alone get in.

On March 27, 1981, I wrote: “I took the GRE last Saturday morning at Iowa City. I didn’t feel very good about it after I was done. I don’t think I did very well. I hope it’s not a major factor in my acceptance to graduate school. If it is, I suppose I will have to take it again.”

I filled out the application for graduate school and waited. On May 14, I received word that I was accepted at Iowa as a graduate student in the M.A. in education program. I was surprised and even thought they might have made a mistake. I originally wanted in the program because I wanted to take classes and that opened the door to that opportunity. Completing the program seemed too distant to even think about at first but slowly that dream crept into my head. Having an M.A. would open the door to more opportunities for our family and I liked the thought of being able to put M.A. after my name.

Iowa accepted most of the courses I had taken so that gave me a good start. My advisor was Dick Shepardson. He was a kind and generous fellow. He had great knowledge of classroom management and was an expert on cooperative learning. We discovered we had a lot in common. He had been an elementary teacher and was an avid arrowhead hunter. We became friends and even hunted arrowheads together one time. He was a strong supporter during my entire time at Iowa.

I also became friends with Jack Bagford. He was a professor in the department and specialized in the teaching of reading. He authored several books and was nationally know for his expertise. He, too, was an arrowhead hunter and joined us once when we hunted. I took a couple classes from him before I took any from Shepardson. I really became intrigued about the teaching of reading and couldn’t get enough of it.

I decided to make my focus general elementary education with an emphasis on reading. I didn’t think I would ever be a school administrator so I didn’t take any courses in that area until much later.