u/Selkraps13

Howdy!

I’m currently looking into grad schools for a masters (or even certificate) in education and am interested in TAMU because I live in College Station and fucking hate driving to Huntsville (Sam is another place I’m looking).

I noticed while fucking around on the application portal for an M.ED in Curriculum and Instruction there is an option for both onsite and online.

1. From my understanding the program is meant to be delivered both ways. So why is it one or the other? Is there an ALL online version?
2. Does it really matter what I apply for? If I choose the online option, will I be unable to register for onsite courses? Will I be expected to do most of everything onsite if I applied for that?

I was really hoping for a mix of both (and was expecting that from the description on the degree site). I did all online at Sam for my undergrad and really missed/regretted not having an in-person education experience but I can guarantee there will still probably be a course (or a few) I will want to do online for reasons of time and convenience; even if I do live right in town.

I know what I DONT wanna teach, but Im still pretty split on what I do want to do. I don’t want to do math or science. I think I COULD do ELA but am leaning away from it. I am probably most geared for social studies/history subjects but don’t want to do sports or anything touching middle school. I did do some EC-6 as a sub and while it was VERY challenging (kindergartners, man) it was also very fun and felt rewarding. All in all, I think I would want to do EC-4th (4th was my favorite). If I were to go higher, I would want to do social studies. I think I could do high school but only social studies or some elective like AVID or yearbook. Maybe even art, but I would DEFINITELY wanna do some courses on that outside of teacher certification.

What is really getting me though is figuring out what certification program I should look into. For the time being, I am stuck in Bryan/College Station and cannot relocate so anything will have to be online if not available here in College Station or close by near Huntsville or Prairie View. But when I look at the EPP map explorer, I only see so many options near me then once I start plugging in certification areas Im even more limited (like art EC-12 is apparently in San Antonio only???)

Are the programs for some categories really so limited that you need specific programs or are these a lot more general than I think they are? Will most of these offer online options or am I just SOL for certain subjects if Im not willing to relocate or travel for the program? Do I need to be more decisive on what I wanna do exactly or is there any general program that would be a great starting point?

If it helps change anything, I DO have a bachelor’s (SHSU Political Science). From my understanding, this DOES make it a bit easier for some certifications depending on the major and subject (I think???). Depending on the subject, though, I would still want to do a full certification program.

((On a side note of why I wanna avoid ELA- I have a solid grasp but I am not perfect. I know the rules but often times need to remind myself or brush up on them. Sometimes I have to google a grammar/punctuation rule to check myself when I’m unsure. For some reason I’ve always just assumed English teachers had to have perfect mastery of reading and writing. I’m good but far from perfect.))