Reflection:

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As I look back on my Master's degree here at Michigan State I do so with mixed emotions.  In 2008 this started as a
Graduate Certificate in Coaching Education that was going to be used to assist me in my volunteer position as a sports administrator.  In the first course in the program, "The Psychosocial Basis of Sport",  I had to complete my first online exam.  It had been 20 years since I completed my undergraduate degree so I raced home from work, got online and was readyto go.  I had spent maybe 20 minutes on the exam and had read the warning from Dr. Ewing not to mistaken the "send" button for "save" and guess what?  I sent my exam and it was not even one third complete!   Things had nowhere to go but "up" from there and they did with the Legal and Administrative Issues in Sport.  The third course in the concentration area was the Physical Basis of Coaching and this course was difficult initially becasue of the knowledge needed in anatomy.  Dr. Eugene Brown was very influential in getting me to continue working at this course until I did understand what was going on and I was succesful.   I completed the certificate after the summer session in 2009 and had to take a hiatus from continuing my education because of a potential takeover at my place of employment.​

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At the same time I had begun a part time professorship at a local community college in our area. I was teaching two courses in the Police Foundations program, Abnormal Psychology and Traffic Management.  One thing I have always been able to do is take my education and use it in whatever I do and this was no different.  I took the knowledge I gained with the coaching courses and used them when I was teaching.  Athletes learn best by "doing" and I learned after some failures using the traditional teaching approach, so did my adult learners.  Without knowing it I had implemented an active learning approach in my classroom and now I was starting to enjoy this.​

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In 2010 I began to look around for Master's programs in Canada and I was unable to find anything because I would
have to attend on campus full time.  This was not possible for me so I began to look at the United States and the United Kingdom for alternatives.  I needed something that could work around my 12 hour shifts and I wanted to attend a reputable University.  I had always wanted to attend Michigan State University and in the fall of 2010 I applied.    ​
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Accepted into the Master of Arts in Education Program at Michigan State!​

In the spring of 2011, I was accepted into the Master of Arts in Education program!  The first course in the program
was ED 800, Concepts of Educational Inquiry with Nate Clason.  Nate was amazing, he was inspirational and he had quite a gift for writing; this was even inherent in his critiques.  His passion seemed to flow through the computer to me and I felt compelled to think philosophically again and started to enjoy writing myself.  Each type of inquiry we studied seemed to outdo the last and have more influence on me.  I felt like a kid in a candy store, I just could not get enough!  I began to link my experience at work and at the College to coaching, teaching and learning and my philosophy of teaching started to evolve and change shape.​​

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With each course in my program my hunger for learning increased, I learned about best practices in the  ​

classroom in CEP 883, the Psychology of Classroom Discipline during the summer of 2011with Dr. Fedewa.  This course provided me with management techniques grounded in research to help deal with discipline problems in

the classroom.  I learned about the power of using self-reflection in this course and what an advantage this has been to my own teaching and learning.  Dr. Fedewa had us reflect on the “big idea” in the module’s readings and explain ​how we would incorporate these into our own classroom.  This was a great learning strategy for me as a teacher and it paralleled what I would do in my profession as a police officer.​

During the fall of 2011 I began my second concentration area in my Master’s program with a course in Adult
learning.  EAD 861 was the first course in a professional development program taught by Dr. William Arnold.  I
enjoyed this course immensely as it provided me with an understanding of why it was different to teach adults.
This was pertinent to my work with adults of varying ages at the college level.  This was my first introduction to
using a needs assessment in the classroom to have a basic knowledge of my students from the onset.   Now the
Jane Vella (2002) text has become a staple in my teaching tool box as well as my learning one.  As I mentioned
previously, my own problems in the classroom using the traditional method of teaching had led me to use what I
now recognize as active learning techniques.  I learned in this course that adult learners learn better by “doing”

so my practice was reinforced.  I have begun to facilitate learning by listening to my students and learning myself.​

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My next step took me into the second course in the program in the spring of 2012, Teaching in Postsecondary
Education EAD 866 taught by Dr. Ann Austin.   One of the most interesting and useful things I have done in this
program was in this class.  Our assignment was to observe and interview a colleague in the classroom and what a
learning experience that was.  The power of observation is incredible and the situation I observed that day was
potentially disastrous.  The other professor that my colleague co-taught with had already covered the material ​

he was supposed to teach and he was in a position where he had to regroup very quickly.  My colleague had planned to play a video at the start of class which he did but it was obvious he was stressed about what had just occurred.  My colleague like most of the others at our college uses the traditional method of lecturing and

covering content to the syllabus.  The video brought up several questions and although I did not want to step on toes I reluctantly offered some advice.  He ended up using that video to tie into the course material and it initiated

a considerable amount of discussion.   My colleague and the students became so passionate and they all

advised it was the best class they had ever had.  It was incredible to watch this unfold right in front of me, he learned, the students learned and ultimately so did I.
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In the summer of 2012, the third course in the professional concentration area was EAD 877 Program Planning and
Evaluation of Postsecondary Education.  This course was also taught by Dr. William Arnold.  Again, this course

was relevant to my personal teaching situation.  In the fall of 2011 some of the faculty at my campus had discussion about a mock disaster that had occurred at the main campus of our college.  We talked about the fact

it would be nice to participate in something similar and I decided that may be possible in our small Township.  My husband and I approached the Township Fire Chief and asked if he would be willing to participate in it and he turned us down initially.  After telling him I would do the work he reluctantly agreed and his Volunteer Fire​

Fighters would participate.  He also advised he would contact EMS and have them involved.  Since this was predominantly for the students we used all of our Police Foundations students as the police, Nursing students​

as nurses, hairdressing students did the injuries and makeup and the new EMS recruits and the volunteer fire fighters would get some extra training.  None of the active players would have any knowledge of the scenarios

and this was a daylong event.  The day was fun filled but it did not go without some problems, fortunately none

of them would have impacted the participants they were felt by organizers.  In this course we presented the program plan that we had and revised it.  This will definitely be beneficial if we ever run the program again or in

any future programs that we may plan. ​​

On a personal note​

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During the summer of 2012 my daughter participated in the MSU Cross Country Camp.  I was fortunate during my
short stay in East Lansing to meet Dr. Arnold in person.  My husband, Al, my son Andrew and I were able to share​

an ice cream with Dr. Arnold at the MSU dairy store.  It was such an honour to meet Dr. Arnold and the encouragement he had provided to me during our meetings online and on chat were incomparable to the

incentive he provided to me in person.
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Back to my journey​

During the fall of 2012 I took a fourth course in the Coaching concentration, KIN 857, Promoting Positive Youth
Development in Sport with Dr. Daniel Gould.  This course has been and still is helpful to my husband and myself

in our distance running club as well as parents to our own children who participate in sports through their high
school and hopefully University endeavours.  This course has assisted us in trying to ensure the professionalism

in youth sports does not become a problem with our athletes.  We try to keep our practices fun and include

some life lessons so the knowledge can be multidisciplinary.​

Presently I am taking the Capstone course and this is the second last class in my program.  Although I am not
technologically inclined I have been able to adjust to much of the necessary technology of today with the laptop,
record management systems, smart phones, smart boards and the use of things like Power Point and Prezi.  We
discussed the benefits and disadvantages in Concepts of Educational Inquiry, however; it was not until I began

this course I got a real taste of technology creating my own online portfolio.  I would never have believed at the start of this journey I would be capable of completing something like this in such a short period of time. ​

Perception​​

Although I still have one elective to complete this is the final reflection on all I have learned so far in my journey
here at MSU.  I have been taught to learn, enjoy working in groups, reflect, write and listen to my colleagues,
students and athletes.  These characteristics have brought me closer to understanding why we teach.  I have
also changed my perception of learning as I now know anyone can learn to teach if they want to.  I have also
learned that one can get a quality education in the right online program.  I am so thankful that I completed an
intense investigation prior to applying to University.  I am very proud to be a Michigan State student!  The online

environment has made it possible for me to continue my studies and complete this Master’s Program.  I will be
honest; I was unsure whether the online environment would provide a quality educational experience.  It has
been practical and I have been able to work it around my full time and part time employment.  I have found that
one is still involved in relationships and the use of Skype, chat and e-mail keep discourse open.  The only

difference I have found in online education is the student must be more self-motivated.  If that is the case, the online MAED program is for you and I can tell you definitively it does not compromise the quality of education.​
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As I look back it is interesting that I would pursue this avenue of education.  Most of my police expertise is in the area of collision investigation.  One of the most important factors in collision investigation is the “point of possible
perception”.  This is the point where one can perceive a potential situation or hazard.  For me, this is the point

ahead where I can see a new beginning or junction, the place where my focus changes from policing to teaching.  My hope is that intersection is getting closer and that perception is reality.​

Volition​

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So you may ask, what is next?  I know that this is not the end of my journey, in a sense it is only the beginning.  It​

is time to take a break to see where I will go from here.  I know I either want to complete another Master’s degree

or go on to complete a PhD.  I also know I want to leave my profession of Policing and begin a full time career in teaching. You might also ask why I said this journey has is full of mixed emotions?  I will miss my time here at Michigan State, it has been a great experience for me.  Having completed an undergraduate degree on campus

in Canada and this online degree here at MSU there is no difference, in the end, it still feels the same, I am

sad that it is over.  I will soldier on and look for the next intersection.  I will continue to learn along the way ​as I am

forever a lifelong learner.​