What are you going to school for at Northern Illinois University (NIU)?
Master of Arts in Teaching plus ELL endorsement
What year are you in school? (freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior)
It’s my 5th semester,
Why did you decide to go to school at NIU?
I worked as a teacher in Poland for 12 years. When I immigrated to the U.S., it was obvious to me that I needed to start going to school and obtain a teaching certificate in order to be able to get a “normal” job. The Board of Education gave me a credit for my Bachelor degree, I could also apply for a deficiency letter, and if I did, I wouldn’t have to take all classes which I do now. However, I decided to complete the MAT program, and get a degree from an American university, so there wouldn’t be any doubts concerning my education. I chose NIU because the tuition was cheaper comparing to other universities and the NIU campus is really close to my house.
How much English did you know when you moved …show more content…
In America, when you go to college, you write a lot. In Poland we don’t write so much, so I’m simply not get used to writing reflections and take part in online discussions, etc.; it sometimes doesn’t make any sense to me and I view it as a waste of time. So, this aspect is more difficult. However, when we have exams, our professors always give us some study guides, which makes preparations for the exam much easier. In Poland that was unthinkable that my professors did something like that. I never knew what the content would be on the test and we had to learn everything. That was harsh and a huge waste of time. Also, in Poland, most of the projects and assignments were made individually, while here many of the projects are based on the group work. That’s a pain for me because I prefer to work individually – it’s a part of my personality, but also the groups I have had so far, consisted of very irresponsible people and I always had to do more than
Master of Arts in Teaching plus ELL endorsement
What year are you in school? (freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior)
It’s my 5th semester,
Why did you decide to go to school at NIU?
I worked as a teacher in Poland for 12 years. When I immigrated to the U.S., it was obvious to me that I needed to start going to school and obtain a teaching certificate in order to be able to get a “normal” job. The Board of Education gave me a credit for my Bachelor degree, I could also apply for a deficiency letter, and if I did, I wouldn’t have to take all classes which I do now. However, I decided to complete the MAT program, and get a degree from an American university, so there wouldn’t be any doubts concerning my education. I chose NIU because the tuition was cheaper comparing to other universities and the NIU campus is really close to my house.
How much English did you know when you moved …show more content…
In America, when you go to college, you write a lot. In Poland we don’t write so much, so I’m simply not get used to writing reflections and take part in online discussions, etc.; it sometimes doesn’t make any sense to me and I view it as a waste of time. So, this aspect is more difficult. However, when we have exams, our professors always give us some study guides, which makes preparations for the exam much easier. In Poland that was unthinkable that my professors did something like that. I never knew what the content would be on the test and we had to learn everything. That was harsh and a huge waste of time. Also, in Poland, most of the projects and assignments were made individually, while here many of the projects are based on the group work. That’s a pain for me because I prefer to work individually – it’s a part of my personality, but also the groups I have had so far, consisted of very irresponsible people and I always had to do more than