Application- check!

Last week, I went to an information meeting in my school district to earn an Early Childhood/ bi-lingual Special Education Graduate Certificate.  This is a program through George Washington University and is 18 credits... and is completely paid for!  Half of the program is paid through by my county's tuition reimbursement program and the other half is paid for through a grant by the government.  The catch is I have to be sure to have students with IEPs in my classroom for at least 2 out of the next four years or work with teachers who work with special education students.

I definitely don't think it will be hard for me to meet the IEP requirements in my classroom and if I were to be become a staff development teacher- I would certainly be working with teachers who teach special education students. 

The other plus to the program is- it's online and there is a stipend for books so I'm basically just paying the application fee.  I am required to meet face-to-face one to two times each semester at a school in our county and for an orientation next August at GW.   The plus would be I would be on my way to my Masters +60 and I would have certifications in both Special Education and ESOL, assuming I pass both of those Praxis tests. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  I have a friend at school who got into a fully funded autism program and there were over 130 applicants for 23 slots.  I have no idea how many people will apply for this one but here's to hoping!