We all know that teachers who earn a master's degree earn up to about 8-10 thousand $ more a year. My question is are most of you going straight into the field after graduating or are some of you going to go ahead and get your master's degree? What do you think are the advantages/disadvantages to taking either route? Just curious to what you all have to say on this! Personally I think I will want to get the experience of being in the classroom a few years before even thinking about going back to school.

My Block teachers and advisor told me NOT to get my masters right after my bachelor degree. If you are getting a masters in a given content area such as History it just deepens the understanding of the subject. I want to get my master is education or school administration. I have had professors tell me that if I get my masters too soon it would not do many any good. Many masters programs rely on experience and it is hard to elaborate and give examples with no classroom experience. I do plan on getting my masters (and anything else that will let me make more money)!

I am getting my masters, but only after I have been teaching for a good while. I am getting my bachelor degree in elementary education, and I want my masters to be in administration. I want to be a principal some day, but only after gaining experience and truly understanding public education. I want to be able to help make a school a great and fun learning community.

Well, I have talked to teachers from all three levels of schools. They say that if you plan to get your masters at all, you should get it before you go into the field. If not, it is REALLY hard to go back to school and get it. I have a cousin right now who teaches 1st grade. This is her 2nd year teaching. She is getting her masters right now. She says it’s the hardest thing that she wished she would have gotten it before she went into the field. She is working from 7:30 am to 3:30pm and then class from 4-7. By the time she gets home, grades work, do work for her classes, and eats dinner, then its time for bed. She doesn't really have much time for anything else.
I plan to go ahead and get my masters straight out. I am going to substitute teach during that time. That way when I enter the field, I will be full force in the field and not having to worry about schoolwork of my own.

I am planning on getting a masters in school psychology eventually but I have been advised by professors that I should teach a few years first. Also, there are benefits of working in a classroom before going back to school. The school system you work for will fund your schooling plus the experience will only enhance your masters program.
I do agree with Allison that it is difficult to go back but overall, the rewards of having a masters degree is definitely worth it.

Wow, this is something I have been struggling with a lot lately. I am so glad it was brought up! I personally think that I am going to go straight into grad school after graduating. This is due to a variety of factors. First of all I am getting married in June of 2006 (a month after I graduate). Second, I live about four hours away from here and there is not a good university to get my master's in around my hometown. Third, if I go straight through I can hopefully become a Resident Director which would help pay for school and provide free living. I am really involved in ResLife so this option is great for me. I just do not see myself going back to school once I settle in back home in eastern North Carolina, get married, and then have kids or something. I cannot wait to move back closer to my family so I know that if I do not get my masters as soon as I can then it won't happen. There are pros and cons to doing it both ways. I have heard professors tell me benefits to both. I feel like I would be missing out by not having much classroom experience, but I have learned a lot from being a Resident Assistant in a freshman dorm for two years. They are fresh out of high school and that is what I want to teach so that helps me a bit. Either way, getting a Masters will be challenging but will most definently benefit you a lot. And the pay increase is SWEET!

I plan on getting my Masters degree in Administration shortly after I start teaching. My family members who are teachers have all suggested that I get right on it because they said that if I don't do it while I'm young than I probably want ever do it. I don't know if they are right, but that is the plan for me. I want to get a secure job teaching elementary school and once I feel comfortable in my classroom begin working on getting my masters at the University closest to my location. I too would like to eventually become an Elementary school administrative figure.

I think I'm going to wait awhile before I go back to get mine. For one thing, I'm not sure what I want to get it in. Administration, Instructional Technology... or maybe something else. Hopefully once I've been teaching for awhile I'll have a better idea about I would like to go in my career. It also wouldn't hurt to have a school system help pay for it. I know it'll be a lot of work, but hopefully I can handle it.

I personally plan on trying to get my masters soon after I graduate. I am not sure if I will teach a year first or go ahead and jump right into it. I feel that I should get it while I am still in that going to school for myself mentality and not wait and possibly talk myself out of trying to find time to go back to school. My mother and her sisters (all are teachers) have told me to go ahead and get my masters before I have other things to work around such as a family. There are less obstacles to work around for most people right after getting their bachelors.

My "ideal" plan is to work for a few years - hopefully teaching, but i'm also looking at some non-profit organizations - and then get my masters in sociology. Afterwards, I'm looking more directly at teaching at a community college. Like I've said before, sociology is my passion, and that is what I really want to teach, and community college keeps looking like a better option.
But who knows, maybe I'll love teaching high school students and stick with that, but I just don't know right now.

Right now Im at a really tough spot in my life, because Im having a crisis of whether I still want to be a teacher, which is what i have wanted to do since I can remember, or if I want to be a school counselor or school psychologist. If I decide that I really want to do the latter then my choice after I graduate is to move to wilminton and get my master's in psycholgy. However, Im not goin to make any decisions about that until I get more first-hand experience in the schools. Concerning grad school, I think it can be very beneficial, and currently it is becoming a major advantage to have a master's degree over someone with just the standard bachelor's degree. No matter what, having a master's degree will enhance your knowledge and help you further to be a well-rounded person.

I also want to get my master before I start teaching and the only reason being I’m really scared that once I get out I wont came back. The reason I want to get my master’s is because I want to go into administration and you have to have your masters for that. At the same time would if I get my master in administration go into teaching decide I don’t like it then what am I going to do???? I think I’m still undecided.

I plan to wait before I get a masters. Right now, I'm just so tired of being in school. Currently I'm working full-time and taking 13-credit hours and I don't see myself quitting work while working on a masters. I also think that working on my masters during my first year of teaching would be crazy. I do plan on getting it eventually.

I too want to get a master's, but when and in what is another question. I already have my undergraduate degree and soon will be done with the teaching cert. I really am getting to burnt on school that I just want to work for a while. I think after teaching for several years I will have a better idea of what will come next for me in school. I might not even want to stay in teaching. Who knows what life has in store for me. Just take it as it comes and it will be okay.