Jacob Zalkind

M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership (online)

I recently completed the M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership at University of Delaware while working at a Maryland high school where I teach physics and serve as the lead teacher of its STEM academy. The flexibility of this first-rate online program allowed me to earn a master’s degree while simultaneously teaching full-time and earning credits for my teaching re-certification. 

UD’s Teacher Leadership program prepares teachers on how to assume leadership roles and positions. Most of the colleges and universities with which my school system partners are geared toward training school administrators, but that is not the career path that I am interested in. I want to help teachers be excellent teachers, help them find their voices and become leaders in their own schools and districts.

The online format of UD’s Teacher Leadership program was highly collaborative and engaging. Professors were in contact with me and my fellow students on a regular basis and made themselves available if we needed guidance or advice.

The professors also fostered a strong sense of community within their classes. One of the main ways we collaborated was through discussion posts, where we were required to provide feedback and responses to our peers and colleagues in class. Even though I was not meeting with my peers every day and sitting with them in a classroom, I could still talk with them, hear what they had to say and listen to their feedback as though we were in a traditional classroom setting.

My career goals and interests were uniquely influenced and strongly supported by the M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership program where I learned what it means to be a teacher leader, in what ways I can assume a leadership role as a teacher and how this can be used to improve myself and the other teachers around me.