Saturday, June 25, 2011
Yikes! Here I go.. wish me luck!
attribution: BN.com
My hope is that documenting the process will help other teacher seeking certification who are as anxious as I am. It's my way of paying it forward to those who have encouraged me along the way. Before I begin, I want to give a shout out to three wonderful teachers who have inspired me to begin this process, Mrs. Fox, Mrs. Conklin, Mrs. Hicks and Mrs. Hewett. Without the four of you there is no telling if I would have ever build up enough courage to started this process. Let me start by by saying that this year, I drove my colleagues nuts about their experience taking National Boards. Before school would start we would sit in my "book nook" and talk about it. I would interrupt their lunch to ask them even more questions and now that school is out, I just go to their house during their 31 Party and aggravate them (sorry Foxy :) ) I am grateful to have such great friends to help support me. In teaching it is easy to be competitive with scores, bulletin boards, accomplishments etc. but in my circle, we are each others biggest supporters. Information about educational leadership programs is available for teachers who are looking to advance their knowledge in school leadership fields. Professional development is an important aspect of our field.
So far I have read, The Teacher's Guide To National Board Certification by Adrienne Mack-Kirschner (which has been a big help) and spent hours reading ProTeacher Iris Room message board (thanks Mrs. Mc @little literacy learners for that tip). I copied my teaching license and sent it in to make sure that I am eligible before I invest too much money or time. I have also looked at Entry 4 and began making a list of my accomplishments. For those of you who have not started the process, Entry 4 is all about documenting you accomplishments and how those accomplishments have had impact on your students learning. That has been difficult for me. I can rattle off my accomplishments, but to be honest its hard to make a strong connection between them and student learning. I know there is a connection ... but I'm drawing a blank :) I hope that my journaling about this process is helpful to others as well.
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Good luck! I missed it on my first try by 30 points, so I redid 3 portfolio entries this past year. Now I'm anxiously awaiting the results again! It's a great learning experience and I'm glad that I made the investment. I'm excited to read about your journey through the process. Which certificate are you getting?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, I am thinking about doing literacy. I am sure you will do fine. Have you taken the test? I am most worried about that :(
ReplyDeleteYay! Good for you! Here is the link for the yahoo group for literacy that I mentioned in your previous post: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/early_middleliteracy/
ReplyDeleteI am here if you have any questions or need any feedback!! Please do not hesitate to contact me! ;o)
Take care!
And Busy Logan-good luck to you!!
~ Mrs. Mc
Little Literacy Learners
Congrats to you! I have thought about getting my National Cert so many times but have always changed my mind or gotten to busy to do it. Still kinda scares me...but I am REALLY looking forward to reading about your experience! Maybe it will finally encourage me to do it :)
ReplyDeleteCurls and a Smile
Thank you all for the love :) I love blogging because of the support from teachers like yall. Keep me in your prayers :)
ReplyDeleteMs. Morgart...I am very nervous too. But after reading a little I feel better about it. I am sure you would do great!
I had a professor in college who had her National Board certification, and ever since then, I have made that one of my professional goals! I'm really looking forward to reading your journey. Thanks for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteMagnificent Multiagers!
I did the Early Childhood Generalist license. I actually scored better on most of the tests, so I decided to focus my energies on the retake for portfolio entries since I had planned on having a student teacher doing her solo requirements in the Spring. I ended up having 2 student teachers in the Spring, so it was even more time for me to work on my portfolio! Good luck with it! I'd recommend putting a video camera in your room at least once a week during the block of time you'd most likely be teaching your video lessons so the students get used to the camera. It really helped for them to know that cameras in the classroom were "normal" before I taped the lesson I wanted to submit!
ReplyDeleteI am interested in pursuing this in the future also so I look forward to following your progress! Best of luck :)
ReplyDeleteGood Luck! I did mine last year. It was well worth the journey. Start video taping early before you need it to count.
ReplyDeleteI am thrilled that you will be journaling about your experience! It has been 9 years since I certified so I am getting ready to redo my boards and I just know you will do great! I can tell how much you love your kids, sharing and your job just by reading your blog! When I began the process I was in my 2nd year of masters classes. A group of us decided to go ahead and do both!...well, I had to bank my scores-meaning I missed certification by 13 points. I couldn't decide whether to do 2 or 1 entry so I redid 2 entries and I certified easily! The day I got the email saying Congratulations, you are a National Board certified teacher was one of the most awesome days of my life! Anyway, even if you had to redo, don't worry, I will be glad to help you in any way I can........it has been so long since I certified, I hope I remember! LOL, best wishes! Here is my email:
ReplyDeletekellybrown28021@gmail.com
Busy in Kindergarten!