It's been ages since I've had a chance to create a new post! As my New Year's Resolution, I am going to try to post at least once a month... if possible, once a week.
Well, since my last post several things have happened:
1. I received a group of students unlike any other group I've taught! I thought I was going to lose my mind for an hour, but I've finally gotten it all worked out. Let's hope the Winter Holidays didn't undo all of my hard work. I'll address exactly what I did in a post later this month.
2. I've developed a profound relationship with my National Board Standards and Portfolio Entries.
3. I am absolutely in awe of Sean McCarthy, Joanna Murray, and Ellie Pike! These are the knowledgeable, wonderful people from National University's Professional Development Teaching Center. If you are going through the National Board process or considering going through the process check out their website at nbctwave.org. Another post will be dedicated to NBCTWave soon.
4. I was named my schools 2012-2013 Teacher of the Year! What an honor!!
I hope you all are well! Thank you for those of you who have sent comments! I also appreciate the followers I have! Please keep your comments and questions coming.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Monday, July 16, 2012
Beginning Entry 4
Most people say that you should start Entry 4 first. However, there are those that say you shouldn't. I happen to believe that beginning Entry 4 first is a wise choice, especially if you are working on this doing the summer.
Here's why:
1. You don't actually need students to begin writing this entry. Most of this entry will come from your past work.
2. If you find that you are weak in one of the three areas (leader/collaborator, learner, partner with communities and families), you can come up with a plan over the summer and begin it immediately when the new school year starts.
3. Getting as much of this entry out of the way as early as possible can help you focus on your video recordings and written analysis of those once school starts.
4. Entry 4 is the same for almost all of the certification areas. Therefore, you will have support from others who may be in a different certification area.
So, here's how you begin Entry 4:
1. Read your standards and the scoring guide for Entry 4. Also browse any National Board Online Support Groups that you have joined or visit and read past posts related to Entry 4. Start you a Q and A document so that you can refer back to it later once you begin to write (If you leave a comment on my blog, I will gladly send you the document I created from reading the numerous groups). The point of this step is to understand what you are expected to do so that the other steps will be easier to complete.
2.Make a list of all of the things you have done during the last five years. This can be serving on a committee, team teaching, starting a reading club, sending home parent surveys, whatever. Next to each activity, I wrote whether the activity showed me as a learner, leader/collaborator, or partner with families and communities.
3. At this point, see if you notice that you don't have a lot of one area or too much of another. Make a note of this as it will be useful for your reflection. Also, you want to plan what you can do when the school year begins to address areas that you don't have that many activities in.
4. Think about each activity and which one shows a CLEAR IMPACT ON STUDENT LEARNING!!!!! This is very important because you can't use the activity (no matter how great it is) if it doesn't change your students' learning. Something else that I have read is that the activities should be above and beyond what other teachers in your school are doing.
5. Narrow your list down to the top 8. Even though you are narrowing your list down to the top 8, mostly everyone recommends that you only focus on 4-5 accomplishments in the end.
6. Think about and list the evidence that you will have to show student impact for each of your 8 choices.
7. Set-up your margins and headings for each of the accomplishments you plan on writing about. See your Portfolio Instructions for how to do this. Another useful piece of advice that I received and read many times was to type the three questions that you are supposed to answer in one color so that you can make sure you address what the scorers will be looking for.
8. Begin typing your accomplishments. There is lots of advice on how your accomplishments should be set-up and the percentage of space that should be devoted to each (If you leave a comment, I will send you the attachment that I compiled from various boards and resources to help you organize your writing.).
9. After you have written one or two see if you can find a NBCT to read your accomplishments to make sure you are on the right track.
10. Once you receive feedback, edit, and then move on to your other accomplishments.
11. Once you have finished all of the accomplishments you can write about for now, be sure that you have everything in place to address any areas that were weak and to begin your partners with families and communities activities that must be from the current school year.
12. Put Entry 4 aside for a little while.
On Tuesday, I have my Splash Start Orientation Online with National University. Stay tuned for my next post about the orientation. I'm super excited to see what's in store for me!
Here's why:
1. You don't actually need students to begin writing this entry. Most of this entry will come from your past work.
2. If you find that you are weak in one of the three areas (leader/collaborator, learner, partner with communities and families), you can come up with a plan over the summer and begin it immediately when the new school year starts.
3. Getting as much of this entry out of the way as early as possible can help you focus on your video recordings and written analysis of those once school starts.
4. Entry 4 is the same for almost all of the certification areas. Therefore, you will have support from others who may be in a different certification area.
So, here's how you begin Entry 4:
1. Read your standards and the scoring guide for Entry 4. Also browse any National Board Online Support Groups that you have joined or visit and read past posts related to Entry 4. Start you a Q and A document so that you can refer back to it later once you begin to write (If you leave a comment on my blog, I will gladly send you the document I created from reading the numerous groups). The point of this step is to understand what you are expected to do so that the other steps will be easier to complete.
2.Make a list of all of the things you have done during the last five years. This can be serving on a committee, team teaching, starting a reading club, sending home parent surveys, whatever. Next to each activity, I wrote whether the activity showed me as a learner, leader/collaborator, or partner with families and communities.
3. At this point, see if you notice that you don't have a lot of one area or too much of another. Make a note of this as it will be useful for your reflection. Also, you want to plan what you can do when the school year begins to address areas that you don't have that many activities in.
4. Think about each activity and which one shows a CLEAR IMPACT ON STUDENT LEARNING!!!!! This is very important because you can't use the activity (no matter how great it is) if it doesn't change your students' learning. Something else that I have read is that the activities should be above and beyond what other teachers in your school are doing.
5. Narrow your list down to the top 8. Even though you are narrowing your list down to the top 8, mostly everyone recommends that you only focus on 4-5 accomplishments in the end.
6. Think about and list the evidence that you will have to show student impact for each of your 8 choices.
7. Set-up your margins and headings for each of the accomplishments you plan on writing about. See your Portfolio Instructions for how to do this. Another useful piece of advice that I received and read many times was to type the three questions that you are supposed to answer in one color so that you can make sure you address what the scorers will be looking for.
8. Begin typing your accomplishments. There is lots of advice on how your accomplishments should be set-up and the percentage of space that should be devoted to each (If you leave a comment, I will send you the attachment that I compiled from various boards and resources to help you organize your writing.).
9. After you have written one or two see if you can find a NBCT to read your accomplishments to make sure you are on the right track.
10. Once you receive feedback, edit, and then move on to your other accomplishments.
11. Once you have finished all of the accomplishments you can write about for now, be sure that you have everything in place to address any areas that were weak and to begin your partners with families and communities activities that must be from the current school year.
12. Put Entry 4 aside for a little while.
On Tuesday, I have my Splash Start Orientation Online with National University. Stay tuned for my next post about the orientation. I'm super excited to see what's in store for me!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Getting a Head Start
Since it's official that I will be pursuing National Board Certification, I decided to get a head start to save myself some stress later. This has been as simple as going to one website/group, reading the posts, and connecting with others from there.
These are the free resources that I located (in this order):
1. I joined the National Board Group on LinkedIn and have started forming connections with people that are NBCTs.
2. One of my connections from the group works at National University and gave me information about online support.
3. From that contact, I joined the website www.nuptdc.org. I became a member of the Alliance of National Board EDGEucators, which opens up another realm of support for candidates.
4. From the website above, I found out I would have access to online resources and support. I registered for a Splash Start Orientation that will be online. If you are in the California area there are on campus locations, as well.
5. I joined a Yahoo Group for my certification area (Exceptional Needs Specialist). There are also groups for other certification areas.
6. I joined the National Board group on Facebook. There was useful information there from WhatWorks and I followed her advice in the posts. WhatWorks also has an inexpensive book out titled: What Works: Successful Strategies for Pursuing National Board Certification by Bobbie Faulkner.
7. I visit the Iris Room on www.proteacher.com. I have been reviewing old posts and soaking up the advice. WhatWorks is also a National Board mentor and frequent poster on this site. She really goes above and beyond to help candidates out. You can definitely trust her advice. She will even communicate with you by email and offer advice and resources.
Be sure to stay tuned for my next post about Beginning Entry 4.
These are the free resources that I located (in this order):
1. I joined the National Board Group on LinkedIn and have started forming connections with people that are NBCTs.
2. One of my connections from the group works at National University and gave me information about online support.
3. From that contact, I joined the website www.nuptdc.org. I became a member of the Alliance of National Board EDGEucators, which opens up another realm of support for candidates.
4. From the website above, I found out I would have access to online resources and support. I registered for a Splash Start Orientation that will be online. If you are in the California area there are on campus locations, as well.
5. I joined a Yahoo Group for my certification area (Exceptional Needs Specialist). There are also groups for other certification areas.
6. I joined the National Board group on Facebook. There was useful information there from WhatWorks and I followed her advice in the posts. WhatWorks also has an inexpensive book out titled: What Works: Successful Strategies for Pursuing National Board Certification by Bobbie Faulkner.
7. I visit the Iris Room on www.proteacher.com. I have been reviewing old posts and soaking up the advice. WhatWorks is also a National Board mentor and frequent poster on this site. She really goes above and beyond to help candidates out. You can definitely trust her advice. She will even communicate with you by email and offer advice and resources.
Be sure to stay tuned for my next post about Beginning Entry 4.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
The Beginnings: National Board Certification and Blogging!
I've been thinking about starting a blog for at least the last year, but I never knew quite where to begin or what to write about. Sure I have plenty of things to say (as you'll find out), but who's going to listen to me?
Any hoo... about two weeks ago, I received a call saying that I would receive funding to pursue National Board Certification! So for the last two weeks, I've been searching high and low to find resources to help me survive the experience. I've read all sorts of horror stories, but I've also come across some resources that are truly amazing. However, resources that are targeted towards my certification area: Exceptional Needs Specialist - Early Childhood to Young Adult: Mild - Moderate are EXTREMELY limited.
Then it came to me! Why not start my blog talking about my journey in pursuing National Board Certification. It is my hope that this blog will inspire others who are going through the process and will serve as somewhat of a resource center. If you keep reading my blog - you will find out that I am VERY, VERY resourceful. In the beginning the blog will focus on National Board, but I will add instructional materials as I go along.
Enough for now! (I like to talk, if you haven't noticed!) Check back soon for my first list of resources to get you started on your journey.
Any hoo... about two weeks ago, I received a call saying that I would receive funding to pursue National Board Certification! So for the last two weeks, I've been searching high and low to find resources to help me survive the experience. I've read all sorts of horror stories, but I've also come across some resources that are truly amazing. However, resources that are targeted towards my certification area: Exceptional Needs Specialist - Early Childhood to Young Adult: Mild - Moderate are EXTREMELY limited.
Then it came to me! Why not start my blog talking about my journey in pursuing National Board Certification. It is my hope that this blog will inspire others who are going through the process and will serve as somewhat of a resource center. If you keep reading my blog - you will find out that I am VERY, VERY resourceful. In the beginning the blog will focus on National Board, but I will add instructional materials as I go along.
Enough for now! (I like to talk, if you haven't noticed!) Check back soon for my first list of resources to get you started on your journey.
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