As you all know, I'm in the process of working on obtaining National Board Certification. My cert area is Early-Middle Childhood Language Arts. The process begins in September and ends in April (with a three year window to retake portions if I don't pass on the first try). I work to submit a 4-entry portfolio in March, and then study and take a three hour exam in April.
Why am I doing this?
1. The state mandates that I continue my education to renew my teaching certificate. The choices are a portfolio project called "Pro-Teach,", or the national board certification. They are similar, however, national boards is significantly more intense.
2. National Board certification earns you a small yearly stipend and renews your teaching certificate for the next ten years.
3. It is considered one of the highest levels of professional development. It is similar to writing a doctoral dissertation, where I use my current students as my practice and prove tirelessly that I am an "accomplished" teacher based on their set of published standards.
Foe:
They claim the average candidate spends between 300 and 400 hours on this process.
As you can imagine, this tremendous amount of time means that lots of things in my life have to give!
My main reason for writing about this is to let you know that what will NOT give is my dedication to providing the best and highest quality education to your kids! It will NOT mean that I sacrifice any time dedicated to my instruction. In fact, I am spending more time on intentional, quality instruction and practices.
It DOES mean that my time planning for and communicating for volunteer need has gone down on the priority list a bit. It DOES mean that updating the website and blogging won' t happen every Monday as it did early in the year.
Friend:
National Board Certification will significantly strengthen my practice as a teacher. I am learning to look at my teaching in new and exciting ways! The state of Washington (and many other states now, too!) will honor my teaching certificate for the next decade.
IT WILL BE ALL OVER IN APRIL :) SEVEN MONTHS IS DO-ABLE! I HAVE TWO MORE YEARS TO REDO PORTIONS OF MY PORTFOLIO SHOULD I NOT PASS ON MY FIRST TRY!
Why am I doing this?
1. The state mandates that I continue my education to renew my teaching certificate. The choices are a portfolio project called "Pro-Teach,", or the national board certification. They are similar, however, national boards is significantly more intense.
2. National Board certification earns you a small yearly stipend and renews your teaching certificate for the next ten years.
3. It is considered one of the highest levels of professional development. It is similar to writing a doctoral dissertation, where I use my current students as my practice and prove tirelessly that I am an "accomplished" teacher based on their set of published standards.
Foe:
They claim the average candidate spends between 300 and 400 hours on this process.
As you can imagine, this tremendous amount of time means that lots of things in my life have to give!
My main reason for writing about this is to let you know that what will NOT give is my dedication to providing the best and highest quality education to your kids! It will NOT mean that I sacrifice any time dedicated to my instruction. In fact, I am spending more time on intentional, quality instruction and practices.
It DOES mean that my time planning for and communicating for volunteer need has gone down on the priority list a bit. It DOES mean that updating the website and blogging won' t happen every Monday as it did early in the year.
Friend:
National Board Certification will significantly strengthen my practice as a teacher. I am learning to look at my teaching in new and exciting ways! The state of Washington (and many other states now, too!) will honor my teaching certificate for the next decade.
IT WILL BE ALL OVER IN APRIL :) SEVEN MONTHS IS DO-ABLE! I HAVE TWO MORE YEARS TO REDO PORTIONS OF MY PORTFOLIO SHOULD I NOT PASS ON MY FIRST TRY!
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