I have been pursuing National Board Certification since 2016. If you are unfamiliar with who/what they are, it’s a higher-level certification that can earn you Rank 1 status in Kentucky. It’s a portfolio-based submission that is broken down into 4 components. For my area (middle childhood generalist) Component 1 was a test, Component 2 was focused on differentiation and teaching writing, Component 3 is all about planning and teaching strategies, and Component 4 is about Assessment and Professional Growth. You get 3 years to submit all 4 components, which is what I did.
After my initial 3 years of submitting components, I learned that I didn’t pass by 2 points. I was determined to certify so I set out to resubmit Component 3-the one with the lessons and videos. I did a ton of reflecting and research and all was going well until the pandemic hit. I was about to film my final video on the day we learned we were going to be out of school for 2 weeks. That 2 weeks turned into the rest of the school year, so I had to completely create a new Social Studies lesson to teach via Zoom with a few students who volunteered to participate. Low and behold, this did not prove to be the level of teaching that National Board requires, so once again, I didn’t pass by 2 points. I decided to defer the next cycle since we had been a in a combination of A/B hybrid and virtual schedule all school year. Now, after 5 years, I will be submitting for a third time, my National Board Component next spring. In December 2022, I will learn if I finally pass (or not!)
I have gone through so many emotions during these last 5 years. Originally I set out to do this for the money. The rank change plus extra stipend would be enough that I could afford to get a new car. I had my heart set on a new Ford Explorer and was determined to get it. Back then, I already felt like I was National Board material and that it would be a breeze. HA!!! It’s not that it’s particularly hard, per se, but the type of writing required to answer the questions requires a level of analysis that was beyond what I was used to. And in order to be able to write about those things, I had to do those things. The question that always stuck with me was, “Why did you do this thing for this group of students at this time?” That’s not an exact quote but is the basis for each question. It meant that everything I did in my lessons needed to be intentional. Every goal, activity, and assessment after that realization became directly linked to my standards and overall goals for my students. Science is a subject that you could go on and on teaching everything related to a topic (which is what I did at the beginning of my teaching career). Now, I narrow the focus of my lessons to particular Science Practices and use the content as context for understanding phenomena. On my whiteboard, I post the standard we are working on, the topic, the guiding question, and targets. I also made these cards with the Science and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts that I post on the board. At the beginning of each class, I refer to this information and remind students WHY we are doing the activities and what the goal is. I printed these in color on white cardstock and laminated them. I use sticky tack to stick them on my whiteboard. I have included these cards as a free download for you to use as well! Just click below for the file! (There is also a black/white version so you can print on colored cardstock if you don’t have access to a color printer.)
