This conversation was a "spin-off" of a discussion about
teachers examining student work and their own lessons to improve teaching
and learning. Please contribute if you have National Board experience or
want to know more about the process (see link at bottom).
Have any of you participated in the National Board of Professional Teaching
Standards certification process? It gives you a great chance to look at
your student work. Just going through the process allows you to shape &
polish your teaching strategies and your activities. You can learn so much
by analyzing student work... well worth the effort!
Greta Heady
Meyzeek MS
Louisville
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Greta and friends...
I know that Kathy Renfrew on our list is NB-certified, so she can speak
to this. Others?
Not too long ago, I ran across this webpage, which might be of interest
to folks on the list who are thinking about NB certification:
MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER NBPTS PORTFOLIO
http://www.gse.uci.edu/nbc/portfolioshtml/Valeryhenry/nbportfoliosvhenry.html
Valerie Henry teaches 7th and 8th grade math in Irvine, California. She
has a B.A. in mathematics from the University of California, Davis and has
been teaching for fifteen years. Valerie has developed a teacher portfolio
as a requirement for the National Board for Professional Teaching certification.
She works with the California Math Project and the California Math Renaissance.
(Includes a videoclip interview with Valerie Henry about the process and
the contents of six "entries" required by NBPTS in HTML format.)
John Norton
Listserv Scout
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I teach 6th grade in IL and am also a national board certified teacher since
1996. I have been very interested in the information on evaluating student
work and teaming. I grew professionally during the NBPTS process and am
always "hungry" for more growth. Thanks to all of you.
Georgiean Benson
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In response to today's conversation about NBPTS certification, these recent
articles may be of interest:
A Measure of Respect (Washington Post) By Jay Mathews Page A11, Oct 10,
2000
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39492-2000Oct9.html
Carol Horn had little idea what she was getting into in 1994 when she decided
to become a nationally certified teacher. No one knew much about the program
back then, and she was shocked to find herself spending many weeknights
and weekends preparing the required portfolio.
Effort to Recruit Math, Science Teachers Urged (Education Week) By David
J. Hoff, Oct 3, 2000
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3923-2000Oct3.html
The nation must launch an all-out effort to recruit and retain talented
mathematics and science teachers on the same grand scale it did during the
space race a generation ago, a federal panel declared last week.
Kris Kurtenbach
NOTE: You can investigate the National Board certification process in depth
at the NBPTS website, which includes
interviews with teachers who have completed the process, information about
states that offer teacher grants and supplements for completing the process,
and more:
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Greta Heady wrote: "Have any of you participated in the National Board
of Professional Teaching Standards certification process? It gives you a
great chance to look at your student work. Just going through the process
allows you to shape & polish your teaching strategies and your activities.
You can learn so much by analyzing student work... well worth the effort!"
I want to ditto Greta's remark about looking at student work by going through
this process. I did go through the process and last November received the
news that I was a National Board certified teacher. I learned soo much going
through that process that I believe strongly that it was the most powerful,
valuable professional development that in which I have been involved. And
let me tell you I have been involved in a lot in the last 25 years or so.
I had to plan, teach and analyze student work in math, science, social studies
and writing. I did a portfolio entry for each of those subjects.
In the test, I looked at and analyzed work in reading (3rd grade) and science(4th
grade). I had to do three additional portfolio entries besides those mentioned
earlier. They were Building Classroom Community, Outreach to Parents and
Community and Collaboration with Colleagues.
On the test there was also a section on social studies (5th grade) and health
(6th grade)
Just last week I went back and reread my portfolio. I thought to myself
that I needed to begin to look at student work that closely again. I would
give myself more time as that was a pretty intense period of my life.
What I should do is get out the requirements for each piece especially the
questions that you are asked to consider about each piece of student work
you include in your entry.
Oh, BTW, I am called a Middle Childhood Generalist (8-12 years old)
Again, I want to say, whether you achieve certification or not the process
is worth it!
Kathy Renfrew
Vermont
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This year I'm working on the portfolio entries required for National Board
Certification. Much of the entries require detailed analysis of student
work. Is anyone else on the list a National Board Candidate? I find the
process very challenging and am (mostly) enjoying the rigors. I truly feel
it will make me a better teacher.
Satinder Hawkins
Rogers Middle School
Long Beach, CA