Once I had a really amazing job working with teachers in my district who were pursuing certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. I had 350 candidates in the school district that now has more National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) than any other district in the country. I facilitated workshops for those candidates including how to write reflectively, how to videotape a lesson, how to “pack a box” of submission materials – it was support for teachers that lasted throughout the school year, and I also served as a trouble-shooter, tech assistant, counselor, and friend as those teachers worked to be considered “accomplished” in our profession. It was a great job, one that I really enjoyed, but there was one problem:
I was not National Board Certified myself.
Prior to taking that job in the Office of Continuous Improvement and Professional Development in Wake County Public Schools, I had been a Title I reading teacher in a neighboring district. At that time, there was no certification offered in reading – although it would be added soon after – so I was supporting teachers through a journey that I had not traveled. But I gathered every NBCT I could find and paid close attention to the guidance they provided at our monthly workshops.
As it turned out, I would embark on that journey sooner than later. I had left my hometown school district to take that job in staff development after the Title I funding was pulled from my school. There would be no reading position available the next school year. But I was nervous to travel to a neighboring county every day as my father had recently been diagnosed with a terminal form of bone marrow cancer. He seemed to be stable, though, so I accepted that job and immersed myself in National Board Certification for one school year. Soon it became apparent that I was needed closer to home, and about the same time I came to terms with that, I received a call from my former school: they had a teaching position for me, just a few miles down the road from my parents’ house!
I returned and started the process to become an NBCT immediately! Maybe I could sail right through it, I thought; I’d had an entire year of training while I facilitated workshops. And despite a couple of minor glitches, I found the experience to be positive, even though I wrote most of my entries at my father’s hospital bedside. One of my last memories of him includes the many times he looked over from his hospital bed and asked, “What’s that thing you’re typing on?” (I submitted my entries and videos in March of that year; my Daddy died in September, before I was able to tell him that I certified.)
Becoming a National Board Certified Teacher was everything you’ve heard – it was a year long professional development experience that enabled me to grow as a teacher. Every lesson I planned that year was “bumped up a notch” (or two…or ten), and I looked at every professional development opportunity through a different lens – how would this experience impact student achievement?
National Board Certification put my career on a trajectory that included teacher leader, candidate support provider, State Teacher of the Year, educational writer, and on and on. So this year, when it was time for me to renew my certification, I was told by everyone who knows me: “You’ll do fine. You’ll be great. You’re a Teacher of the Year. You’re a published author. Piece of cake.”
Oh my. No pressure.
I want to say this: the renewal process for National Board Certification threw me into a déjà vu experience, reminding me of that first growth opportunity eight years before. But people told me, “Renewal is different from the original certification. You’ve already proven that you’re an accomplished teacher. Now you’re providing evidence to show that you’ve continued to grow.”
The truth is I feel that I learned more about myself as a teacher through the renewal process than I ever thought possible. As a teacher without a classroom this year – I work with fifteen school districts on recruitment and retention initiatives – I had a few hurdles to clear to even participate in the renewal experience. First, I had to “borrow” a classroom (easy enough since I know and work with hundreds of teachers). Then I had to seamlessly blend myself into that borrowed classroom without disrupting instruction for the “teacher of record” and negatively impacting student learning. I was there at Open House, introducing myself to parents, handing out my information (way too detailed and boring, most likely). I spent many days in that borrowed classroom, mainly because I wanted to get to know the students. What accomplished teacher calls on a student by saying, “Hey, you, in the red shirt?” So I wanted to really know each of them. But something happened while I was in that room. I was observing accomplished teaching!
The teacher in the classroom modeled instructional strategies, including numerous technology techniques, that I was able to learn during my time in the class. The school had adopted a 1:1 initiative during my renewal year, and there was a great deal to be learned. I am a better teacher for being in that classroom, a testament to the fact that we all can grow by merely observing our colleagues, a practice that is easy – and cost-free – to implement.
In addition, I learned so much about myself as a teacher while watching my video-recorded lessons. I learned about deficiencies in my teaching that bothered me so much I returned to teach another lesson and recorded again. What I found was that although each student having a laptop is engaging and innovative, as a teacher I need to find a way to make instruction using technology more interactive; students staring like zombies at a laptop is not conducive to the level of achievement I expect. So I’ll continue to seek out professional development opportunities that address that need.
I also learned that as a trainer of adults, I need to talk less and listen more. As a part of the renewal process, I video-recorded a beginning teacher mentor training I conducted. During that training a participant delivered a rather lengthy commentary that sounded like he was reiterating what I had been saying about listening to beginning teachers when they have concerns. After watching the video, I realized the participant was actually providing a gentle “push back” and telling me I need to really listen to beginning teachers instead of trying to solve their problems for them. During the actual training, I had not understood his message; it was because of the National Board Certification renewal process that I was able to make a plan for changing my delivery as a trainer.
I began my National Board Certification renewal journey last September. I remember telling my friends and family that I would be done as soon as possible so I could get out of the classroom I borrowed and “get out of the teacher’s way.” As it turned out, I actually completed my submission on May 16th. It was an entire school year of thinking about and refining my teaching. I spent an whole year observing an amazing teacher in action and developing relationships with her students. Even without a classroom, and students, of my own, I became a better teacher.
I started my teaching career in 1979. It is my hope that every year thereafter I have continued to grow as a professional. And spending the past school year as a National Board Certification renewal candidate enabled me to work toward that goal.