The Lasting Impact of National Board Certification on Educational Leadership
Written By: Jennifer Brown, NBCT – Corpus Christi, Texas As I talk to teachers in my district and around the area about the NBCT program, they tell me they won’t stay in the classroom but plan to move into administration. I tell them, “That’s perfect! That is another great reason to become an NBCT. Let…
Neurodivergent Did Not End my Teaching Career
By: Ginny Warner, NBCT – North Carolina The path to understanding my own neurodivergence was a winding one, a journey marked by subtle inconsistencies and delayed realizations. As a child, the world felt slightly out of sync. Occupational therapy became a familiar companion, aiding me in navigating the challenges of fine motor skills, particularly the…
Bridging Dreams and Reality: Advocating for Undocumented High School Graduates
By: Maria Derner, NBCT – Belton, Missouri In this great nation of boundless opportunities, I have had the privilege of instructing a group of young dreamers for several years. These resilient, gifted, and compassionate students have profoundly enriched my experience as an educator. Yet, despite their dedication and excellence, they face a devastating dilemma: the…
Neurospicy: A Seasoning for the Soul
By Mechelle Gilford, Ed.S., NBCT https://www.nbpts.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Gilford-Neurospicy-Article-for-National-Board.mp3 Let’s face it: being a neurodivergent teacher in a neurotypical world sometimes feels like navigating a grocery store with a map to the moon—a bit of a wild goose chase, but hey, at least it’s an adventure! Think of neurodiversity as the secret ingredient that makes the…
Retaining Teachers Through Reimagined Career Pathways
By: Jessica Kato, NBCT Recently, I attended a conference session for mid to late-career educators, which I expected to be focused on strategies to support teacher retention, an issue I care deeply about. Instead, I was surprised to find myself actively participating in a passionate and emotional conversation about what it means to have an…
Being an NBCT comes with an obligation to equity
By: Megan Jenny, NBCT and Lauren Jewett, NBCT There have been more than a few documented instances of lawmakers excluding classroom teachers from discussions and deliberations—including the No Child Left Behind legislation of 2001. And we all know how disastrously that turned out, ushering in an era of excessive standardized testing, commodification of education, and…
The Importance of Building Relationships…and Repairing Them
So this happened. Generally, I am relatively easy to get along with – people like me. Not so much last week when a confrontation with a student escalated to a point where I lost my cool. It happens – in the classroom, in my office, in any work environment, and in relationships. The problem in…
Teaching in the Pandemic is like Eating Noodles Without Chopsticks
By: Lory Walker Peroff, NBCT I recently attended a virtual professional development on a sunny Saturday morning. I was still hungover from a rough week at school. Despite a brief moment of elation when, for the first time in four months, I had all of my students in attendance, the week was overwhelming as usual.…
