Why do I Still Choose to Teach?
By: Noraa Ransey, NBCT My why is simple: the kids of Kentucky deserve a voice! “A child’s life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.” This Chinese proverb was most apparent during the pandemic. We became all hands on deck, and every stakeholder stepped up to do what it…
Why Diversity Matters for Teachers and Students
By: Grand Pacheco, NBCT Diversity in the classroom is essential because it elevates teaching practices and students’ experiences to more meaningful teaching and learning. When I serve a community of learners from different backgrounds, I become more reflective on improving my pedagogical practices to ensure all my students feel welcomed, respected, and valued while meeting…
I Believe in Water
By: Jonathon Medeiros, NBCT I believe in water. I believe in surfing the wave I am on, not the wave I wish I were on. I believe in building, learning by trying, and in observing my failures. I believe in being curious, celebrating with purpose, building empathy, in questioning. Everything about learning in my classes…
Stop, Look, and Listen: Kilo
“The most basic lesson that all art teaches us is to stop, look, and listen to life on this planet, including our own lives…” – Frederick Buechner By: Jonathon Medeiros, NBCT As the pandemic stretches into its third year, I wonder when we will stop thinking in terms of “when this is over.” I wonder…
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.…
One Step Away from Crisis
By: Michelle Morgan, NBCT As we start this new year, both educators and students are doing their very best every day to just to show up. Moving into the third year of the pandemic, teachers are twice as likely to feel stress and three times as likely to be depressed as they were in 2019. …
It’s time to think beyond the curriculum
By: Jonathon Medeiros, NBCT An essay I read recently talked about the importance of drama in learning, and its usefulness to us as teachers. The author made sure to delineate between “drama” and “theater,” explaining that drama is participant centered and theater is audience centered. The former is for the people acting, working through the…
Five Years a Candidate: Maryland Teacher’s Story of GRACE for the Journey
By: Angela Killebrew, NBCT A Science Teacher shares her five-year journey to National Board certification culminating in December 2021. I want to share my story with hopes it will inspire someone else to find their confidence to stay the course and accomplish their goal of National Board certification. In the Spring of 2016, I celebrated…
