It’s time to make the magic happen!
If someone had told me when I was a novice teacher that something truly magical would happen in my career twenty years later, I would have found it hard to believe. It was a perfect storm of sorts; it began with my journey of achieving National Board Certification. This achievement gave me the confidence to…
Every Student Succeeds Act – NBCTs Can Act Now!
No Child Left Behind has been left behind, after 14 years. Students in schools today have had their entire school experience influenced by NCLB. Teachers who have taught for fewer than 14 years have never known anything else, but that’s about to change with authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which has…
Board-Certified Teachers Engage in Dialogue on the Global Stage
At 3:30 am, a few weeks ago, I took a taxi on a whim and asked the driver to take my picture at a popular graffiti art on the partially standing Berlin Wall. The artwork, by Dmitri Vrubel, portrays, “the Death Kiss” of Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker in brotherly love, which celebrated the 30th…
What does a culturally competent classroom look like?
The Saturday [March 12] morning plenary session at the National Board’s Teaching and Learning Conference offered a powerful conversation about race and education. While I’m sure it benefitted everyone in attendance, I found it particularly powerful because it shows some continuity in focus from the National Board. Last year’s conference featured a similar panel discussion…
Engaging students to create social change
How do you prepare students to go beyond critical thinking and discussion, and to take action to better their communities and the world? How do we engage students to create social change? On March 10, I attended one of Teaching and Learning pre-conference sessions, Social Leadership: MALALA and How To Turn Your Students Into Activists…
Thank you, Ron
Editor’s note: the following blog post was written in honor of our former president & CEO, Ron Thorpe, who passed away last July after a year-long battle with cancer. Thorpe will posthumously receive the prestigious James A. Kelly award at Teaching & Learning 2016. The death of Ron Thorpe brought up strong emotions for me:…
Teacher Agency Unleashed
A version of old professional development joke goes something like this: A man dies and goes to heaven. Passing the pearly gates, he notices that there are plenty of folks from all professions and walks of life standing around, but no teachers. "Where are all the teachers?" he inquires of God. "Oh, they’re in professional…
Take a breather – and come back exhilarated!
For some of us, this is the most wonderful time of the year. The time leading up to the annual Teaching & Learning conference is exciting and exhausting – a time full of possibilities. I come to the office and colleagues are buzzing. Will major figure X be coming? What about policy leader Y? Will…
Ron Thorpe to Posthumously Receive Prestigious James A. Kelly Award
Education Visionary Ron Thorpe to Posthumously Receive Prestigious James A. Kelly Award at Teaching & Learning 2016 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ron Thorpe, visionary educator and former president and CEO of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, will posthumously receive the organization’s James A. Kelly Award at the upcoming Teaching & Learning 2016 conference on March 11, 2016, in…
Board-Certified Teacher Walks the Red Carpet
We had a chat with 2016 Grammy Music Educator award recipient, Phillip Riggs, NBCT, to learn more about his Grammy moment and his experience with Board certification. Read what he said below! When did you find out that you’d be winning this award? I was notified before the actual CBS This Morning announcement. It was…
