Shifting Culture: Power and Value
Editor’s Note: Mark Gardner, NBCT, is a high school English teacher in southwest Washington state working in a hybrid role that also allows him to work on professional development experiences for teachers.The views expressed in this blog are his own. In July, David B. Cohen shared his reflections about “Shifting the Culture” and how National…
Test driving National Board Certification
Over the past two years, thousands of teachers as well as undergraduate and graduate students field tested three components of the revised Board certification process. This summer one field tester was chosen at random to be awarded $3,000 for participating in the Component 3 field test, which involves video and analysis of one’s teaching practice. We’re…
From Isolation to Collaboration via National Board Certification
Editor’s Note: Jennifer Dines, NBCT, is the Special Education and Student Services Coordinator at the Gardner Pilot Academy K-8 School, a Pilot School in the Boston Public Schools. The views expressed in this blog are her own. Becoming an NBCT has enabled me to articulate my thinking about our profession, with the confidence and credentials…
Candidate Recruitment: When Does It End?
Editor’s Note: Java Robinson, NBCT, teaches second grade in Montgomery County, Md. She supports her colleagues in pursuing and achieving Board certification as a coach, recruitment coordinator and candidate support provider. She is also a Teach Ambassador, working to recruit minority candidates into the teaching profession. The views expressed in this blog are her own.…
Teaching Writing on the Side of a Coffee Cup
Editor’s Note: Ray Salazar, NBCT, teaches high school English in Chicago Public Schools and is an award-winning blogger. The views expressed in this blog are his own. Writing matters to students when they see how words survive in the real world. Yes, our classrooms are the real world. But if the writing in class does…
Leading From Inside the Classroom
Editor’s Note: Jane Fung, NBCT, is a first-grade teacher in Los Angeles. The views expressed in this blog are her own. Several years ago I met a university supervisor working with my school’s cohort of student teachers. I don’t remember her visiting my classroom, observing my student teachers, or ever discussing classroom instruction. What I…
Yearbook: A teacher’s reflection on a school year, well captured
Editor’s Note: Ambereen Khan-Baker, NBCT, teaches AP Language and Composition in Rockville, Md. As an Ambassador for the Montgomery Institute, a partnership between NEA and Montgomery County Education Association, she works with teacher leaders across the country on collaborative problem solving to improve the quality of teaching and learning. The views expressed in this blog…
Developing Specialized Knowledge by Pushing Myself as a Reader
Last year, while mentoring a second-year middle school English teacher, I complimented her knowledge of books for young adults. I was impressed by the expertise she demonstrated when making personal book recommendations to each of her seventh graders, helping them develop into successful independent readers. I asked her how she knew about all the different…
Shifting the Culture
Visionary. Advocate. Transformative Leader. These words were on the screen Tuesday morning at the National Board Academy in Scottsdale, AZ, as Dr. Mike Lee asked us to consider the small steps, the decisions of individual teachers at their schools, that are necessary to transform our professional culture broadly. These particular words were widely used by people…
Aligning Learning and Standards
Editor’s Note: Luann Lee is an NBCT teaching chemistry and AP/dual credit chemistry at Newberg High School in Oregon. She is a founding member and current president of Oregon Accomplished Teachers, Oregon’s National Board network. The views expressed in this blog are her own. Standards are changing, again. Presently, both my state and my district…
