NCBT

I am getting into the habit of writing every day again. This helped me years ago when I first joined OD in 2004, and writing has always been a sort of therapy for me. I also need to get back into the practice of just writing a lot.

I decided that I am going to go for National Board Certification for Teaching, which after the introductory week I have done so far with 1 final class session tomorrow, is a 1 to 3-year program that pretty much amounts to a Ph.D. in teaching. It isn’t a Ph.D. program by any means, but the requirements and the work that needs to be done is at least a 3rd Masters degree for me. Currently, I only need to do 1 “class” for my 2nd Master in Education Administration, but it is a research project/essay and I am having a hard time justifying paying $1,000 to write a damn essay. I wasn’t going to even attempt that during Covid, and right now I am too burned out. Maybe in the future, and I’ll make my school pay for it after all the shit they continue to put me through.

Why am I doing this National Board Certification then? Because I want to challenge myself. I want to prove to myself that I am a “master teacher” since I keep being told that. My thing is in my District, there is no real baseline as I am the entire English department, so what do I compare my work to? I have gotten perfect evaluations for years, and I don’t trust them because I can’t tell if they are based on my actual work or on my admin being too lazy (or afraid) to actually be in my classroom.

I always want to challenge myself, to push myself to be better for my kids, and any growth I have had has been because I have sought my own professional development through my union. Nothing from my school or doing my job – I seek out training separately and just test out whatever I want in my classroom, and my best feedback comes from my kids. They are my best and favorite critics because they will be honest with me, and I am honest with them.

The other reason I want to get this certification is that it makes it easier to transfer my teaching credentials as it is recognized in all US states and territories, and if I have understood correctly is also accepted in other countries. And with the way shit is going, living in New Zeland has gone from a silly joke with my best friend to what I think is the best option to get the fuck out of this country.