What Happened at the First Meeting?

If you were there, then you know!  But for those who did not make it I'll give a recap.  We tried to meet each other a bit, we got the syllabus for the grad class (which guides our meetings), and we started thinking about designing component 2.  This blog is meant to support and extend the monthly meetings.  It is also a place you can choose to interact with me and others through the comments.

At this point, you should feel overwhelmed, I think.  Perhaps even confused.  But maybe you feel a kernel of hope too!  :-)  It will feel unclear because it's a developmental process.  Your candidacy is definitely your own personal journey but I've structured it to give you a quick start.  The basic design is to have you attempt your Component 2 very early on so that you can do it one or two more times if needed before you have to submit.  The teaching of Component 2 will be between now and Thanksgiving.  You will write about it in the second semester, but you will also have plenty of time to try a different approach to Component 2 if you want to in the early Spring.  I had a great cohort experience at WVU, and I'm modeling this cohort after that one--which was very successful.  Remember that this is a process and just relax and enjoy it… you have time; this is not like the old National Board process you heard about and you have time to allow yourself to grow into this.
There will also be an element of confusion because you are the first cohort for me to lead.  But I don't think this will be "fatal confusion,"  I'm definitely aware of the need to keep defining and refining as needed to make this work for all of us, and if you are willing to keep asking questions for clarification, I'm willing to be flexible and helpful too.  A third reason you might think there's a "vagueness" in this process is that you are only the second set of people in the nation to go through this new, revised version of National Board certification.  There aren't a lot of people that have been through exactly what you are going through.  It will be okay.

I started a Class Notebook on Office 365, but it doesn't seem to be working smoothly enough for me to depend on it.  We do also have another place you can connect with each other--that is Yammer, a site similar to Facebook that was created for West Virginia teachers and that you can access through Office 365 at the "waffle."  Once you create your account, search for Harrison County NBCT group.  And if you have questions about that, just email me or comment in this blogpost.

Further information about last night's class:

We have four natural subgroups I think we can split into during collaboration times so that there can be better discussion when needed--Literacy, Exceptional Needs, Generalist, and Middle/High School.  We have mentors assigned to each group.

Please email me for any reason, even if you need to be talked off the ledge.  :-)