Jenny's PowerPoint

Some of you have asked for Jenny's PowerPoint, so here it is!  To see Stephanie's PowerPoint, click here!

Still Waiting For Scores...

Well, so far I haven't heard that your scores have been released.  They often had them ready during Thanksgiving Break, but I guess they don't this year.   I see on the website that you are due to receive them by December 31st.  I'm sorry you have to wait longer.  🙁

Here is the agenda for our next meeting (December 6th or 8th):


3:30-3:45     Sign in and check grad credit assignments with Joetta

3:45-4:15     Helen Roberts-- Self-editing Your Rough Draft

4:25-5:30     Work Sessions and meetings with mentors; Component 4 Candidates will work to compile a checklist for the component

Concord University Fees and Applications Due for Fall

If you haven't submitted your $99 and Concord University application to me for the graduate credit for Component 2 work, please email or call me.  I need to get that from you by Friday.  I think I have most of them.  Thank you!

Homework and Assignments

You should have been collecting data or work from students as you teach your first attempt at Component 2.  You may end up giving this another shot in the Spring, but until then, just go through the process with whatever you have going on right now.  You will develop clarity as you go through the motions--you know, "wax on; wax off."

You may have videotaped a class to get used to the idea and the equipment.  The only reason to bring the video to class on the 15th is to get credit for that on my graduate class spread sheet.  Even if you aren't taking the grad class, please check in with me about the spread sheet so we can touch base and I can be a sounding board to whatever you've got going on.

You should begin to write answers to the questions posed for you in Component 2.  You are supposed to have a rough, rough draft by Thanksgiving Break.  I would like to see what you have done so I can help keep you accountable.  Over Thanksgiving Break you should revise it so you and a mentor can discuss it at the December Meeting.

Agenda for November 15th or November 17th

3:30 Sign In and Submit Concord University Applications and Payment 

         (I will mail these in on November 20th)

3:45-4:15 "Writing Clearly and Concisely" Activity--Jenny Santilli, Ed.D, NBCT, 2008

4:20-4:30 Video Analysis Worksheet Activity--Joetta Schneider, NBCT 2006, 2016

4:30-5:30  Cohort Collaboration and work; check in with Joetta re: assignments for grade book; work with mentors who are available

Let's Talk About Money

© Andrey Andreev | Dreamstime Stock Photos

 

How will you pay for the components you want to complete this year?  And WHO, at the National Board, decided this bill should come due a month after Christmas?  

Here are some thoughts about financing this journey:

1- There is up to $500 in seed money available from our county to Harrison County NBCT candidates.  The intent of the seed money is to remove barriers teachers might have in beginning this process.  You could use this money to pay for one of your components.  Tip:  file for the money, receive it, and pay immediately for the component you are sure you will complete by June.  You can pay for a component now.  You don't have to wait until January.  Some caveats:  You must have a candidate ID# which you can get by paying $75 here when you sign up to become a National Board Candidate.  Don't worry, this $75 is reimbursable by the state of WV.  Another thing, if you don't complete the entire process, you will have to return the $500 to the county.

Now you have one component paid for, and if you pay for two components, you can get reimbursed by the state very quickly after you've paid for both of them.  The state calls paying for two components your commitment to enrollment.  Can you find $500 additional dollars?  What about the medical allotment on December 5th?  After you buy both components, you can file immediately for reimbursement of both components and the $75 registration fee.  You can also file for reimbursement of graduate class fees, like the $99 grad credit you can get from Concord for our work this semester.  It typically takes a few weeks to get that money back.  In fact, the state of WV will reimburse up to $600 in other expenses you have in materials and graduate work you have while you are a candidate (keep your receipts.)  It's like money in the bank.  

2-  You are receiving stipends for attending the cohort meetings if you are a Harrison County teacher. During the first semester, you were paid for five 2-hour meetings.  That's up to $350 this semester.  Unfortunately, we are only paying for one hour meetings second semester, but that is still an additional $175 if you attend those meetings.  

3- You don't have to pass to be reimbursed.  You do have to try to grow as a teacher, to reflect on your own strengths and weaknesses, and to do the best you can do this year to teach your students with the ideas of the National Board in mind.

4-  Keep the end in mind:  You are going to be reimbursed for the work of professional growth you are doing, and you will make $4000 more per year with ultimately no cost to you.  This is a better deal than a Master's Degree.

If you have any questions about this post, you can call me at extension 7262 or email me.  And you can try my cell.  But, as my husband is fond of telling me, I am not great about paying attention to my phone!  I am very passionate about this opportunity for you, but please don't be afraid of that.  If you aren't ready, I totally get it.  I thought about it and attended the informational meeting three times before I was ready.  But if it's only the money thing, my advice is to get a running start and jump that stinkin' hurdle!  

And...on a more professional note, let's be thankful for the leadership in Harrison County and in our state who have made this process financially possible for us as teachers.  :-)

Renewal Candidates Achieved Recertification

Good News!  All four renewal candidates in our cohort received their recertification.  This can be a one or two year process--on the old system.  They will be honored at the NBCT dinner this Spring.  If you are a current candidate, please consider attending the dinner (details will be announced soon.)  The cost is $25.  This money is banked to help pay for other honorees in the future, and there may be many in the Spring of 2017 and 2018!

You don't have to be perfect to be a National Board Certified Teacher, but you are probably someone who keeps trying to add to your expertise in the classroom.  You are valuable.  Thanks for all you do.

Graduate Credit

This just in!  Concord University has given us permission to offer up to 15 hours for National Board completion and achievement, based on the number of hours listed on the National Board website.

After January, we should have classes:  NBCT Component 1, NBCT Component 2, NBCT Component 3, and NBCT Component 4.  We will also have a course titled, "NBCT Achievement."  This means you can get up to 15 graduate credit hours for professional development purposes.  You may take up to 9 grad hours per semester, for $99 per course.

The course we have been offering, "Accomplished Teaching", will be changed to "Component 2."  If you have completed some of these other Components and I have record of your work, you can talk with me about how to receive that credit as long as it is before you achieve your NBCT.

A Speculation About Component 4--If you are ready for it.

Visit this blog post to read their early analysis of the Component 4 field test.  This was written last March, but remains our only information about the last component until November.

Please Bring This to the Next Meeting

For the October 18th or October 20th meeting--whichever you would like to attend--please bring two samples of student work.  You only need to bring the work of one student.  What I'd like you to do is look at your Component 2 instructions for the type of work you will eventually submit.  For example, CTE teachers will need to bring two assessments:  one of them, a formative assessment of some type, and the other a project-oriented assessment.  Don't get stuck on this, the National Board accepts whatever that looks like in YOUR room.  This is our practice run and it doesn't matter if it's not perfect.

Another example:  In the instructions for Component 2 for Science Teachers, you need to collect work from students over a timeframe of instruction, with the last one being a traditional form of assessment--test, quiz, journal entry, lab report, etc., and the first one being some kind of writing about an activity that built their understanding toward the assessment.  (I am speaking in generalizations about these examples because YOU need to be the expert on your own Component.)

In summary, read about the type of student work you are supposed to submit for your Component 2 and pick the closest assignments you can to the requirements for that entry from something you have taught for this six weeks.  Then photocopy the student work with the name whited out and bring it, with your Component 2 instructions, with you to the October meeting.  We are going to practice answering questions about that work.

How Exciting!  You can do this!  :-)

Contextual Information Sheet Due Sept. 30th

Good Afternoon, and Happy Friday!  To clarify, the Contextual Information sheet is about your school.  So we are looking at average class size in your school, etc.  You will write about your class when you are writing Component 2.