Teachers Aren’t Soldiers
I am a National Board Certified Teacher and a ten-year veteran of the United States Army. Two things I know well are education and weapons. Let’s not mix them. There are companies that offer concealed carry permit classes to teachers. Politicians across the country have expressed that armed teachers are a good way to stop…
Addressing Teacher Shortages and Teacher Diversity
With teacher shortage and teacher diversity challenges impacting schools across the nation, National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) are leading the field in efforts to ensure that all students have access to accomplished and diverse teachers. Launched in 2018 with generous funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Leading, Empowering, and Advocating for the Profession (LEAP) project…
Inside the Story
The students in my International Baccalaureate Literature and Performance class recently read “The Bean Eaters,” a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks about an elderly, very ordinary married couple who share meager meals and memories: They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair. Dinner is a casual affair. Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood, Tin…
Why Latinx NBCTs Matter, Today, This month, and Always
Hip-hop artist and educator, Olmeca, wrote a poem called, “They Migrate, We Graduate.” Those four words accurately captured so many of our experiences as Latinx, bicultural-bilingual-binational students and now, just as importantly, as teachers. Our families, just like our students’ families, prioritized our future possibilities and opportunities over many times, their own comfort. When I…
National Board Recognizes 81 School Districts for Commitment to Accomplished Teaching
ARLINGTON, Va. – September 26, 2019. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards unveiled today a program that recognizes school districts across the country that work hard to promote student learning through accomplished teaching. The National Board Accomplished Districts program will initially honor 81 districts in which at least 20% of its teachers have achieved…
National Board joins nationwide initiative to address STEM teacher shortage
As part of an ongoing effort to address the nation’s STEM teacher shortage, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards announced today that it has joined the 100Kin10 initiative, a national network that aims to add 100,000 STEM teachers to America’s classrooms by 2021. 100Kin10 is committed to solving one of our country’s most pressing…
Delivering on our promise of equitable education
Fall is in the air and school playgrounds are hubs of activity where teams are formed and games are played. Imagine one hundred children lined up ready and excited to play. Immediately sixty are benched, and only forty are allowed to play. We would never allow this on the playground; however, this is what is…
Connecting with other NBCTs provides the support that Teacher Leaders Need
Like many National Board Certified Teachers, I am proud to say that I serve in multiple teacher leadership roles in my school and within our district. My most demanding responsibility is serving as the leader of our school’s brand new Literacy Committee. Our school-wide instructional goal for the 2018-19 school year was to increase the…
Who are American Muslims?
Since achieving National Board certification in adolescent social studies several years ago, I have felt a need to continue to educate myself and lead in my specific passion — religious literacy. One religious community that continues to face alarming amounts of discrimination in and out of the classroom is the American Muslim population. This summer…
