I Can Accomplish Difficult Things, and So Can My Students
In mid-October, I opened an email containing National Board renewal scores and saw “Congratulations!” It was a high point of my day. The 129 likes and 23 congratulating comments on Facebook left me with warm fuzzies, but as I sit and reflect on the most rewarding part of this renewal journey, I have to admit…
Nevada Declares National Board Certified Teacher Day
Nevada’s Governor Sandoval has proclaimed November 16 as National Board Certified Teacher Day in Nevada. This comes the same week that Board-certified teacher Pilar Biller of Washoe County was named the state’s teacher of the year. In the 2016-2017 school year, Clark County, including Las Vegas, had the second highest number of candidates pursuing National…
Protecting Teacher Individuality in an Age of Standardization
Think for a moment about a particular teacher that impacted you over the course of your life. Most likely what stood out was that he or she did something different – something that other teachers before or after had not done. Whether through method or personality, this teacher was unique. It is this uniqueness, this…
How a Bad School Year Led to Renewed Certification and Dedication
A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a video interview of an amazing athlete who had broken a world record. The athlete talked about the difference between motivation and dedication. Motivation, he argued, is fleeting. Dedication is what carries us across finish lines. Experienced teachers have this encoded in our DNA. We know that dedication…
EdWeek Answers Key Question: What Makes the National Board Certification Meaningful?
National Board Certified Teacher Ernie Rambo recently reflected on her road to becoming a National Board-certified teacher to learn more about why teachers so often find the process to be transformative, positively impacting themselves and their students. In her Education Week article, Rambo offered the following takeaway: "If National Board certification has been shown to generate positive…
National Board Featured in Scholastic Teacher Magazine
The Fall 2017 edition of Scholastic Teacher Magazine features an article about Board certification entitled National Board Certification: To Certify or Not to Certify. Featuring perspective from several National Board Certified Teachers, the article addresses questions related to the time commitment, the cost and also the tremendous value that teachers derive from going through the…
The Changing Face of STEM
The Changing Face of STEM In 2011, I was invited, along with other K-12 STEM educators, to a symposium of the Washington State Academy of Sciences (WSAS). From the mountains of data presented, two bits of information stuck with me: in the coming years, 80% of all new US jobs would be in computer science…
NBCT Among Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Winners
Bob Kilmer, NBCT, who teaches woodworking, computer-aided design and architecture and construction at Enumclaw High School in King County, Washington, was recently named a winner of the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, which recognizes outstanding instruction in the skilled trades in U.S. public high schools. Kilmer and his school won $100,000, of which $70,000…
Fast Forward to Board Certification
Where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday that I was sitting at the computer waiting to hear the news whether or not I had become a National Board Certified Teacher. I remember that moment so vividly and how proud I felt when I saw the word “Congratulations!” appear on the screen. All of…
Move. Listen. Breathe.
On the side of my notebook where I attempt to keep my whole world organized, I have written three reminders: Move. Breathe. Listen. MOVE My 9th graders were at their computers hammering away at their literary analysis essay of bildungsroman in To Kill a Mockingbird when I started to notice that the thunder of fingers…
