Hollywood Got it Wrong…But Washington Gets it Right
When educators take back education legislation Every Student Succeeds Act. The name leads us to wish for a world in which every student experiences a classroom designed specifically to help them overcome every obstacle that they’ve been dealt. As professional educators, we don’t want to be jaded, but it sounds a bit “Hollywood.” Think of…
NOW is the Right Time to Consider National Board Certification
As the next candidate cycle begins on April 1, 2016, many educators around the country will ask themselves, “Is now the right time to consider National Board Certification?” or “Am I ready to become a candidate?” I remember asking similar questions when I saw an information session flyer about Board certification posted on a bulletin…
Reflecting on Teacher Leadership Through a Lens of Stewardship
As a National Board Certified Teacher, I recognize that accomplished teaching practice begins with knowing my students. The National Board’s Architecture of Accomplished Teaching provides guiding questions around knowing our students’ identities: Who are they? Where are they now? What instruction/support do they need and in what order do they need it? Where should I begin?…
It’s time to make the magic happen!
If someone had told me when I was a novice teacher that something truly magical would happen in my career twenty years later, I would have found it hard to believe. It was a perfect storm of sorts; it began with my journey of achieving National Board Certification. This achievement gave me the confidence to…
Every Student Succeeds Act – NBCTs Can Act Now!
No Child Left Behind has been left behind, after 14 years. Students in schools today have had their entire school experience influenced by NCLB. Teachers who have taught for fewer than 14 years have never known anything else, but that’s about to change with authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which has…
Board-Certified Teachers Engage in Dialogue on the Global Stage
At 3:30 am, a few weeks ago, I took a taxi on a whim and asked the driver to take my picture at a popular graffiti art on the partially standing Berlin Wall. The artwork, by Dmitri Vrubel, portrays, “the Death Kiss” of Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker in brotherly love, which celebrated the 30th…
What does a culturally competent classroom look like?
The Saturday [March 12] morning plenary session at the National Board’s Teaching and Learning Conference offered a powerful conversation about race and education. While I’m sure it benefitted everyone in attendance, I found it particularly powerful because it shows some continuity in focus from the National Board. Last year’s conference featured a similar panel discussion…
Engaging students to create social change
How do you prepare students to go beyond critical thinking and discussion, and to take action to better their communities and the world? How do we engage students to create social change? On March 10, I attended one of Teaching and Learning pre-conference sessions, Social Leadership: MALALA and How To Turn Your Students Into Activists…
Thank you, Ron
Editor’s note: the following blog post was written in honor of our former president & CEO, Ron Thorpe, who passed away last July after a year-long battle with cancer. Thorpe will posthumously receive the prestigious James A. Kelly award at Teaching & Learning 2016. The death of Ron Thorpe brought up strong emotions for me:…
Teacher Agency Unleashed
A version of old professional development joke goes something like this: A man dies and goes to heaven. Passing the pearly gates, he notices that there are plenty of folks from all professions and walks of life standing around, but no teachers. "Where are all the teachers?" he inquires of God. "Oh, they’re in professional…
