Ugh

Lesson learned. I am home today for my first release day. You know, the one I was supposed to get back in November but didn't cause it wasn't put in until 1:05 on the afternoon I was supposed to be out. Yeah, that one. Well, I sat down, got my to-do list created, got my schedule made out for the day (work 90 minutes, break for 15, repeat with 45 minutes in the middle of the day for lunch and a shower) and then got onto my computer to watch my videos (here's the lesson part) and I can't watch either one from here because they didn't get fully copied onto my e-mail. I shoulda brought the tapes home as well, just in case this happened. I'll bring them home next week and load directly onto my computer here. At least I can still spend the day learning my standards and really getting to know my entries, etc. Won't be nearly as fun and varied as what was planned, but it needs to be done so I'll make good use of my time.

My Entry 2 is focusing on delivering instruction and features my bestest PreK/K class. My Entry 3 is focusing on demonstrating and developing musicianship and features one of my 4th/5th grade classes. I guess I can reflect on the lesson for Entry 3 that I did on Tuesday without the video after re-reading what is required in the entry itself.

Tonight is a Christmas party with our playgroup from last summer. Should be a load of fun to see all of the new babies who have been born and the bellies of the mamas who are still working on growing number 2. It will be a nice end to the week.

Two Down

Two to go. I did my second video taping session today. It went well. I only need about 3 minutes from the 20 recorded that show how I use my musicianship skills to help my students improve theirs. This was a group of 4th and 5th graders, only two of whom did not return their release slips and so spent their music time copying song lyrics for our program in their classroom (their teacher said they could stay there and not be in my room!) I sent home 10 release slips yesterday to students who did not return the original ones a month ago or more. I also used our district's mass-calling system to alert the families of these students that the forms were coming home and to please sign them and return them to me today.

I get my first release day on Friday. I'll be spending the time watching my two videos and preparing what I'll write for my entries. Owen will be at daycare all day, then we're going to a friend's house for a playgroup Christmas party. A nice reward for a day of exhausting (mentally at least) work.

I won't be doing another video tape session until January or February, and that one will be for my unit lesson highlighting planning. I'm using my best group in the entire school for that one.

Stress

And it's only just beginning. So as you may have read on Owen's blog, I was supposed to have a release day this past week. "Supposed to" being the operative words. Things were being processed and got stalled at finance. No ball dropping, just how things work and the length of time required. Well...come to find out that they did put in for a sub for me for Wednesday. On Wednesday. At 1:05 in the afternoon. My facilitator is making sure I still get my day. I'm shooting for December 14, which is the day after my birthday and at the end of the week that I am videotaping for another entry. I've made some notes for the videotaping I did on the 5th so things stay sort of fresh.

a sigh of relief

I am in the process of working on Entry 4, which shows how I communicate with parents, work as a learner (so workshops I go to for my professional development, etc.), and how I contribute to the greater music education community. Up until about 10 minutes ago, I thought this was going to be my weakest entry by a long shot. Nope. I have to have a maximum of eight accomplishments to show examples of these three things. Some accomplishments might cover all three, some might cover two, and some might only cover one. A draft of this entry is due on Thursday at my cadre meeting. I wonder how many other teachers in our district are doing or have done EMC Music. I'm thinking I might be the first one. Wouldn't that be cool!?

I have several people who have offered to help me out during this process by giving advice when I ask, and by proofing my entries before I submit them in March. I just got off of the phone with one of these people. She answered a lot of questions (more than I thought I had), and was able to give me a lot of good guidance as far as what sorts of potential accomplishments that are bouncing around in my brain could actually work as accomplishments (all of them!!!!!!). I thought I was only going to have a couple of accomplishments to talk about. I'm going to have to either lump things together (where I can) or pick and choose what to include. I like that prospect much better than the alternative. :-)

Getting Started

Well, I've officially started my fourth entry for my National Boards. The cool thing about this is I can do my entries in which ever order I choose, as they all get sent to San Antonio at the same time. Entry 4 is the easiest one to get started on over the summer. It is documentation (and reflection and analysis) of my professional accomplishments. Some has to be done this coming year, but I've started really working on what I can use from the last five years (going back to March of 2003). I also will know what I need to do this year to round out this entry. I have to have a good portion of it done by about a month from now when we have our first cadre meeting.

We got a bunch of stuff for this at Target last night. Printer paper, pens, highlighters, a pencil case, and dividers for the 3-ring notebook I had already purchased. Things are printed up, organized, and work has commenced.

got it!

i got my new cd today. i'm assuming that it is the correct one. actually, i'm checking right now to see if it is. (yep, it is!)

now all i (still) need is paper so i can print everything up so i can start marking things up. :-)

trying again

i called national boards today to see what they could tell me about my CD that is supposed to be here by now. they're going to send me another one and call me when it goes out so i can track it this time. i really hope i have it before school starts.

i got a 2" three-ring binder this weekend and i've downloaded the stuff i need from the national boards website. now all we need is paper so i can print up the stuff and get going on highlighting and marking. i have everything as an adobe file, but i would really rather have a hard copy in front of me. that's just what works best for me.

yup. it was wrong

i got the right cd label, but the contents of the cd were wrong. i called the hotline this morning and they are putting a new and correct cd in the mail to me. i should have it by the end of next week. i'm really anxious to get going on this. i can't do any work on my entries until i get my cd. what i can do, however, is get the paperwork into my district to verify my years teaching, etc.

Interesting message

We're on vacation right now so my box is probably waiting for me at home. I had a message when we checked yesterday saying that during a quality control check, it was discovered that some of the EA/YA (early adolescence/young adult) music CDs got labeled as EMC (early/middle childhood) and vice versa. I was instructed to check my CD and if it's faulty, to call their 800 number to get a correct CD.

Why is this important, you may ask. Well, the CD has absolutely EVERYTHING I'll need as far as information goes for my candidacy. All of my standards, what to put in each entry of the portfolio, etc. This is basically the instruction manual. It would not be good to get the wrong manual (think about getting the manual for a Ford 'Stang instead of for your Taurus). That will be one of the first things I do when I get home and get my box is open it up and check the CD.

I have started thinking about what I want to do for my entries. I think I'm going to do middle school for one of my entries. It will be excellent for the reflective analysis bit I have to do, especially since middle school will be new for me this year. However, I am also thinking that doing something brand new might not be the best idea for something as important as National Boards. I think I'll bounce that idea off of some friends who have already done their boards and see what they think. I'll probably go with their recommendation.

Today I e-mailed the middle school teachers at my school to see about meeting later in the summer so I can figure out where to set the bar for the kids this year. I'm keeping a hard copy of the e-mail so I can potentially use it as supporting evidence when I send in my entries in March. Like I said, I've never taught middle school before so I really don't know what they are capable of doing. This coming year will be a lot of tweaking as we go. Next year ('08-'09) will be much easier. It's almost like I'm starting teaching all over again. Thinking about things, I've now taught for seven years. What is it that people say about the seven year itch? Interesting how in my 8th year, I'm starting a new segment in teaching. Doesn't that sound all existential and stuff?

no turning back now!

i paid my $565 on thursday night. i'm officially registered. my box will probably come in the next week or so. i have summer homework: learn my standards, start on entry 4 (professional accomplishments), and read my portfolio.

oh, and i received a congratulations card from my dad in the mail yesterday - with a check for $565. i was floored. thanks, dad!

One for Two

Well, I got notice from the state that I didn't get that scholarship. That's ok with me. I got the right scholarship for only getting one (meaning, I got the one that covers the most of the fees.) Oh, and there was one other teacher at my school who applied for both scholarships and she also got the school district one. I'm excited to have someone at school to do this whole process with.

I register tomorrow! Yikes! This is getting real. :-)

I got it!!!

I found out this morning that I got the Tacoma scholarship, which covers $2000 of the $2500 fee to do National Boards. I go to a meeting on Thursday to do my application for National Boards and pay $565. I get my box sometime after that and the "fun" begins!

first part done

The scholarship application went in at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon - that means there was one hour to spare. :-) I got a very nice letter from my principal, which she uploaded to my application and I got sent off before I had to head across the bridge to a doctor's appointment. I'd be willing to bet that the next time I have to go across the bridge, I have to pay to get back. The tolls on the new bridge will begin sometime in July, I believe.

Part way there

Well, the first step in my scholarship application is done. The essays are completed and saved to my on-line application. Now I just need a letter of support from my principal and some information about my school for this year. Everything is due by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow. The other teachers and I are eagerly waiting on our princpal right now. She wasn't at school today, but she did open and read my e-mail about the letter this morning. I am planning on staying at school until about 4:30 tomorrow afternoon so I can get that attached and everything sent off before it's due.

The first step

Well, folks. I guess I'm officially crazy. I have decided that during the upcoming school year, I will be working toward my national board certification in early/middle childhood music. I will submit my scholarship application to the state by this coming Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. Here is a primer for some of the terms/acronyms you may be seeing in the coming year:

NBCT - National Board Certified Teacher
EMC - Early and Middle Childhood
NBPTS - National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

Now a rundown on what I will be doing over the course of the next 1-3 years of my life.

• If I get the scholarship from either the state or my school district or both, I'll register on June 14 to become a candidate for my boards.
• Between June 14 and the end of March of 2008 I will be putting together 4 portfolios: one classroom-based with accompanying student work, two classroom-based which require video recordings of me interacting with my students, and one that provides evidence of my accomplishments outside of the classroom and how that impacts student learning. (This information was taken directly from the NBPTS website.)
• My "Box", which will contain all four of my portfolios and accompanying written bits (description, reflective analysis, etc.) will be sent to Texas (I think...) by March 31.
• Sometime after April 1 I will be assessing at a test center. This will be a written assessment. I'm not quite sure what all that will entail just yet. But there's time.
• Around November of 2008 I will find out whether or not I passed all of my parts. If so, I will be a National Board Certified Teacher, if not, I will be a retake candidate.
• If I become a retake candidate, I will only have to redo and reassess in the areas which were lacking at the end of the 2007-2008 school year. I have three years total to complete this endeavour.

You may be wondering, "Why would an otherwise sane individual do this?" I'll tell you. When I get my NBTC, I won't have to recertify for 10 years (unlike the 3 years required by the state). I will also get a hefty bonus each year.

Keep looking here to see if there's anything new, like if I get the scholarship(s).