Certifiable?
Emmet Rosenfeld was an English teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. He had 13 years of experience as a teacher and writer when he started this blog. In this opinion blog, he chronicled his experiences as he worked toward certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: certification & licensing.
Education
Opinion
Expert Opinion
The summer institute of the Northern Virginia Writing Project draws to a close, and next week I will be the last presenter from our group of nearly thirty teachers. Being on staff this year has rekindled the transformative enthusiasm I experienced when I was a fellow here in 1997, at that time wondering if this was really the job for me after four years in the classroom. Now, after thirteen years there, both my presentation topic and my relationship to the profession have changed.
Education
Opinion
Starting from scratch
When I was growing up, the goal with your records was to not scratch them. I learned how to hold the black orbs by the edges between my palms as soon as I started raiding my older brother’s Who collection. Billy Joel smiled at me from the Italian restaurant on the cover because I cleaned lint from the needle before I spun The Stranger. I might have worn a groove in Give Me Three Steps, but there was never an unwanted pop or hiss on either disc of my first double album, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gold & Platinum.
Education
Opinion
Three Little Birds
The NVWP Summer Institute is in full swing, and in this post I want to tell you about Jessica’s presentation, create the inaugural post for the institute’s blog (I’ll post this entry there, too), and pick up again with Entry 4 by considering the institute as an “achievement.”
Education
Opinion
We Interrupt This Blog ...
(or whatever World Cup game you happen to be watching) to bring you breaking news. Okay, so it started last May, when Newsweek came out with a list of America’s 100 best high schools based on Washington Post journalist Jay Mathew’s Challenge Index. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, where I teach and widely considered one of the best schools in the country, didn’t crack Newsweek’s list.
Education
Opinion
During apple picking
Last week I began brainstorming possibilities for Entry 4, in which I will list up to eight achievements to show that I’ve met three standards (XIV. Self Reflection; XV. Professional Community; and XVI. Family Outreach). I had combed my resume for what I thought were the most impressive items, but upon receiving feedback from a couple already certified teachers, I think I might be polishing some of the wrong apples. In fact, polishing apples might be the wrong approach entirely.
Education
Opinion
Base camp is within range
My approach to the foot of the NBPTS mountain has been more arduous than anticipated, and both blog ideas and morale are on the wane (things should perk up once we make it to summer vacation). The mountain itself, you may recall, takes a year to scale, including as it does the traversing of four crevasse-ridden portfolio entries and then, to attain the summit, the dreadfully exposed final pitch, a day of assessment behind a computer keyboard at a testing center.
Education
Opinion
The Crowded Classroom
Yesterday an online psychic who lived in my house two owners ago showed up and wanted to take a look around the old place. “This is where I used to do my face-to-face counseling,” he remarked as we passed through the dining room. “Senators, lots of famous people have been in here.” Passing a wall in the kitchen into which I had drilled more than a few holes to hang a pesky shelf, I was shocked upon hearing that he had fished a lot of wire through there when renovating the upstairs bathroom.
Education
Opinion
My Momma Told Me
We interrupt our scheduled presentation of standards to bring you this breaking news: It’s all bunk! At least, according to a recent study commissioned by NBPTS from educational number-cruncher William L. Sanders which shows, as reported in Education Week, that board certified teachers’ students do not score better on standardized tests than other kids.
Education
Opinion
Artists of Our Profession
Standard XIV. Self-Reflection
“Accomplished Early Adolescence/English Language Arts teachers constantly analyze and strengthen the effectiveness and quality of their teaching.” (EA/ELA pg 61)
“Accomplished Early Adolescence/English Language Arts teachers constantly analyze and strengthen the effectiveness and quality of their teaching.” (EA/ELA pg 61)
Education
Opinion
Tastes like chicken
With my next few mouthfuls of elephant, I’ll masticate the three standards associated with Entry 4: XIV. Self Reflection; XV. Professional Community; and XVI. Family Outreach. (For newcomers or those who may have “missed a post”-- and at this point, I’m not even sure my editor is reading this thing-- I’ve taken a bite-by-bite approach to the year long task of creating the four-entry portfolio that is one of the elements required to achieve board certification).