Maryland Teachers - who is doing NBPTS?

[Anonymous]

Any MD teachers considering doing National Boards now that the extra pay will be added to salary and pensionable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any MD teachers considering doing National Boards now that the extra pay will be added to salary and pensionable?

I had it before it was cool, but I started mentoring current candidates in my building last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I had it before it was cool, but I started mentoring current candidates in my building last year.

How did your mentees work on it? Did they attempt all 4 components at once or do one or two a year?

[Anonymous]

I did NBPTS in 2000 when there were 6 entries to the Portfolio plus the assessment center part, and you had to do it all in one year.

I still have my original portfolio. The entries were

1) Assessment of Progress
2) Planning
3) Scaffolding Learning (video)
4) Facilitating Interactions- Small Groups (video)
5) Documented Accomplishments/Collaboration in the Professional Community
6) Documents Accomplishments/Outreach to Families

I'm wondering if the fact that there are only three components instead of six means more is expected of each component? Or if it means the workload is now reduced.

[Anonymous]

Not in MD, but strongly encourage teachers to do it. I did mine early in my career and it definitely made me a more skilled and reflective teacher. It also taught me a lot about juggling multiple tasks and staying organized. My district provides some compensation for it and while it doesn't seem huge, it really adds up over the course of your career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I had it before it was cool, but I started mentoring current candidates in my building last year.

How did your mentees work on it? Did they attempt all 4 components at once or do one or two a year?

I advised them to apply for the scholarship in Spring of year 0 and read and have suggestions on their scholarship application essay. I can't give outright suggestions on the official entries so this was a good place to focus on practicing writing concisely and with clear and convincing evidence.

During the summer, I assigned them the job of printing, close reading, and annotating the entry directions, the focus area standards. In asked them to find a few things that resonated for them about what they felt were strengths and what were areas that they would like to grow.

August of year 0 I suggested they take our county's JumpStart NBPTS week long training.

They decided to take two years to complete their components. They chose to take continuing district PD for all components year 1 both to build a professional network and to front load information for the other components so they could plan the year 2 components over the summer.

A dozen years ago, I took all 4 components the same year and achieved but many teachers doing National Board with me did not and had to take an extra year anyways. I think the process is much stronger spread out over two years with a lot of reflection. I think the extra year gives you time to refine your impact and gather evidence. For example, some teachers find that this gives them the push to become team leader or plan targeted parent outreach to extend their positive impact on student achievement.


Best of luck to all teachers waiting on scores or embarking on the process!

[Anonymous]

I am planning to start this year after getting a scholarship.

[Anonymous]

I have mine. I am from Virginia and the extra money has been great; I received $5,000 from the state and then $2,500 a year from my District for the certification. However, it has been worthless to me in terms of my practices.

I thought the process was a joke and reflective of practically every bad teaching practice you can think of in terms of laying out projects and using rubrics. The components are poorly written, with directions that often times are conflicting, and the rubrics provide no value. There are no exemplars. The components need to be written in a specific style, and once you master it, the writing of the components is very easy.

In my District, we use a cohort approach and each person has a mentor. Having a mentor (mine was from another school) was helpful in terms of networking within the District.

I am glad I did it because of the extra money, about $30k over 10 years. Otherwise, the certification is an embarrassment because I know what phooey goes into it.

[Anonymous]

My school district is now raising the salary for NBCTs by $13,000 every year (pensionable- not a stipend) apparently, and $10,000 of that will come from the state so in theory, it might actually be funded. In prior years I think there was just a stipend and it was much less. So that makes jumping through this hoop a lot harder to pass up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: The components need to be written in a specific style, and once you master it, the writing of the components is very easy.

Do you have any suggestions of resources I could look at for mastering the writing style needed for the components?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My school district is now raising the salary for NBCTs by $13,000 every year (pensionable- not a stipend) apparently, and $10,000 of that will come from the state so in theory, it might actually be funded. In prior years I think there was just a stipend and it was much less. So that makes jumping through this hoop a lot harder to pass up.

What district is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: The components need to be written in a specific style, and once you master it, the writing of the components is very easy.

Do you have any suggestions of resources I could look at for mastering the writing style needed for the components?

I used the guidance of my mentor and the cohort leader. The cohort leader put together a series of practice items for us to use and that helped tremendously. Even though I eventually mastered it, the writing style that is the antithesis of mine, and it felt very awkward and wordy. You may want to ask around your school and district to see if anyone who has passed (this may be against the rules) will share their document or read yours once you have a draft. Also, go onto FaceBook and do a Google Search. There are people who have posted examples and that is very helpful.

The lack of exemplars is one of the reasons why I am disgusted with the process. As teachers, we always provide exemplars in addition to well-made rubrics. This organization says it is the leader of best practices in the classroom and it doesn't provide either. Okaaaaaaaay.

Good luck to you. The money makes a big difference, so the process is definitely worth the hassle.

[Anonymous]

Waste of time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Also, go onto FaceBook and do a Google Search. There are people who have posted examples and that is very helpful.

Thanks - I've been looking online and see a variety of sources, but am trying to winnow them down to the best resources.

[Anonymous]

Holy cow, I googled and it looks like Montgomery Co. even adds a larger pay boost for NBCTs in low achieving schools. I hope that attracts more teachers to Title I.