Multi-Tiered Systems and Supports (MTSS)

 I will use an education buzz word (phrase?) to outline the supports that I had throughout my NBTC process. Utah isn’t a huge advocator of National Board Certification. I taught for 5 years and never heard of it. I (now) know that a few teachers were working on their NBTC my first year of teaching, but still, it didn’t register what they were doing and no one really talked about it. Other states make a big deal out of it. My job applications out of state included a question asking if I was National Board Certified. (Sadly there wasn’t a box labeled, “Currently working on certification” – I feel like that would have given me some satisfaction for the many hours I had slaved away at that point.) Therefore, working toward such a certification in Utah meant that my NB contacts were quite minimal. Still, the contacts I had were part of my story and I am grateful for each of them. I have given them nicknames that suit who they are:

State NBTC Rep: We actually met in San Diego at ECET2 and she was a wonderful go-to person for NBTC questions and contact references. She read one of my papers and gave me some feedback, but was extremely busy as the state-wide representative for National Board Certification. It was nice personally knowing someone who had such extensive knowledge of the NBTC process though.

Herr Ghost Teacher: There was a German teacher at my feeder high school who had received his NBTC and renewed it at least once. He did his certification in a different content area, but it was still nice to have a close advisor in my district. He read several papers and gave me some great feedback.I specifically remember his trademark feedback was usually about if I could be more reflective. Some feedback on my third component included, “I guess there is never a way to be too reflective.  What you have is good, but in this process, we are always haunted by 'is it enough.'  For your own piece of mind, I would think through each reflection one more time and ask yourself the question: could I give one more example of reflection in this process?”

Although I never actually met him (and still haven’t), he took his own, unpaid time, while also teaching a full course load, to review my writing and give me feedback. One of his final comments included, “I think that you have done great work.  With some more tightening, I think that you are going to have extremely outstanding components!”

Those little positive reinforcements meant more than I could have told him. Still, you need more than one reviser in such a process. I needed more eyes to look at my papers!

Sunshine Teacher: When I was getting my undergraduate degree at BYU, I was a para-educator at a charter school in Orem. The main special education teacher there was an inspiration to me and I remember she received a door decoration during Teacher Appreciation Week that dubbed her the “Sunshine Teacher.” I always thought that was appropriate because she really did light up a room.  In my young, undergraduate eyes, she was everything I wanted to be. (In my older, post-graduate eyes, she is still everything I want to be. That woman is truly an advocator of education and has traveled the country presenting, meeting with government officials, and using her voice to impact education. She is a mom of three, runs marathons, teaches online, conducts an active Twitter platform, and basically the list goes on.) She received her NBTC on her first attempt. That’s a fairly remarkable accomplishment – one that maybe only those who have worked on the certification can appreciate. I corresponded with her a little bit and even met her in her home to ask some questions, but I still needed more.

Fairy Godmother: This teacher worked at my school the year before I got there, then started her admin licensing program and worked various jobs in the district before landing an administration position at an elementary school. We connected early on in my journey, but we didn’t really meet up until April. We met at her school on Saturday or in the evening two or three times. She sat down with me, went through the instructions line-by-line and discussed what they meant. She read my paper(s) with me right then and there and asked clarifying questions about how I could reflect deeper and more concisely. I would leave feeling overwhelmed by the work still ahead, but grateful that I had a clearer picture of what I needed to improve on. She also received her certification on her first attempt and was such an empathetic listener. One day, by a stroke of brilliancy and divine inspiration, she remembered a friend she had met several years ago who actually had experience scoring components.

NATIONAL BOARD EXAMINER EXTRAODANAIRE TEACHER: When we made that connection and got ahold of this woman, I had approximately two weeks left until the components were due. This Examiner Extraordinaire spent FOUR HOURS one Saturday reviewing my papers. She sent me detailed, functional feedback and it was amazing. How had I just found her??? If I had this contact months prior, my entire experience would have been different. Still, I have to put in a plug for National Board-Certified teachers – they are so willing to help and support. It is an amazing network to be a part of.

I talked to a few other teacher-friends about my experience – some of them had passed and some of them had failed and never tried again. I realized quickly how unique each person’s journey was. As mentioned before, a large part of my struggle was deciphering the instructions. During my master’s program, I had a thesis chair and committee. I had experts to guide and direct me. I did most of my certification independently and it was horrible and lonely. Yes, the people mentioned above were very helpful, but they couldn’t provide the extent of help I craved (and desperately needed). My friends who had never received certification (and were majorly turned off to the idea after witnessing my nightmare) consoled and encouraged me as best they could, but I needed answers. I needed to talk to educators who had endured what I was going through and those resources were limited. Albeit, I am grateful for the people who became part of my personal NBCT story.

The Necessary Details

The craziest year of my professional life had begun. I’ve mentioned before the many MANY opportunities, committees, responsibilities, and general time-consuming engagements that consumed my 6^th year of teaching. National Boards on top of that seemed truly insane. And it proved to be just that.

What are National Boards? Why are they such a big deal? You can certainly look up as much information as you want on http://www.nbpts.org/national-board-certification/, but that website concisely says, “National Board Certification was designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide. It is the most respected professional certification available in K-12 education.”

Let me tell you, I got my master’s degree and wrote a 60+ page thesis, but this certification stressed me out exponentially more than my master’s DEGREE. I’ve come to a few conclusions as to why, but I will get to that later.

When I connected with teachers across the country at ECET2, I heard varying stories about NBTC. Some states require the certification (although I’m not sure if they require it to teach at all, or just to attain certain standing – or perhaps I’m totally misinformed). I starkly remember a woman from Hawaii saying that she was on her third plus attempt at revising some parts of her NB portfolio and it was getting to be more than despairing considering how much time, money, and effort she had put in for years. You have 5 years to complete the certification once you begin. There are four “components” and you could do one a year if you wanted. Some people do just that so that they can really focus on that one component. (Someone actually gave me that advice and I totally ignored it. I didn’t want to stretch out this anxiety-inducing certification.) You have to pay for the component(s) you want to submit for review by the end of January. Everything you want reviewed is due by mid-May, and you receive your scores in December.

I chose to get certificatied in “Exceptional Needs Specialist: Early Childhood through Young Adulthood (ages birth – 21+).” The components are as follows:

Component 1: Content Knowledge (exam)

Component 2: Differentiation in Instruction

Component 3: Teaching Practice and Learning Environment (includes video recordings)

Component 4: Effective and Reflective Practitioner

One of my first mistakes was trying to create my own documents by writing in Word. Other than the reflection paper you create at the end of each component, there are editable word documents that NBTC provides. They care called “forms” and you must submit their forms. I remember thinking, “HOW MANY FORMS CAN BE IN ONE COMPONENT????” By the end, I hated those little one-page “contextual information” sheets. Haha

I give NBTC credit for their organization and detail. It’s easy to access all of the instructions and the website is easy to navigate. I had a teacher-friend who originally was going to work on the certification with me, but she ended up changing her mind due to completely legitimate reasons. She was a blessing in my life though because she brought me a binder with all of the pdf instructions printed out and organized with tabs. That binder became my NBTC Bible! Oh the memories.

The Idea

No, this is not the post where you will find out whether I passed any or all of the components and received National Board Certification, but in this mini-series, we are going to go on a journey together and you are going to get a much more detailed description of my entire National Board Certification experience than maybe anyone (even my posterity) needs. It’s a monster of a story and recording this experience has been on my list of things to do for about six months now. There’s nothing like finishing a school year, working a summer job, and moving across the country to provide plenty of time to NOT write your story down.  Let’s begin!

“National Board releases scores and certification decisions no later than December 31 each year.”

That sentence has been weighing on my mind for the past couple of weeks. Any day now I will find out the results of that arduous certification process. How is it already December 22? How am I done with my first semester of teaching in an inner city high school? I have been waiting for this exact moment (Christmas break) since before I started the school year. If a teacher can make it to Christmas break, they can make it the rest of the way. I am now on the downhill slope and it feels soooo good.

Also, as is typical for the end of any year, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my past year and my journey with National Board Certification is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately.

I first heard about National Board Teacher Certification (NBTC) at a conference I went to in San Diego (Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers - ECET2). When I first received the letter saying that I had been chosen to attend the conference, I thought it was a joke. My principal received a letter as well and called me in asking what the conference was. I told her I assumed it was a spam conference and I wasn’t really interested in attending. Little did I know how big of a deal this was. ECET2 is very exclusive. You have to be nominated by someone else who has attended the conference. Your airfare, hotel, and food are all paid for. You meet with other educators from around the nation, and as the best of the best, it’s an uplifting and inspiring couple of days. It’s not the usual professional development where you have a few of those teachers (or maybe a lot of teachers) who are burned out and OVER the education scene. You are surrounded by hard-working, motivated, innovative, and creative educators. You want to attend every single break out session, but you’re limited to only a few because time is an unfortunate parameter.

A big piece of ECET2 is educators sharing their story. I loved this idea!

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation put us up in a delightful hotel that overlooked a marina. I could have just hung out in my hotel room because it was such a pleasant, comforting place and we all know how much I love time to myself, but I also desperately wanted to be where everyone else was. What an adventure it was to be there. The leaders of the conference reiterated that this is a conference to CELEBRATE us. They wanted to give us the best of the best and thank us for what we did. I wish every teacher could attend such a conference. You leave that conference feeling like you are on top of the world. You are reminded of your purpose and capacity as an educator and you go back to your small atmosphere of influence realizing that it’s not as small as you thought. We are a nation of teachers and there are resources and supports everywhere.

This was my assigned group. These were powerful teacher figures. 

That conference changed my life and I will forever be grateful for my dear friend and exemplar, Tabitha Pacheco, for nominating me.

During one get-to-know-you activity we had to share our aspirations for leadership, involvement, continued education, etc in the education world. I felt like I was a small minnow in a sea full of blue whales and the only thing that I could really see myself reaching for at that point was National Board Certification. I figured that was a safe choice and I was intrigued by the idea of receiving my NBTC. I figured that would be later on in my life though.

Here was my meager attempt at sharing what I wanted to aspire to in the education world. Seeing other teachers' accomplishments and dreams showed me just how much is out there!

The very next fall (about 8 months later), I felt prompted to work on my National Board Certification. The idea kept popping back into my mind, which is always an indicator that I need to listen carefully to what I am feeling. I looked into NBTC and figured, why not? If I was prompted to do it, it must be time.

Teacher Burnout

When I taught at my last school, nothing seemed like too much. I was in this weird bubble where I loved just about every single person I worked with, my students were validating (not perfect, but boy did we have fun), and I felt like I was really growing and making progress as a teacher. I could stretch my abilities as a teacher and I remember once thinking, "I can't believe I get paid for this. I am so lucky to have found a vocation that is truly my passion."

Fast forward to this year. I wouldn't say the inner city is what changed my perspective on teaching - necessarily. My last school year, despite being truly wonderful, was one of the most demanding (and rewarding) in my career. I was involved in quality professional development that inspired, motivated, and taught me how to be a better educator. I was trusted by administration and given leadership roles that helped me serve my fellow staff members while also finding joy in teaching and leading my peers. I had a delightful student teacher fall semester (my third one) who became a dear friend. My paycheck was the best it had ever been (again - let's not get carried away here - educator's are never paid what they are worth), I took actual vacations, and even received a few awards/recognition(s) from faculty and district. It was a really good year for me.

At the same time, last year was extremely trying. I felt prompted to get National Board Certification and with all of the demands of the year, I completed my national boards in about 3.5 months, while most people take a minimum of one year and up to five years. I have never been so stressed out about a certification. I still don't know if I have passed said national boards, but that is a blog post for another day. All of those good things mentioned above required extensive amounts of time. On top of all of that, I decided to move to another state. I had to search for and apply for jobs, network, apply for a Missouri teaching certificate, etc. My last few weeks of school were so consumed with National Boards and I still had not heard about a job (although I was rejected from a very large pool of possibilities). I finished the year with some of the sweetest memories of my career and I had no idea if I would even have the opportunity to teach again.

I received only one interview offer, and as the fates would have it, that is the school I was hired at. From the very beginning, this teaching position wasn't a passion, it was a job. And I hated my job.

This was such a new experience for me. Teaching has always been a passion of mine. I would talk to other teachers going through a hard time and they would tell me that I was so motivational and inspiring - I clearly loved what I did. So what was this nauseous feeling every time I turned the corner to my school? Why did I sit in the parking lot in my car waiting until the last minute to go inside?

The only rationalization I came up with is teacher burn out. After a crazy school year, moving twice this summer (once a few towns over and again a few states over) AND working as a mentor for a summer school program, I was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. I arrived in St. Louis on a Monday and started meetings on a Tuesday. It wouldn't be until Labor Day (almost a month later), that I would actually have a week day off.

I will tell you where I am at emotionally, mentally, and physically in a blog post later on; I want to address teacher burnout. Until this year I didn't understand how teachers could feel like it was too much. I understood that teaching was demanding, but I always thought, "It's your job. Just do it!" My optimism and love for the job outweighed the magnanimous amount of commitment that teaching requires. I can think of three friends that might quit teaching in the middle of the this school year. THREE. In fact, three teachers at my school have already quit and left. I can think of about three more friends that are probably not going to return to teaching next year.
What has teaching become so that we are burning teachers out before they can truly embrace and perfect their craft? I know there are hard jobs out there - social work, medical professionals, retail, night shifts, etc. I get it. But HOLY COW. We are educating our children - citizens of the United States who will run (or ruin) our country in the future. There is something very wrong with a profession that drains the very souls out of its workers. Teaching is so validating. It is a beautiful, sacred vocation. For me, it has been a spiritual journey and I stand by that.

Still, this year has been unusually hard for MANY of my teacher friends - home in Utah and out here in the inner city. How can we fix this as a nation? How can I better support my friends? How can I better support myself? How much longer can I be an educator if this is the state of mind I'm in?

This probably isn't the last of the "teacher burnout" series I will write, but it's a starting point. Something is very wrong in our country regarding education and it is alarming on many levels. I sincerely thank those of you who support education. I particularly support those of you who believe that education starts in the family. Thank you for teaching your children to be kind, gracious, and TEACHABLE. That is truly a unique gift.

-Ms. Damron-