Sorry it's been so long... since July 2023?
Where did the time go?
Let's see if I can recap here.
In my last post I mentioned how I needed to start working on my National Boards Certification as my previous certification was about to expire. Back in 2014 when I was teaching in the classroom I passed my first National Board Certification in ELA (Early and Middle Childhood/Literacy: Reading-Language Arts) and it was good for ten years!
Here we are, fast forward ten years and I'm no longer teaching in the classroom, so trying to figure out how to complete the MOC (Maintenance of Certification) in an area I no longer taught seemed overwhelming and impossible!
I knew I wanted to maintain my NBCT status so I made the decision to start over and certify in my new teaching area; health and fitness. Since I waited until the absolute last chance to renew, as in if I didn't pass this new certification, not only would my NBCT status expire, my teaching certificate would expire as well! Plan B would mean a scramble to provide the necessary clock hours, but no longer being a national board certified teacher.
Talk about being down the wire!
No pressure right?
When I first started the national board certification process I was working with three other colleagues in the same certification area as well as meeting monthly with a cohort mixed with teachers from around my school district. I had a lot of support and a lot of eyes looking through each component. Reading through multiple drafts and watching each video multiple times to try and catch every little detail! Not to mention all the studying for the one computer assessment component. Multiple choice and short answer questions... OH SO MANY flashcards we created to prep and test ourselves! Even completing 'practice test sessions' to make sure we were typing quick enough to squeeze in ALL the information to answer the question.
OMG- Just thinking back to how much work went into that year to collect, analyze, edit, and finalize each component gives me a little anxiety just thinking about it all. I was also only in my 5th year of teaching AND I had my first student-teacher at the time. I was still coaching high school gymnastics which meant November through February was literally working from 7 o'clock AM to 7 o'clock PM! Then working on National Boards work AFTER all that?!
I almost can't even imagine how I was able to stay sane through it all. It's like you go into autopilot at some point and in reflecting back it seems unimaginably impossible because I've currently shifted SO FAR away from being so busy! I stopped coaching gymnastics after 17 years so I could spend more of my time for myself and family. I've only had one other student-teacher because of the time commitment it takes (and I've also switched into a new position- teaching health & fitness) and wasn't ready to tackle teaching someone else as I was just adjusting myself.
So, saying that I was VERY apprehensive and highly anxious to start this whole National Board Certification process again would be an understatement... AND I'd be doing it solo this time.
No cohort.
No other colleagues.
Just me.
UGH!
Was it even possible? I knew I was determined and focused enough to stay on-task with what needed to be done. I also had 10 more years of teaching experience under my belt and knowledge of the whole 'National Boards' process, but I was starting over in a new subject area and that freaked me out!
My new certification would be for Health & Fitness. It'd been since 2006, graduating from college that I had spent time with studying and thinking about Health & Fitness content in that way. Luckily I kept all those old college textbooks and I dusted them off and started to get back to the basics of all the foundational concepts that I'd need to pull this off! I started to re-read and create MORE flashcards to help prepare for yet another computer assessment!
Needless to say I started the last school year planning and preparing lessons that would help me to collect the best evidence to complete each component. That was the plan anyways and there was no turning back at this point.
You know it's a bit crazy when you look back and wonder how it was all possible. I mentioned 'autopilot' before and I don't even know if that best describes the feeling of it all. It's like you just know IT HAS to get done, and so you do it. You hunker down, put in the work, and do whatever you have to. Somehow the videos get recorded- it's 10 years later so instead of someone standing and recording me during the lesson I have my iPhone plugged into this Swivel device that is set-up to follow me around as I teach. The microphone is already build into the tracking device so it's hands free! I recorded multiple videos by myself and finally just selected the two that I'd have to make work.
It's never perfect of course, at one point I was walking too fast and the 'tracking device' didn't keep up so the video is still recording my voice and we're all still carrying on with the lesson, but for what felt like an eternity, the camera is pointing off in the wrong direction. Yes, it was actually only 10 seconds, but there was no going back. I had to make this video work and I was second guessing my choice all the way until the morning I got the email saying that I'd passed!
So yes. I passed. I endured a crazy busy year and submitted ALL FOUR components in one year (you now have the option of completing one or more at a time to stretch out the process so it's not so overwhelming, but remember I waited until the last opportunity so completing all four components was my ONLY option without there being a lapse in my certification).
There it is! I'm Nationally Board Certified again; Physical Education/Early and Middle-Childhood.
I opened the email and saw 'fireworks' (if you know you know) and the biggest relief washed over me! It was as if I'd been holding my breath all this time! ...and the waiting... OMG the waiting... since submission in May is killer!
Needless to say I was proud of all the work I'd put in again, but even prouder of the fact that I did it alone. No one else watched my videos to give feedback. No one else read my papers to edit, just me. Don't get me wrong, I have amazing colleagues in my building, many NBCT who offered to help, but I'm not one to often ask for help. It's hard to coordinate around schedules, everyone is busy with their own work loads, and honestly I was too nervous to have others check my work.
I don't recommend going solo if it's your first time going through the process, but it can be done.
So what else?
Since I wasn't able to work much on my TpT resources while working on my National Boards, I was excited to get back to creating things when I could. Over the summer I was able to create a much needed Nutrition resource with realistic food cards. I didn't have a lot of resources available to teach Nutrition and was always putting together a hodgepodge of materials to make it work. I LOVE what I was able to create and the kids did so much better having the food labeled so they could actually name the different food items.
I enjoyed creating each of the different food pieces and tried to create a wide variety of items so show all of the different choices out there! Maybe encourage students to try something new or at least see the different options.
With the weight of National Boards work off my shoulders, I started to spent time looking through and planning out my school year to include new units that I didn't have time to teach before, or I wasn't sure how to execute...one being Jump Rope Ninja! I've seen so many resources online and a training I attended earlier this Fall gave suggestions on how to best incorporate the jump roping activities with the program Jump Rope Ninja! I was still hesitant until I started to create my own resource to best fit my needs, and of course wanted to share it with others!
That's what I created! A mix of different certificates, bulletin board materials, and various resources to use for a Jump Rope Ninja program. It's a mix of what I could find online, but wanted to make it 'cuter' with fonts and images. Lately it's gained some traction on TpT since the PE Specialist is currently teaching his jump rope ninja unit and shares his videos online... and I think this leads to people searching TpT for resources and they find mine! Yay!
Personally, I have my materials organized to start after Spring Break this year and can't wait to see how it goes! I'm sure there will be kinks... things that don't work, or maybe it's a hit and what I use will work perfectly! One can only hope, Haha.
What else?
I've also been using this new resource I created to teach Muscles and Bones with my intermediate students. It's been my focus for my SGG in our Teacher Evaluation this year. I selected to focus on using Assessments in the classroom and wanted to use Muscles & Bones as the content to assess. Again, I didn't already have and/or couldn't find any resources to fit my needs so I'd have to create my own!
Notice the theme with what I create?
So I started creating and putting together a mix of resources to teach muscles and bones and so far it's going well! I have a bulletin board that we add new muscles and bones to each week as well as some handouts that students will use to study and test their understanding. We'll assess one last time this spring to see what they've learned!
It's been a work in progress... I keep updating the resource as I'm personally using the resources and need to modify what's working for us in class. I hope others find it useful too and the feedback has been positive so that's good!
Phew.
That was a lot.
And that was just an update with 'school' stuff keeping me busy, let alone the rest of life, but that will have to be in another post!
As the title of this blog, as well as my TpT store states; Find Your Balance. That's what I continue to do... sometimes it's a little more school than life and then it tips to more life than school, but currently I'm enjoying the balance of both.
Spring is right around the corner here in the PNW, and with warmer weather and more sunshine always comes the itch to get outdoors and explore! Even as I type this post I'm looking out the window to see the partly cloudy, high 40's temp and feel the urge to wrap this up and get outside.
Shelby
