There are some moments in your life that you remember so well. You know, it is one of those “where were you when…” moments. November 2005 was one of those moments – the moment I found out I passed the National Boards certification process.
National Boards – something I had never heard about as a young, novice teacher. I briefly heard about it while working on my Master’s degree. I finished my Masters in the summer of 2004. When school started that year, a few friends encouraged me to do National Boards with them. I had no clue what I was getting into. This was way before YouTube, Facebook (groups), Twitter, mentorship programs…literally, it was a “sink or swim” approach. To this day, I still use my Component 1 exam day as an example to my students on how not to act when faced with a challenging task (LOL)…don’t cry! Years ago, social science teachers had to write six (yes, 6!!!!) essays on various historical events. All you had to “study” for were themes. For example, I remember one theme was MOVEMENT in WORLD HISTORY. Like, what the heck?!?!?! How much STUFF and IDEAS has moved since the beginning of time? A LOT if you don’t know that answer. Each essay was like that. All you could do was touch up on a little of this and a little of that. Well, I get to the testing center on the “big day” and started my test. Literally, Essay 1 was on the one aspect in U.S. History I did not review as well. I cried. Yes, cried. Right there in the room. A grown adult crying. I just knew I was doomed. All I could do was write like I knew what I was talking about (and it paid off LOL).
Fast forward to November 2005…the Friday before everyone got out for Thanksgiving break. Back then, your scores were released at 8AM on a school day. I mean, that is a violation of the 8th Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment…that’s a joke, by the way). At this school where I first taught, the school day started at 7:55AM. So you know what that means. It means that I would have to check to see if I passed or failed while students are sitting in my class. I decided that morning to not check until my planning block last block of the day. However, two friends convinced me I had to check. Well, around 7:55am, when school started and scores were about to be released, these two dear friends stood behind me as I anticipated what was about to happen. I never did tell my students what was going on. They just sat and contemplated why three teachers were huddled around a computer. 8am approaches and I click the button. CONGRATULATIONS! That is what I saw. CONGRATULATIONS! My friends screamed. I started crying! They told me to call my husband to tell him. I walked outside and called his school to ask them to get him out of class (this was before texts and ease of cell phone use…those per minute plans make you think twice about using a cell phone). Anyway, he thought something bad had happened. All he could hear was my crying and shortness of breath. I finally got it out that I had passed.
Until you have experienced the pains of this process, you have no clue the joys and heartaches one experiences when these scores are released. I am thankful they allow teachers to experience this process now at home and on the weekend, to enable those who do not pass to process the emotions before going back to school. The process has changed a lot since I initially certified but the emotions are still the same. As teachers, we are trained to teach standards, write objectives, create assessments, and measure academics. Nothing is more frustrating and disheartening than doing everything you are supposed to do (in the classroom and for this process) only to have a random National Boards reader score you otherwise, literally in a way that makes you question everything you have ever learned. I have read entries of some who scored low, staring at the evidence that matched the standard and the rubric only for the official reader to think otherwise. I can’t speak on behalf of the other subjects but social sciences has transitioned away from actual content a teacher would teach in class to random issues that would never be in any curriculum. That isn’t measuring the success of a teacher. That is a “gotcha” moment that makes one wonder if this isn’t just a “money-making” scheme for an association. If anything, look at what College Board curriculums measure to guide content – not the whims of whomever decides these questions.
To those who have achieved what you thought was the unachievable – Congratulations!
To those who are still working on finishing the process – Psalm 127:1 “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” The tedious process is in vain if we attempt to work without the involvement of God, placing the process before church, family, and friends. There is a time and a place for everything.
To those who did not pass, remember Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Tim Keller once said, “The only storm that can really destroy—the storm of divine justice and judgment on sin and evil—will never come upon you. Jesus bowed his head into that ultimate storm, willingly, for you. He died, receiving the punishment for sin we deserve, so we can be pardoned when we trust in him. When you see him doing that for you, it certainly does not answer all the questions you have about your suffering. But it proves that, despite it all, he still loves you. Because he was thrown into that storm for you, you can be sure that there’s love at the heart of this storm for you.”
This year, I am completing my SECOND renewal (“Maintenance of Certificate”). Maintaining your certificate isn’t as horrendous as the original process once you get your mind wrapped around the PGEs. I am thankful this is it for me (I will be retired before this second time expires). To all those who contemplate this process in years to come, I will leave you with these words – “May the odds be ever in your favor.” LOL
