National Board Test Center & Scheduling

I just scheduled my Assessment Center appointment. Oh boy.

My Authorization to Test has been mailed and you can also download a copy online. I used that to schedule my appointment. I am fortunate that my district allows me up to 2 paid days to go to the Assessment Center without taking that time from my leave bank. I only need one day since the test is continuous.

I scheduled it for May 30. It is the 2nd to last week of school. It will allow me to rest from the end of March after I have sent off my portfolio to the end of April/early May and then I can begin studying for the Assessment Center. I have found a ton of great resources at ecgen.org to prep for the Assessment Center so I feel really good about my decision to take a little time off, rest and relax and then hit the ground running to study and practice for the assessments.

I'm lucky in that the center I am taking my test at is only 4 miles from my school building. So it will be just like going to work that day, except I'll be taking a big ole test. 

We used to only get 3 personal days per year and last year they added a 4th one which was kind of awesome. I am going to be very strategic in planning my personal days this year. I am going to use them to work on National Board. My kids will be at school and thus I can work in relative quiet. Our puppy is used to be home all day now so I can keep him in the kitchen like he's used to and work upstairs in relative quiet and peace (something that is hard to do when the kids are here)! 

I think I am going to schedule 2 personal days for February and at least one for March. I will take a 2nd one in March if I am really feeling crunched for time. Starting next Saturday I am actually going to leave the house for 4-6 hours to work on my entries. If I get out of the house and go somewhere quiet, I know I am going to get a lot more done, a lot faster than if I try to work on them entirely at home with the family around.

I am going to designate Tuesday and Wednesday nights my "National Board" nights. For at least an hour after dinner those nights, through February, I am going to make myself work on my entries. An hour isn't a lot but it's better than not working on it during the week at all. At least two hours during the week and 4-6 on the weekend will give me a solid 6-8 hours of working on them every week through March 2. That's at least 48 hours, not including the personal days I plan to take in which I'll work for at least 4 hours on it as well. That's a lot of time and I need to use it well. No messing around, procrastinating or just not getting it done.

I also need to get The Husband on board and make him understand that this is not a process I can complete in a day. It is going to take time and he is going to have to step up, at least for a little while, so I can work.