Crunch Time!

So my personal deadline is looming! I'm almost ready. I WILL be ready by the end of the day on Friday the 16th. Even if I am running to the post office at 4:50, I will get that box out of my house on Friday.

I have to finish my video analysis for E3 and then write my reflection, then print it so I can read it, make revisions and cut out "fluff" and then fix it and that's done. I put it aside LONG ago and then procrastinated going back to it. I'm glad I did! Because after all of the chats I've attended at ecgen, all of the information I have read, and all of the "marinating" that entry did in my brain...I went back to it with fresh eyes and I am much happier with it now. It may not be perfect but I feel better about it than I did originally...and I've rewritten almost the entire entry. There was clearly a reason it was bothering me!

Then I have to finish my analysis of the second writing sample for E1 and write that reflection. Print, edit, revise, fix and that's done too. It feels kind of WEIRD to know that this is it. I've worked my butt off, gone through a mini crisis of my own during this process (from something totally unrelated) and I'm still gonna make it. Yesterday on the forums at ecgen, we were chatting about being almost there with this part....and I realized that I don't even care if I don't certify in my first try. I'm certainly not going to go into it expecting NOT to...but if I don't, it isn't the end of the world. I feel very confident about E2 and E4. The other two, because they've taken me the longest, I feel less sure about but I'm not worried.

Once I mail that box...it's relaxation. Well, as much as you can relax when  you've got millions of things happening at school! I'm downloading everything from the EMC Literacy Yahoo! group regarding the assessment center. I'm organizing my own section in my National Board folder for each of the 6 exercises. After Spring Break, I will begin studying for the AC. I will practice, practice, practice each exercise. I will have about 7 weeks to practice. If I practice ONE exercise a week, daily, to get used to the type of prompt it is, practice getting a complete answer written with all of the criteria in 30 minutes and having time to proof it before I move on....I can spend my 7th week practicing them all. So I can get comfortable with 2-90 minute sessions in which to complete the entire AC. (You get a short break between the 3rd and 4th exercise.)

It's on. I will be ready. I worked hard, I am solid in my evidence and I feel confident that I can do this in one try. To prove it to myself but also to all of my naysayers who said I was crazy to do this and how "worthless" it is. I haven't found it worthless. I have found it frustrating, stressful and enlightening. I have learned a lot. Once it's all over on May 30 (the day I take my AC) I will turn my focus to next school year. To how to use everything I've learned about myself as  a teacher and my students in this age group to focus my instruction for 2012-2013. Everything will be okay. If I open my profile in November and see that I didn't certify on my first try, I will reflect, look deep and try again. It won't be the end of the world.