The Process affects the Product

I don't think The Husband understands how much TIME one takes to do something as huge as National Board. He makes comments about how I'm always on the computer, blah blah. This morning I informed him that my entire life from now until March 30 when I mail my box is going to be National Board. I warned him when I started this process.

I am working hard on E3 this weekend. Well, today. I gave myself permission to take tomorrow completely off. No school work. No computer. No cell phone (ie where the internet is). No nothing school or National Board related. So today it is. I have an ecgen.org chat in about 2 hours. I am digging the chats because they are UBER helpful. It's always good to hear other people's thoughts and ideas for their entries. I was in chat last night with one other gal who is an ecgen candidate. We were just chatting about everything and nothing and talked a bit about E4. I'm so happy that I was able to help her brainstorm and nail down her ideas for that entry. It just makes you feel good.

I am hopeful to finish my draft of E3 today. Then I will be set with my deadlines still. And I will be thrilled. I haven't touched E2 since I printed it. I plan to finish drafts for all of my entries then ship them off to readers, meanwhile making my own notes, changes and modifications. Once I have feedback from readers, I will take that and my own notes and changes and work on my finals. I REALLY want all of March to work on that aspect of it -- the revision and polishing. If I can get a draft of E3 done today I may ship those two entries off to my readers so I can get them back quicker while I am working on E1 (E4 is pretty much done -- waiting on my latest data to finish it, which the data should be ready by Monday, I hope). 

This process IS overwhelming and frustrating and challenging....but I am finding that I as time goes on and I read more and learn more, I am less overwhelmed and frustrated. I am empowered. I feel like I've made growth in my teaching and my passion for teaching literacy has been recharged for the better. The end product will just be the icing on my cake.

The Beginning: How I Started

When I began this journey, I decided to work on my entries kind of haphazardly. To me, the most important thing about this process is finding the spot to begin that works the best for YOU.

I downloaded all of the directions, entry notes and everything else I felt was pertinent to this process over the summer. I actually spent time at my cabin reading through some of it (even though right now it kind of feels like I've only just started the whole process!). I found this was SUPER helpful when it came time for me to really think about a schedule for tackling this process. I actually printed out a calendar for myself and just made some tentative notes with deadlines and goals. It isn't to say that this stuff hasn't all changed -- because most of it has -- but the act of planning it out has made it much easier to follow through on it and stay somewhat on track.

I took advice I had read somewhere (more than likely at Angela Watson's NB page at The Cornerstone for Teachers) to do the videos early in the process. I am SO glad that I did that because now I have the rest of my time to focus on my writing. I have spent just as much time READING about National Board as I have WORKING on National Board. For me, this is essential. Working on undergrad and master's degrees back to back really showed me the kind of learner that I am. I NEED to know as much as possible about something in order to really process what I need to do to meet the expectations.

So I have read blogs, internet forums, yahoo groups, etc about the process. Some honestly aren't all that helpful. They basically repeat what National Board has on their website. If I find it truly helpful or life changing, I bookmark it. I have a folder saved right to my taskbar called "National Board" and all of my NB links are in there, easily found in one place. It is super helpful.

Additionally, I got myself organized. Since I downloaded the directions for multiple certificates as I was trying to decide which one to work on, I read through them online to save paper. Once I decided on the EMC-Literacy certificate, I printed all of the portfolio directions, the evaluation guides, the scoring information and anything else pertinent to helping me through the process. I put it all into a big binder with tabs so I can quickly and easily find what I need if I'm looking for information.






Then I got myself an expandable file that had 12 slots in it. I use 3 for each entry. One for the directions, one for any artifacts or resources (ie student work samples) and one for a working copy or other readings that I might need to use for that entry. It has been super helpful because I can carry around this smaller expandable file and my iPad and not have to carry the big binder (my iPad can slip into the front of the expandable and both can slip right into my briefcase or tote.





Most recently I have read this book:





It is written by a fabulous lady who is also a big time poster at ecgen.org. It is packed with info and honestly it is one of the reasons why I kind of feel like I've just started. This is not bad. I actually appreciate it. Bobbie makes you think, gives you concrete advice and FORCES YOU to examine what you thought you knew. It is not bad. I just wish that I had had my hot little hands on that book earlier in my journey. But it is okay. I am not behind and I have no need to panic (and yes I have to tell myself this constantly because it is SO easy
to get yourself freaked out with the amount of work to be done.

While focusing on videotaping for most of the fall, I also started putting together information for Entry 4. I think I have a good start. However, after reading through some forums at ecgen.org and Bobbie's book, I decided to put that one to the side for a week or so. I need to let my info "marinade" in the back of my mind a bit and then look at the work with fresh eyes. Then I will revise it, ship it off to a reader and go from there.

Currently I am immersing myself in Entry 2 which for the EMC Literacy is Constructing Meaning through Reading. I burned my DVD today. I have my instructional context mostly ready and am working on the planning portion of the writing. I am going to watch and rewatch my video and make some notes so that I can be better focused when I go back to the writing. I will post more about how I am working through that process.