NBCT Reception Comments...

One of my responsibilities at this summer's NSDC Conference on Teacher Leadership is to help introduce a new effort that is in the planning stages at the NSDC. Known as the Institute for Teacher Leadership, it is designed to support NBCTs in their work beyond the classroom. During a reception for NBCTs held on Tuesday night, we're asking NSDC members that are also Board Certified to complete a survey on the kinds of leadership roles that they're motivated to pursue and the kinds of leadership skills that they have yet to master.

In introducing the survey, I made the following remarks:

One of the things that I like to do anytime that I'm speaking to a group of NBCTs is to make sure that everyone in the room is really "board certified." I guess it comes out of my desire to protect our accomplishment a bit.

So I've developed a short survey over time that I think does a nice job verifying someone's certifiability. What I'll ask you to do is raise your hand each time you hear a statement that resonates with you.

Let's start with an easy one: Raise your hand if you thought the little blue box that arrived on your doorstep one fall afternoon seemed relatively harmless at first.

Now raise your hand if your mind changed round about February when your spouse and children were distant memories and your computer had replaced your best friends.

Yup----Board Certified Teachers.

Raise your hand if you're still trying to figure out what a "big idea" in math and science really are or if the phrase "assessment center" gives you nightmares.

Raise your hand if you had at least one moment of sheer panic after sealing one of your entries in those indestructible mailing envelopes because you just weren't sure that you'd included your "final, final" copy.

Sure sign of an NBCT!

Now raise your hand if you drew some stares at the post office when you refused to leave until you physically saw the mailman put postage on your box---and then you insured that thing for like ten thousand bucks!

(I think the only people in our town who know the National Board submission schedule better than teachers are the mailmen....they know how important that box is!)

Raise your hand if you began to obsessively check the NBPTS website at about the beginning of October even though the site clearly stated that results wouldn't be available until the end of November or the beginning of December.

Thought so----NBCTs! Teachers that I know will hit the refresh button a thousand times a day as "results day" draws near.

Now raise your hand if you beamed for about a week after finding out that you had certified because you knew that your practice had stood up against the most rigorous definition of accomplished practice in our profession.

Yes sir---I'm in a room full of NBCTs! And you know what---you had the right to beam for about a week because you'd proven that you are a master teacher.

So did every other person in this room! Take a look around. That person in front of you...the one to either side of you....the person behind you...they've all proven that they've got a deep understanding of the content that they teach---and that they know how to make that content approachable for children.

They're on the cutting edge of instruction, constantly reflecting on and improving what they do in the classroom. They're passionate and driven. They can differentiate for a wide range of student ability levels. And most importantly, they have great potential as leaders within our profession.

In fact, they're probably already working as leaders. How many people here are mentors for new teachers?

Who takes on student teachers?

Who works on school, district or state level leadership teams?

Whose working in their professional organizations?

Who makes presentations or writes for journals?

Whose working beyond the classroom in instructional coach positions?

Heck---who simply drives conversations about effective teaching and learning in their schools and communities?

I'm always blown away by the wide range of work that we do on behalf of children each day.

But learning to lead isn't easy, is it? Has anyone else ever felt completely overwhelmed by a new task that you tried to tackle beyond the classroom? I know that I have! And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't convince my principal that I was unqualified for the new work that he was asking me to do. There was just this flawed assumption that I could do anything because I was board certified.

That one assumption led to the most painful professional failures in my entire career.

That's why I was completely jazzed to learn about a new effort of the National Staff Development Council called the Institute for Teacher Leadership---which is tentatively being scheduled in conjunction with next summer's Teacher Leadership conference in Orlando. The goal of the Institute is to support NBCTs in the work that they are doing beyond the classroom. Essentially, the NSDC wants to pair what we know about accomplished teaching with what they know about effective staff development and school leadership.

Sounds like a powerful combination, doesn't it?

And you can help to make it even more powerful. You see, we've developed a survey that we'd like you to complete that is designed to focus the efforts of Institute planners. We want to know what kind of leadership roles you're already filling---and which you're driven to pursue. We want to know what types of leadership skills you've mastered and which you're still struggling to learn. We want to know what your passions are so that we can design a professional learning opportunity that respects who you are---and who you want to be---as professionals.

So take a few minutes to complete our survey and leave it with an NSDC staffer before leaving---and then sprint to your personal calendars and mark off a block of time to attend the Institute next summer.

It's an opportunity that you're not going to want to miss!