Wendi {at random}

I am nearly blind from being on the computer all the live-long day. I've been working on my National Board Certification renewal portfolio. Now I know what Tiger Woods goes through when he practices for the Masters. Only I don't get a green jacket. But I do get a nice little certificate to hang up on the wall of my choice. And if I was teaching in a public school in Virginia, I'd get a handsome $2,500 bonus every year for the next 10 years. If I lived in Mississippi, I'd get an annual $6,000 bonus. It's hot there, though. And humid. Since I teach in Pennsylvania, which sucks, by the way, and teach in a private school, I just get the lovely certificate. But ya know? That's enough for me. I'm easy, what can I say.

Really, that's what I've done today. I've typed my fingers to the nub on how I teach reading comprehension strategies like inferring through the reading workshop model and how I teach writing by focusing on the reading-writing connection. Big stuff, I tell ya.



I had to videotape one component of the portfolio. I recorded 10 minutes of moi leading the class in a minilesson (teacher-speak for a brief lesson) focused on how to infer what the author doesn't explicitly say. It wasn't so much my great teaching as my students' great inferring. They're a smartly bunch.

And now I'm so addicted to the keyboard that I sit here doing the blog. That and, plus, my mom has missed the blog updates. I love you, Mom! Thanks for being my loyal reader!

I finally couldn't take it anymore and quit Microsoft Word for Mac. Literally, quit it. Stopped the application and saved the whole shebang.

And then I thought on it some more. I'm wild that way.


The BOX has to be mailed by April 30. I have completed 2 of the four papers required. I have almost completed the third, but need to add a couple of examples of how I impacted student learning and all that jazz. I have a reflection on my growth as a teacher to go. And then I send my box off to the wild blue yonder in Texas. You can bet I'll pay extra to track that shipment.

Why put myself through this experience, you ask? Well, part of me feels that since I worked so hard to get it, I shouldn't let it go, even if it costs to recertify. Another part of me feels that keeping the certification will certainly help if I move and want to teach in another place. And, well, the biggest part of me (which is my hips) feels that this is the best way to reflect on my growth as a teacher. Truly, going through National Board Certification was by far the best professional development I have ever undertaken. No GIANT NAME IN EDUSPEAK can compare to the process of examining your teaching and reflecting on how you can be even better.

Break to watch the TV...

I see now that Christopher has died on the Sopranos. A rerun is on, and I'm admittedly drawn to it. The Sopranos opening song is the theme song of Camden's arrival into this world. Let me explain. The season premiere was slated to start when our first son was born. We actually have photos of Curt and me in bed awaiting this event, with Camden snuggly wrapped and lying in my arms. And then the theme song came on.



Those were the days.