It's BAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

That's right... The quest for National Board status is back in my life. I am taking my (4 hour) assessment tomorrow where I will be asked 6 different scenario based questions about children that range in ages from 4-8 and cover each academic area: literacy, math, science, social studies, children's play, and physical education, health, and safety. I have devoted my day today to prepare but I'm at a loss for how to really get ready for this. There is only so much you can do since there isn't really a way to study. I am reviewing the standards, re-reading my entries, and looking at the rubrics they have given me for the assessment. Other than that I'm just going to have to go into the Assessment Center tomorrow with my fingers crossed with a lot of faith that I can get through this and do my very best. Please send good thoughts/prayers/what have you my way tomorrow from 8:30 until 1:00!
I'm kind of upset with myself for not taking the assessment right after I mailed off my portfolio, but I needed a break. I don't know what would have been better... taking it when I was overloaded with the National Board jargon/process OR taking it now that I've given myself a break. Regardless, this has been the most difficult thing I have ever gone through and tomorrow after my assessment, I vow to put this all behind me and enjoy my summer break! No reason to worry or stress when I won't know whether or not I got it until the end of NOVEMBER!!! ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

Thank You! Good Night!

FREE AT LAST!
FREE AT LAST!
GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY I'M FREE AT LAST!

Funny thing is... although my National Board portfolio is complete and in route to Texas (it'll be there tomorrow at 9:30, I've been tracking it obsessively), I feel more anxiety about it now than I did when I was working on it. I guess its the finality of it all. I have had to resist the temptation to re-read my entries for fear that I'll find a mistake or realize I've missed something completely. I have banned myself from looking on my Yahoo EC-GEN National Board group because what if someone posts something that will clue me in on something I could have done wrong?!? There is no turning back now. Just keep your fingers crossed and help me wait (not so patiently) until DECEMBER for my results!?!?

I have spent my last few days of Spring Break this week celebrating with friends and family. I have great people in my life who have been so supportive throughout this entire process. I couldn't have survived this without them. And a BIG thank you to the many bloggers that have kept me entertained during this process and for helping me procrastinate!

So Close You Can Almost Taste It...

As my NB deadline quickly approaches, I listened to Natasha Beddingfield's song Unwritten today with a different perspective. I related everything I've been feeling about National Boards to the lyrics and the song left me feeling inspired and happy. For the first time in a long time I felt refreshed and good. I feel the impact of the process I have been undertaking. Maybe it is because things are beginning to bloom here, tulips, dogwood trees, azaleas... or maybe because today is Easter, a day of rebirth...but what ever the reason I am feeling good about my efforts and like they have all been worth it:



Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

National Boards Suck...

(but please do consider going through this grueling process. I'll be there for you!)

I stumbled upon this today while not working. Anyone who has attempted National Boards will totally get this. For those of you who have not and are still not really sure what I've been doing over the past 9 months, maybe this will give you some insight and a good laugh:

You might be a National Board Candidate if . . .

1. You can order by number from the Chinese take-out place without consulting the menu

2. The people who answer the telephone at your local pizza delivery place and Chinese take-out restaurant recognize your voice and call you by name

3. You find a recent shopping list and an old shopping list in your coat pockets and you feel compelled to analyze them to determine what they reveal about the development of your consumer habits as they relate to your practice of making lists

4. You find a recent shopping list and old shopping list in your coat pockets and you contemplate using them as artifacts on which to base an interdisciplinary learning experience combining the topic of consumerism as both an economic and social issue with a math graphing activity, and you wonder if you can get three writing prompts out of it

5. You find out the hard way that a jug of red wine doesn't help you reflect on your practice

6. You attach to your mother's birthday present a cover sheet, a statement that you have release forms from everyone who signed the birthday card, a videotape of your children wrapping it while you facilitate, 12 pages of written commentary, then you place the present in a big envelope and slap a bar code sticker with your candidate number onto it before you FedEx it next-day delivery to your Mom in Texas

7. You pin a cover sheet and release form onto your students' coats and slap a bar code sticker with your candidate number onto each of their foreheads before you send them home from school

8. Your family drags you to an appointment with a therapist who works with with families and friends who feel neglected and the first thing she says when she sees the circles under your eyes and the stressed look on your face she says, "You teach, don't you?"

9. You get a call from Oprah because your friend volunteered your family and friends for the show on neglected families and friends, and the first thing she says when she hears the strain in your voice is, "You teach, don't you?"

10. You wake up at three am in a cold sweat and contemplate using your hot flashes in a health lesson and wonder how you can integrate the arts into that lesson

11. You buy stock in visine because in the past week you've purchased 3 bottles to soothe your bloodshot eyes.

12. Environmentalists picket your house because you've killed so many trees printing off draft after draft of entry after entry . . .

Procrastination

If anyone could see me right now they would be laughing hysterically.

As all of you are fully aware, I am turning in my National Board Portfolio in less than one week. I still have an ungodly amount of work to accomplish before then. I did not intentionally put things off, it has just honestly taken me this long to gather all the evidence, documentation, etc. needed to create my portfolio.

So here I am, 8 days left to work, on Spring Break, and doing everything I possibly can think of tonight to avoid working on these silly entries. The funny thing is, I've been "ready" to work since 6:00. I have been on the couch, laptop open, my portfolio instruction notebook next to me turned to the directions for the next paper I should be writing, but all I have accomplished (in two hours) is placing one bar code sticker on the cover page for Entry 4!! What is wrong with me?

Instead of working I have:
-researched my dental insurance policy
-created a meez (isn't she fun??? look she's wearing CROCS!)
-checked my e.mail 3-4 times
-created folders for my work e.mail inbox
-completed my NCAA brackets
-double checked my online bank account
-finally looked at my friend's recent photo album on Snapfish
-took a "break" to eat dinner
-checked my DVR to make sure Pop Fiction recorded last night
-realized I needed to watch Oprah
-watched Oprah
-fed the beast
-went back to www.meez.com and played a game
-called a friend to ask about my dental insurance
-read some of my favorite blogs
-put clothes in the wash
-folded clothes in dryer (you know I'm avoiding something if I'm folding clothes)
-realized I need to put clothes from the washer into the dryer
-posted this blog

Now, please no one distract me. I'm very, very busy.

10 Days To Go...

If anyone wants to know how to celebrate the completion of my National Board Portfolio on Wednesday, March 26th, here is my top ten list:

10. Peel me off the couch, lift the laptop off of me, and take my ass OUTSIDE for once.

9. Take me to the eye doctor because staring at the computer screen for hour after hour has definitely done some damage.

8. Find a way to make my hands not look quite so much like "the claw"

7. Invent a time machine so I can go back in time to make up for all the fun I've missed.

6. Write apology letters for me to all my friends who think I don't like them anymore because I don't return phone calls, e-mails, let alone spend any time with them.

5. Spend quality time with the beast of a dog because she's been so neglected. (My own mother told her she was getting fat today)

4. Post something witty and great on my blog since I can no longer formulate complete thoughts so my blog readers will still visit my site.

3. Work out with me at the gym so I can lose the "National Board 15" (only a slight exaggeration)

2. Champagne, Beer, Wine, Margaritas, shit.... let's take shots of tequila!

And the number one way to celebrate and the only thing I think I have the energy left to do is...

1. Return to Basics. To a quiet, simpler place of serenity and relaxation...at the Day Spa.

Yep, that's all I want. Read the blurb I found on my favorite spa's website and then just try to argue with me. This is the best way I can think of to celebrate:

Relax. Re-energize. Revitalize. Refresh. Transform.

(YES! YES! YES!)

Begin treating yourself in the way you deserve.

(OH GOD!)

When you walk through our doors, you will encounter a polished staff of world-class beauty and pampering professionals to cater to your every need.

(DON'T STOP!)

Our mission is to make you feel more beautiful and more relaxed than ever before.

(GIVE IT TO ME!)

We are here to help you forget the pressures of the outside world and return you to a state of serenity.

(MMMMM, YEAH!)

From the candlelit treatment rooms to the soothing music, our 6,000 square foot facility is designed with your comfort in mind.

(ORGASMIC!!)

Well, CRAP!

Well... my Spring Break has started and for the next 2 and 1/2 weeks I'll be slaving away on National Boards. Not tonight thought, tonight I am home with a 101.5 fever. This couldn't have come at more inappropriate time. I do not have time to be getting sick right now!

Me, Milo, and the Market of Words

I have spent my entire weekend writing for my boards. The hardest part about writing hasn't been figuring out what to say, but rather how to say it. At one of the workshops I attended for National Boards the speaker said, "Every word you use is like valuable real estate." That didn't really mean anything to me until I sat down with my computer to begin writing. Having a page limit restriction has really made me question every word I use. I feel like Milo from The Phantom Tollbooth when he entered the market of words... "Get your fresh-picked ifs, ands, and buts. Hey-yea, hey-yea, hey-yea, nice ripe wheres and whens. Juicy tempting words for sale." This is hard.

To Blog or Write for Boards...That is the Question

Alternate Title:
F*@K, It's November and I Haven't Written A Damn Thing for My National Board Entries

I am sorry for slacking in the blog department. However, believe me, I feel like that is the only area I've been slacking recently. I have been at school so late for the past 3 weeks. I guess I can't postpone working on things towards my pursuit of National Boards any longer. I am definitely lucky to be working on getting my boards with my 2 teammates. There is just no way I could do all this work alone, but in some respects, working with them is slowing me down. Don't get me wrong, they are fantastic, but we have gotten to the point where we can't do anything independently from one another. We teach in the same space, literally our classrooms are joined together, and day in and day out we bounce ideas off one another. We collaborate, team teach, and share students. Its an ideal situation, but we are 100% dependent on each other. We can't make a single decision alone...whether the decision is what color folders our math folders will be, or more recently, what accomplishments are we going to document for Entry 4 for our boards. I am not used to thinking on my own anymore and so I'm struggling with writing my entries...let alone finding the time to work alone. So, again, forgive me for not blogging as often. I will do a better job! If anyone else has gone through the National Board process, I would love some support and words of wisdom.