I am stuck.
I have read and reread all of the prompts so many times that I do not even know what they mean anymore. If you have worked on becoming a National Board Certified Teacher before, or are currently in the process, you know what I mean. Where do I even begin to write?
I have been trying to start writing since June 2021, and have not been able to break through my writer’s block yet. I have been procrastinating by reading the standards for my certificate area, the What Teachers Should Know And Be Able To Do book, The Architecture of Accomplished Teaching, and any other book I can get my hands on to keep myself from writing what I actually need to write. Well, maybe that is not procrastinating, but I am sitting here staring at a blank Maintenance of Certificate template and it does not seem to want to write itself for me, so I am counting that as procrastinating.
I need to take my own advice that I give to candidates that is equal parts helpful and unhelpful: Just do it.
Do not worry about getting it perfect the first time. It will not be, and that is okay. The beauty is in the revisions.
Just do it.
I finally sat myself down and said to myself “You are writing something tonight even if you throw it all away. You are going to do something. Just do it.”
I took a deep breath and read only one prompt. I told myself that I would just answer one and then I would have something instead of a big fat blank screen in front of my face. It would be progress! I started writing, without overthinking what I did or the writing process itself, and before I knew it I had almost a whole page of writing. I was building momentum, and read the next prompt. “I can do this,” I thought to myself. Before I knew it, I had three pages of writing and had answered almost all of the questions related to one of my Professional Growth Experiences. The writing is not perfect and is far from a final draft, but it is progress.
I know I am not the only one encountering writer’s block, or procrastinating on one of the other aspects of National Board certification like taking a writing sample, recording a video, or looking at student assessments to guide my instruction. It is January, and you have still have time on your side… for now. Do not take that for granted and just do it.
If you are worried about taking a writing sample because students might not be where you want them to be: just do it. A writing sample is better than no writing sample and you can always take another one if you feel like this one does not give you the evidence that you would like to have. Remember, it is January and you have time to do another one if this writing sample is not to your liking. You will not have that opportunity for much longer.
If you are worried about recording a video because it is scary to see yourself teaching, or your students are naughty, or you forgot to wear that one shirt you thought would look really nice on camera: just do it. Do a few practice videos to figure out camera angles that show most of the class and fit you in the frame, technology issues, and for your students to get all the weird behavior out before the real video. The worst thing that can happen is a “happy accident” and you get a great video full of evidence and have one less thing to record. You want to figure out what technical problems you will have with enough time to fix them, and right now it is January and time is still on your side. You can record more videos if you run into technical problems, or if your students are extra goofy in the video thinking it is going to make them the next big YouTuber. Time will not always be on your side, but it still is now.
If you are worried about looking at specific assessments to use or obsessing about a self-assessment for students to use to monitor their own understanding: just do it. If the results of the assessment are not showing the evidence you hoped to highlight you have the time to teach another unit and analyze assessment data. Having a set of assessment data is better than none, and with time still, on your side, you can always try again if needed.
Oh, and I rolled my eyes every time I typed just do it. Sometimes the first step is the hardest one. What is one step you can take this week?
Photo by Brett Jordan from Pexels
Caitlin Gawlowski
Caitlin was born to be a teacher, although she did not realize that teaching was her calling until she went to college. She has always loved to write, and began college with the mindset of becoming a journalist. Before beginning her freshman year of college, she changed my major to Elementary Education on a whim and has never looked back. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Arizona State University, and won the Outstanding Student Teacher Award during her student teaching experience in the Cave Creek Unified School District. Caitlin spent 9 years in the classroom teaching 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. She became a National Board Certified Teacher in 2018, and holds a certificate in Early and Middle Childhood Literacy: Reading/Language Arts. The 2021-2022 school year marks the beginning of her 10th year teaching, where she will be working as an Academic Interventionist, and supporting other National Board candidates on their journey toward National Board certification. If she is lucky enough to have free time, you can find her traveling Arizona with her husband and son, spending time with her friends and family, taking group fitness classes, or enjoying a good book.