I’m waiting for iMovie to upload all of my iPhoto video clips so I can do some editing. While I’m at it, how about a blog post about what I’m editing?
For the past 7 months, my mind has been absorbed in National Boards. This is a certification process for teachers, but counselors can submit, too. This is no easy feat, I’ve learned. I’d heard from many a teacher that it’s quite hard, that there’s a 40% passing rate for first tries, and so you should be ready to submit a round two the next year. And I heard from various sources that the counseling cert is even harder than the teacher’s. No one seems to know why. Regardless, all of that info appears to be correct.
While Boards has been on my mind since Aug/Sept., the majority of the heavy work has been done in February and March. It’ll all be in the mail on March 31, the absolute last possible postmark date, but I won’t know if I passed until Dec. I completed one draft this fall, and had 2 more drafts started in Dec/January, but didn’t even start the 4th draft until Feb. I did lots of filming in Dec/Jan, but didn’t have a video I could use for one entry until March. They tell you to start early. I heard it over and over. I knew I should. I sort of did. But then I just felt so unmotivated. And discouraged. And didn’t totally understand what they were looking for. The edit suggestions I received made me think I had no idea what I was doing.
In fact, that was true, to some extent. It’s really hard to start early when you don’t completely understand what they expect. It wasn’t until the February cohort meeting that my mind really made sense of things. FEBRUARY! That’s not early. Anyway, I feel that my last 2 entries are much stronger than my first two, because I started from a point of understanding expectations. I’m not sure that completing drafts any earlier really would’ve been helpful, after all. However, reading through the 300 pages of instruction (seriously!) probably would’ve been. I ended up reading it piecemeal—and more comprehensively the closer I got to deadline. While the instructions can be confusing, reading them more thoroughly before I started gathering evidence, filming myself, etc., definitely would’ve made the process smoother.
If you’re considering Boards, consider doing Take One first. Pretty sure I would be much less stressed if I’d done that. And find someone to do it with. Thankfully, a colleague is also going through this. While we don’t get together to work, it’s helpful to have someone else to discuss the confusion with, share ideas with, etc. And realize that writing for Boards is nothing like writing for grad school–this is actually harder in many ways, I think partly because there isn’t a weekly class to report to.
And now I’m almost done, minus the assessment in late June. I will have my life back, which will include sleep, movies, sleep, exercise, sleep, making plans for Paris, and hopefully more music. I hope to pass, but I will understand if I don’t. That said, I spent months assuming I would not be one of the 40%, and then got a pep talk that turned my thought around. As a friend pointed out, a pessimist and an optimist will both die. But the lives they live in the meantime make all the difference. Um, good point. 🙂
If I pass Boards and get that WA state bonus (the following year), I will happily commit to a yoga pass. This editing/studying makes for a far too sedentary lifestyle!
On the agenda for next year… singing. I miss it.
A Living Song 