Writing
Advice from Former NBC Candidates:
TESTIMONIAL ADVICE
Voices from
the Trenches!!
Advice about writing for NBC from former candidates
jtrippsmith@whitfield.k12.ga.us
Janet
Tripp-Smith, NBCT
NBCT 2003
AYA-ELA
This advice has
served well for several teachers in my area (field and locale). First write
about what occurred, not what will occur or what you hope will occur or what you think will occur. My guess is that they can't give credit for what has not
happened, hence keep it past tense. Get a list of past tense verbs from
any Resume website as they are varied and are Action words. This became evident
to me during my own revision. I found myself changing my verb tenses from
future to past - then, the Epiphany!
Something I tell
my seniors about writing is that most people focus on storytelling or Summary with a few personal comments or Commentary thrown in. Good writing focuses more on
How you know it's so or Evidence and Why (so what?) it's worth knowing or Significance.
Pamela Windspirit
NBCT 1999
EA Math
The guiding questions used by assessors found in your
scoring guide are indeed the real thing.
The items found in each one are the major components of what assessors
are looking for. I did not score Entry
4 -- I scored Entry 1, but I can tell you that supporting details give your
entry (any entry) a "convincing" air. As you are writing, remember, you are not aiming for the Pulitzer
Prize -- this is a technical piece -- give information and do it in a concise
manner, giving as many supporting details as possible to make your entry more
convincing. Stick to the
facts, and remember, assessors may not be from your state
so they may not know what the acronyms you typically use mean. Spell it out. Bolding and underlining are nice, but I found that many people
overused bolding and underlining, and many of those used it in the wrong
places, making the entry difficult to read and information hard to find. Follow the directions for font, line spacing
and margins. A font that is too small
or 1 1/2 line spacing very likely means that PAGES at the end of your document
will NOT be read.
This may be a little early to say this as most are still
working thru Entry 4, but when you get to other entries, please make certain
you know the difference between a concept and a procedure. Teaching the steps for adding fractions is
not teaching a concept, it is a procedure.
Having students "write" about the steps for adding fractions
is also a procedure. Remember.... the
featured entries are supposed to be examples of your BEST classroom
practices. Best wishes and good luck to
all candidates!!!
Chris Calohan
NBCT 2003
EAYA - Art
The key for me was
developing a system for organizing my entries in such a manner as to have a
good part of the writing started before I actually completed the
classroom work. I did this utilizing a three-part system: First, I typed
out each question asked in my entries and put these in bold print. Second,
I assessed each of the standards I had to address and picked one or two
particular questions that might best serve to exemplify these standards. These
I italicized. Third, I began to write to the level four rubric in a suppositional
frame of mind. "I am going to demonstrate how art is made by.....I will
use _____'s work to show how she struggled with.....," etc. I did this
writing as a fill in the blanks exercise systematically going through each
question with this format.
Sometimes I
actually used one of those sentences in my drafts or final write-ups. What they
served to do was get my mind writing to the rubric, to understanding how the
standards worked within the framework of each question, and what I was going to
have to do to prove-demonstrate-exemplify-analyze-reflect...in each question.
In my final writing, I left (where I could afford the space) part or all of the question in bold as an intro to the paragraph. I always addressed the "Overarching Goal" in bold print. It is important to ensure the assessor doesn't have to guess to what you are alluding. Make it as simple as possible.
Linda Gerecitano
NBCT 2002
EMC Art
The one most important piece of advice I can give anyone
is to use the "language" of the National Boards. As I was preparing
my portfolio entries I began each section with the words or paraphrased words
of what they were asking for. I also went through the standards book and did
the same to justify or elaborate upon things I had written about. I found this
helpful in organizing my own thoughts as well as giving back what I think they
wanted to hear.
Diana Triplett
NBCT 2000
EC-Gen
One of the problems I see most often is teachers' writing
in the passive voice (A meeting was held) instead of using active first person
(I held a meeting). This tends to
dilute the entry - making it appear weak. Many teachers want to add a lot of
fluff (I was so proud of Johnny when he....).
This is completely unscorable and takes up valuable space.
Descriptive writing seems particularly difficult for many candidates. They have difficulty keeping everything direct and to the point. Instead of saying "I had an intern in my classroom for 12 weeks in the fall of 2000. I met with him regularly before and after school to help him assess and improve his practices,” they say, "The nature of working with a student teacher is to help improve future educators. I lead my student teacher's experience by teaching her how to successfully accommodate all students by planning innovative and effective lesson plans to meet the needs of every third grader in my class. We collaborated to design approaches for the well-being of the class as a whole. I coached her in fine-tuning her skills as a presenter and a teacher. I modeled best practices and showed her ..." This writing style takes up lots of valuable space while producing little or no scoreable evidence.
Trying to use what they perceive as "NBPTS Standard
language," many candidates write in very stilted sentences like the one
above about collaborating to design approaches. Straightforward, plain talk is much more effective in providing
scoreable evidence. Whenever possible, candidates should "show"
rather than "tell." For
example, instead of saying "I value student choice and inquiry," they
should describe their lesson that gave students choices and opportunities for
inquiry.
Most entries require a reflection section. Many candidates make the mistake of
recapping the rest of the paper in this section. A reflection is NOT a summary.
Assessors look for examples of thoughtful insight like "I intended
for the students to learn ______, but they were frustrated because of
_________. Next time, I will try
__________ing to make it easier for them to understand this concept.
Cheri Stewart
NBCT 2000
ENEC Exceptional Needs
One of my mentors made a suggestion to me that I feel
greatly enriched the impact of my writing in my entries. She said to avoid as
much as possible any use of the verb to be....is, are, was, were, have, has
etc. She told me to write my entries using active voice. Example: instead of
saying "I was the collaborator" say "I collaborated". It
sounds simple but if a candidate really avoids the use of to be verbs and
writes in active voice the entry sounds more powerful!!!!
Sharon Christensen-Jones
NBCT 2000
AYA English Language Arts
As a teacher of English for 17 years. . .and a VERY
formal writer who was often "trained" to avoid first person, I, the
hardest part in the beginning was to "teach" myself to write in first
person. Initially, I rewrote Entry 1
three times before a colleague had to tell me to address the prompts by
stating, "My instructional goals for the student include:"
Because no one had yet certified in the Central Florida
area with an AYA/ELA portfolio, I was lost.
Taking away the skills I had always used (and been fairly successful
with) as a third person writer, (I felt) handicapped me.
I think that ALL AYA/ELA candidates need to be encouraged
to write in first person. I have singled this area of certification out because
many of us were discouraged (early in the English major game) to write in
anything but third person. Although this idea seems relatively simple -- it
would have caused me a lot less heartache.
Also, AYA/ELA teachers need to be told that no matter how
good a writer he or she may fancy him or herself to be, nothing beats a
proofreader outside of the field of English to gauge clear, concise, and
consistent. I think that by our very
nature. . .many English teachers seem to be a bit conceited about the craft of
writing. Candidates need to put these
feelings aside and seek assistance wherever it may be found.
I don't know if these are the kind of tips that you are
seeking, but I admire you from Central Florida and didn't want to pass on the
opportunity to provide you with some assistance -- no matter how rudimentary
(these are the tips I felt I really needed to hear back then).
Kimberly Turner
NBCT 2002
EAYA ART
While I was going through the process, I read an elem.
art teacher's in the local university group and a retake candidate's (who the
leader of the Univ. group had asked if I would help). I have read a few people's this year but I can't say this is a
true reflection of candidates. What
struck me the most (ESPECIALLY in the retake candidate's) was the sense of
"jumbledness". I am not sure
why, but it seemed that their thoughts were very jumbled, jumped around,
unclear and rather confusing to read.
The content (evidence of quality teaching) was there but you almost had
to read between the lines. Maybe this
is because art teachers tend to be divergent, I don't know. I will think about it and see if I can come
up with anything more concrete.
Donna
My first entry I think I had THE WORLD READ! It was my WORST! The entries I excelled in were the ones that were ME! Too many cooks spoil the soup and all. The
candidates should remember - this is not a college paper. You are not writing to a
professor....REMEMBER your audience....Another teacher JUST LIKE
YOU! I read too
much HEAD stuff and not enough HEART stuff.
NBCT 2001
EA Science
The candidates seem to have trouble keeping the tense the
same throughout the entries. The other
problem I see is that many candidates do not know how to connect the
information within a given entry. The
whole process is about connections and how they affected the teaching
profession.
Cheryl
One of the biggest problems I encounter when reading
entries is that the candidates want to add frills and ruffles instead of being clear
and concise. It's hard for us as
teachers to just give information and proof because we teach our students to
elaborate on each little detail. Most
of the entries I read that are over the page limit are over because of
unnecessary information that doesn't show proof or that the standards are
met. What do you think about this?
The most common error I've corrected when mentoring is the
loss of focus. Many candidates are so wrapped up in describing the activity
they don't leave enough space to qualify it by explaining how learning took
place and and how they knew learning took place.
I always tell candidates to answer each question individually
and then put it all together. What I mean is, when writing, type out each
question and answer it, then leave it there for later when you proofread to
remind yourself of what you are trying to prove or explain. Then later, when
printing the final copy take out the questions and put all the answers together
as one piece of writing and if necessary tweak it so that the writing flows
from one paragraph to the next.
I also tell candidates to keep the standards next to
them, open to the standard the are trying to prove they use, while typing. Then
when they get stuck or aren't sure how to explain or describe something they
can look at the standard and borrow buzzwords and terms to focus the answers to
the questions.
I also have a word page that has some great educational
buzzwords on it and which I used a lot, if I can find it I'll reproduce it and
send it to you.
Pam
One thing I ask those I mentor to do is to give specific
examples to general statements. When
they write a general statement that I think would be clearer if they gave an
example, I put "For example?" on the page, or write "can you
give examples of this?" I think it
makes their writing clearer and more convincing.
A candidate says "My students understand didn't
understand what 'copying' meant. For
example, Alisha and Eric thought it meant using the xerox machine." A
candidate says "I receive thank you notes from parents. For example, a note from Raven's mother ....
Specific examples can also be references to what is seen on a videotape.
A candidate says "The students in this group work
well together as evidenced by their ability to help one another without any one
student taking over the entire discovery lesson."
renee.o.brien@worldnet.att.net
Renee O'Brien
NBCT 2000
Early Adolescence/Generalist
The most important thing I found in writing for the NB's
was that I had to be very careful to explain any acronym I used in describing
my lessons, etc. I also found it really helpful to keep the core values taped
to my monitor while writing. By having them right there I was constantly
reminded of the focus of my writing. Before I began writing for any section of
the NB's I would type all questions in and then answer them very directly. Then
I would go back and add details and names and other information. Having the
questions there kept me focused and then when I wrote something in another
section that would work for a different question I could just drag and drop it.
This really helped when I was revising. Getting my main ideas down first helped
me to focus my writing
and aided me in keeping my ideas and evidence clear.
During my final revisions I kept the standards beside my keyboard and when I
was stuck I would look through the standards being targeted in that portfolio section,
then I would usually find a portion of the text that either inspired me to
continue writing or sparked an idea which helped me to continue writing.
There's tons of good information in the standards book, I
always recommend to my mentees that they mark it up and highlight things which
they feel specifically describe their own values and goals as a teacher. It's
also helpful to highlight verbs, phrases and buzzwords you want to use in your
writing, it really helps when your brain is being so overworked. The whole
writing process is an awesome undertaking and anything you can do to make it
easier on yourself is highly recommended. A great organizational tool for me
was file folders. I had on for each section, and as I took them everywhere with
me (I was a floating teacher at the time). When I did something in class or
read something which I thought would help to explain the type of teaching I was
striving to achieve I would jot it down and stick it in the folder, I did the
same thing when I got ideas out of the blue. By the time
I got home in the evening I had plenty of material to
incorporate into my writing and I felt like I'd already written and just needed
to organize and perfect.
FAYE
NBCT 99
You probably have already incorporated the obvious - Keep
the writing simple and clear. It is not
a dissertation. Describe everything,
avoid acronyms. Jargon is not necessary.
Address the standards. Follow
the directions regarding the mechanics - double spacing, font. etc.
LaDonna
NBCT 02
The common thread is that it is a seamless
narrative. The student needs, interests,
strengths, needs are incorporated into the goal, the teaching is directly
related to the goal, the assessment has driven the need designated in the goal
and continues to assess and document the learning, this in turn
drives the next steps, etc. The failure is to make
everything "line up" and becomes fragmented. Many of the goals are way too broad. Think of a science fair project. The hypothesis is the question article - the
rest is the documentation. The more
narrow the question the fewer the factors that have to be incorporated and the
more focused the paper. The best ones have been from Speech Language
Pathologists! They seem really focused
and keep talking about the same problem - not sidetracked.
Pat
When I read other people's entries, they need to make it
clear about WHY they did the things they do. I had to modify mine a lot after I
wrote a rough draft because I didn't feel like I had made it clear
about why I felt it was important to do what I did. This
shows how your actions had an impact on the student learning. Another
assumption that is bad to make is to "assume" that everyone
knows what you are talking about. I had people outside
special ed read my writing and I found out that they didn't understand some
things. This showed how unclear I was even though I thought my
writing was quite clear.
Lyn
The most common problem I have encountered, and which I
also had myself, is the tendency to be only a narrative writer - telling about
what is going on in my classroom. My
mentor freely inserted the terms "why?", "So?",
"because I know..." This
helped me become more analytical and reflective
Liz
These are some things I've noticed as I read entries:
1. Some teachers have a problem being clear and concise.
Each question should be answered in order without a lot of fluff.
2. Too much weight given to description and not enough
analytical and reflective writing. Knowing the difference between the three
types of writing is important. Knowing which questions require analysis or
reflection is important.
Marta
The number one mistake I made was NOT addressing the
question. I read the questions too hastily, didn't really probe what they were
asking. When my reader read my entries, he kept saying, "This is real nice
writing, but did you read the question?"! Talk about deflating the ego! My
first instinct was to become very defensive, but upon reading the question more
carefully, I realized I had NOT written TO the question. I had written ABOUT
the
question.
The other mistake I made was repeating myself - I think
it is fine to go ahead and get thoughts on paper, no matter what. Some people write
that way, I know I do. But, I had to be ruthless when it came to editing. Over
and over, I was able to take two or three sentences and combine them into one.
This gave me lots of room to maneuver in the entry, once I had extracted all
the extraneous stuff. I think the "suggested" lengths for each topic
were pretty accurate, except in one case (in the delivering instruction entry).
I was over the suggested
length for a specific topic by a full page. After really analyzing what I had written, I kept it the way I had written it - it turned out I was short in another topic area. Perhaps I could have moved some things around – I tried, but I went with my gut. In my mind, it was "clear and convincing". Turned out that entry was my highest score. Use whatever of this you think is of any value.
Lori
I find that most people have difficulty understanding
EXACTLY what analytical writing is. So
many of us have learned to be terrific descriptive writers, that we spend way too
much time painting the picture and not enough time analyzing what the picture
means.
We have also been trained to not make assumptions about
what a behavior or response means without having some traditional empirical
evidence to support it. The analytical writing required by the NBPTS process
requires us to make some on-the-spot decisions about "what it all
means" and I think that makes people uncomfortable. Candidates need to understand that they are
free to give their interpretation of what student responses mean about what the
students do and do not understand and know. In fact, they are REQUIRED to
determine what student responses mean as far as understanding goes. The only
way to do this is to jump on in and "say what you're thinking".
Also, I have seen a lot of entries where the candidates
think the Reflection is the same as a conclusion. The part about the Reflection
that can be frustrating as a teacher is the fact that, no matter how hard we
try, or how well we do, there is no such thing as a perfect lesson or unit.
While we always strive for perfection, the ironic part is that perfection does
not exist. Even the lesson where all objectives were achieved should have been
more challenging. There is ALWAYS something we can do better, or a way for the
students to learn more. So, rather than summarizing what happened, reflection
must provide a plan for how to do it better next time, in addition to,
statement about how well it went.
Lynda
I met with an MC/Art candidate and a NBCT who scored a 4
on one of her entries. She shared her
writing process which can be summarized as follows: Use a technique called
"Brain Dumping," in which you write everything you know about each
category being addressed. The writing
can incorporate "stream of consciousness" style. Don't worry about how to answer the
questions at this point. Make sure you
address the principles and elements of design in your brain dump as these are
obvious over-arching goals. You can
also use webbing or mapping diagrams.
Next, answer the questions. Go
to your Brain Dump, web or map and insert your ideas into the questions in
which they apply. Add the state and
national benchmarks you are addressing. Go through the standards you are asked
to address in each question and insert them where they apply, using some of the
language used in the standards.
Throughout your work, reference what you know about child development.
Quote Lowenfield, Piaget, Erickson, Steinberg and any other theorists you know
about. You may need to do some
research. Go to the scoring rubric 4 and ask if you meet the criteria.
Figure out what is missing in the writing that falls
short of a score of "4."
Remember to justify why you think what your doing is important in terms
of NBPTS, state and national benchmarks, child development and over-arching
goals which include the principals and elements of design.
Linda Ann
One tip is to be sure nothing is abbreviated and all
numbers are spelled out. Give full names for everything.
“New Beginnings in the Classroom”
ã 1999-2004
If you are a NBCT and would like to add to this writing advice page,
contact wizzlewolf