Today I am submitting my National Board renewal. I have been checking in on the processing of my final entry on and off all day. It’s taking forever so I assume it’s a bit clogged up with submissions. As soon as it is processed I am going to hit submit. Done and done!

A few weeks ago I actually called NBPTS to see about deferring my submission. I was concerned about getting it completed in time because of a few projects on my plate. But, then I realized I was more than halfway there and I needed to plow through. So I did.

Sometimes I wonder if the formatting of my components is more difficult than the actual writing. It is tedious and time consuming. Writing is the easy part for me because I love talking about what I am passionate about and education certainly ranks at the top of my lists of things I’m passionate about.

I struggled with the reflection portion, finally completing it today. The last few paragraphs of the reflection are about the patterns and themes and next steps in my practice.

I noticed four main themes in the composite of my work:

• I consistently strive to learn about and incorporate best practices that will allow me to exhibit my personal and professional passions in school settings and grow the educators around me. My passion for museum learning, object-based learning, arts integration, curriculum work, and advocacy injects purpose into my practice.
• Linking curriculum areas is a theme of three out of four of my Professional Growth Experiences. I believe strongly in the power of curriculum mapping in the broader context of grade levels and institutions. Finding and capitalizing on natural associations brings new perspectives and opportunities for transfer of skills across subject areas.
• Through my involvement in each Professional Growth Experience I have expanded my knowledge through networking. I have developed relationships with individuals and institutions that have translated into growth for students and teachers.
• A final theme of all Professional Growth Experiences from the last 10 years is the expansion of my understanding as it relates to professional learning. Each experience has allowed me to create a model for professional learning which has resulted in the creation of successful, creative, and effective learning teams and the implementation of robust professional learning for continuous improvement in school-based settings.

I am pretty proud of myself for sticking with it and completing my renewal. Now it is up to NBPTS to determine if my certificate is renewed. I have a long few months of waiting until I hear.

Honestly, I am not sure I will renew again in 10 years. I will be almost 50 by then. But, who knows. I didn’t think I would renew this time.

So glad I did.