From NYSUT: National Board Certification Not an Endpoint — It’s a Beginning

Achieving National Board Certification is a huge professional milestone, but NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira urged National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) from the Capital Region to answer the calling for another title: teacher leader.

“National Board Certification is not an endpoint — hopefully it’s the beginning for each one of you to take the lead in making a difference,” Neira said at a celebration honoring more than 220 “master teachers” from nearly 50 Capital Region school districts. “You can’t wait for someone to ask you, ‘Come and tell me what you think.’ You have to step up and lead in your own way.”

Teacher leadership can take many different forms, said keynote speaker Ellen Holmes, a National Board Certified Teacher from Maine who works for the National Education Association’s Priority Schools Campaign. Holmes asked the audience members to close their eyes and picture a teacher leader, then share their vision with a neighbor.

“I bet the person’s name would be different,” Holmes said. “We all have a different notion of teacher leadership … Teacher leaders don’t come in one size or one definition.”

Holmes urged NBCTs to take the time to ask themselves “What’s next?” She offered a long list of possible leadership roles for NBCTs: mentor, lead teacher, coach, team leader, department head, quasi-administrators. But it doesn’t have to be a new job title, Holmes stressed. She invited NBCTs to help the colleague who never comes out of her room, or another who might be thinking about pursuing National Board Certification.”

Read the full article on the NYSUT website.