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Jennifer DiGioia - 2nd Grade Teacher - Ontario Montclair School District - Southern California
300 Plays7 months ago
Jennifer DiGioia is a veteran educator of 22 years, a lifelong learner, and a National Board candidate. She jumped on the chance to go through the National Board process when California offered to cover the fees. She has an unmatched passion for her students and wants to be the best educator. Listen to her story on this episode of National Board Conversations.
Twitter: @NBPTS
Instagram: @NBPTS
Facebook: The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:04
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to National Board Conversations. I am your host, Danielle Brown, an NVCT here on staff at National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. And this is a podcast where we get to hear from candidates. We learn about their experiences, their challenges, motivations, and just what it's like in their current practice as they're going through this process.
Meet Jennifer DeGioia
00:00:27
Speaker
So I'm super excited to have on our guest tonight, Jennifer DeGioia. Y'all, she is so fascinating. And I just can't wait for you to learn more about her. So actually, I'm just gonna stop talking, and I'll turn it over to Jennifer. Jennifer, if you just want to let us know more about you, where you're teaching, where you're from, and then we'll get started.
00:00:49
Speaker
Sure. Hey, thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate it, Danielle. Hi, everyone. My name is Jennifer DeGioia. I currently teach in Southern California in the Ontario Montclair School District. This is my 22nd year teaching and I'm kind of come full circle in my career where I'm back in second grade in the same grade that I was the very first year I was teaching. So that's been pretty fun.
00:01:13
Speaker
I'm originally from the state of Pennsylvania. And, you know, I kind of would just see California on TV my whole life. And I was like, OK, that's where I'm going to live. So soon as I graduated college from Duquesne University in downtown Pittsburgh, I moved to California and I've been teaching here ever since. I love that as a Californian myself replaced many, many times now I'm in Arizona, but I claim California and West Coast very hard as California.
00:01:41
Speaker
lived up to what you expected. Oh, yeah, everything and more. You know, what I love about where I live right now is I can go to the beach, the desert and the mountains, you know, all in one day if I wanted to. So
00:01:53
Speaker
It's really just everything you could want in my opinion. So nothing beats California to me. I love that. I love that.
Life Beyond Teaching
00:01:59
Speaker
So before we start to talk about more about practice and your teaching, we like to start the podcast with like a little humanizing piece, knowing that you just came back off of spring break as we're recording this. I'm curious, what is the way that you like to spend your time during breaks? I mean, you do live in California and you have so much around you.
00:02:20
Speaker
Yes, there's so much to do. You know, and what's funny is a lot of my colleagues and I when we come back, we love being like, Oh my gosh, we did nothing because there's so much always going on. So I really try to make sure I take time to just have the freedom of time. You know, I try not to plan too much, but I do try to go and do something new and fun.
00:02:38
Speaker
Something I've taken up in the last couple of years is stand up paddle boarding. We live not too far from Newport Beach. And so that's a good area to go into the back bay. And it's just like one of those blow up ones that I have in my trunk. And so one of my friends and I, we go out there, you know, as often as we can. We don't get out too much, but that's been fun to pick that up. That is so cool. OK, so I typically like have a bucket list of hobbies that I'm like, I'm going to try that. And even though I live in
00:03:07
Speaker
Phoenix. And there's, you know, the bodies of water here are all manmade. There is a place where people do stand up paddle boarding. And I have a friend who was like, you should get into it. And like, like the concept looks cool. But also my biggest fear is falling into the body of water in which this happened. Because it's no beautiful day. It's a manmade
00:03:28
Speaker
pretty murky, like probably shouldn't touch your body parts to the water kind of place. But I mean, how lucky are you to be able to do that just kind of like in your backyard more or less? Yeah, pretty lucky. Wow. Okay, so Jennifer, we're gonna start talking about what the whole purpose of this podcast is, which is
Why Pursue National Board Certification?
00:03:47
Speaker
really
00:03:47
Speaker
getting to know more about you, your teaching, and then why National Board, especially at this point in your career. So we'll just start with that. What about National Board feels like it's the right time for you at this point in your career? You know, 22 years in, I really just like to keep learning. You know, when we were going through COVID, I found a lot of places were offering new opportunities to learn
00:04:14
Speaker
you know, new technology and just new, you know, just acquiring new skills. And so when I heard through my district that National Board was being offered with California covering the cost, that was really exciting for me. So when I looked up the standards, I just thought this was a good time for me to kind of take a pause and reassess and make sure, you know, that
00:04:37
Speaker
I'm kind of just up to the standard that I should be at 22 years, and it's been a really eye-opening process. So I was, all I ever had heard about it before I went through the process was it's a ton of writing. That's what anybody else does. And I don't, there's no national board certified teachers at my school or anything. So I just felt really lucky, like, hey, they're going to cover everything. And then on top of it, you know, once you get certified, you get, you know, a lot of extra bonuses, it seems like, it opens a lot of doors. So that was really attractive to me.
00:05:07
Speaker
And then on top of it, even this far in when I thought like, okay, I'm a good teacher, like I could definitely qualify. I feel like I've gotten even stronger. So I'm kind of really excited now to turn everything in and to see what the judges or what the board thinks of me.
00:05:23
Speaker
I love that you're excited about not only going through the process, but like feeling ready and kind of excited about turning in. I feel like this timeframe around submission, like there's a lot of different emotions, right? People sometimes are second guessing themselves or some apprehension.
00:05:39
Speaker
There's some kind of just like what's a minute and see what happens. So to hear that excitement is a part of your current feelings at least is really exciting to hear. And so Jennifer, you mentioned as you were talking about like your why,
00:05:55
Speaker
You, there aren't any board certified teachers in your current school. Is that correct? No. And then I even asked my principal, are there, um, did she know of any? She said no, but I did find one that I knew of in the middle schools in my district. Wow. Oh, go ahead. Yeah. She was on her maintenance of certification. Okay. So I'm so curious, like what is it that you have done to either prepare yourself, like plan
00:06:20
Speaker
for board certification because oftentimes we hear from candidates, like, you know, having a cohort was a thing that helped kind of keep me in it, made me feel successful. And knowing that you were kind of doing this in a space where you're, I'm going to say air quotes alone. I'm sure you have a community that's supporting you. But like you're going through this process alone. There's on another NBCT at your site. Like what are you doing to prepare yourself or help yourself through this process?
00:06:47
Speaker
Yeah, it has been a lot of navigating through, you know, just what would work for me. So, you know, I've joined a couple groups on social media that have been really supportive and then those teachers are really kind to
00:07:01
Speaker
ask good questions and share good resources. And then there's candidates in there and also certified teachers in there. So that's really helpful. And then just watching a lot of YouTube videos, watching the videos on the National Board website a million times, reading, that's what everybody says, just read it over and over and over again. So really just making sure that I just take the time and don't get myself far behind, not overwhelming myself, you know, doing it a little bit along the way.
00:07:29
Speaker
This is my second full year of trying to work on all of the components. I'm doing all four at one time. And I just felt like last year I wasn't ready yet. Like I was just kind of like, it makes me think of jumping double dutch. I grew up in Philadelphia. Have you ever jumped double dutch before? I have. I can't unfortunately say that I'm great at it.
00:07:50
Speaker
I'm going to jump rope, but double touch. My brain just doesn't connect. Yeah. And one of the big things about it is you have to wait for the perfect time to jump in. You can't just jump in any time. So that's what I feel like. It's been like, OK, I'm ready. Here I go. And I feel like I'm ready. So last year, it was a lot of just reflection, where I was going through my standards, looking at how I teach now, my current performance.
00:08:16
Speaker
And I was like, oh boy, I don't think I'm up to stand. I didn't feel like I was ready to submit myself, because I'm like, I need to step it up. So this year, I felt like I really have collaborating with my colleague. I have a teacher on my grade level. She's great, too. It's really funny to read through everything. And I'm like, OK, that's her. That's her. And I'm like, you're sure you don't want to do this with me? Because you really are a National Board Certified Teacher. Everything in this whole list really describes you.
00:08:43
Speaker
She's been really helpful. You know, watching the videos of myself has been really humbling. You know, I think we only have to submit two and I think I've recorded nine different times because I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that's how I act. So, you know, just it's been quite the process. So I'm going to pick up on a few things there. One, your collaboration with your colleague who as you're going through this process, you're noticing like attributes
00:09:13
Speaker
or characteristics that are her. Have you convinced her yet to go through board certification? No, everybody's kind of like, why would you do that? You know, like, why? And I'm like, me, I'm like, Okay, well, first of all, for me, when I was in college, I really made a promise to myself that I was never going to be one of those teachers who just like
00:09:34
Speaker
was there because I'm just counting down the days of retirement. I actually work with a woman right now, and she said, that's me, that she's counting down the days of retirement. And I said, how many more years do you have? And she said 17. And I was like, what? It's a lot. Are you counting already? I'm sure you need to maybe make a career change. I don't know. Yeah, it's a long time. So for me, I always promise myself, OK, if you ever feel like that, you need to get out of the profession. And so I just kind of wanted to kind of
00:10:04
Speaker
I thought it was good for me. I don't understand why. I don't know. To me, I'm like, I don't know. I think it's a good thing to do. So I haven't found anybody that thinks it's worth the work yet. So maybe I'll be the first example. I really kind of see that as a vision. I see my principal being like, oh, at a staff meeting, being like, oh, I'm going to take a
Impact of Certification on Teaching
00:10:22
Speaker
minute and congratulate Jennifer. I keep trying to envision, OK, I'm going to see the fireworks in December, and I'm going to get certified. And I think it's just a really good example.
00:10:32
Speaker
because I have gotten better and I see growth in my students. So I just think like I'll just show the data, you know, so that'll convince them. But currently nobody's interested in doing all this work. And I think you really like elevated something that sometimes we miss. Like there is a rhetoric right around what it means to go through the National Board Certification process. And that message gets passed down and passed down. Like you don't even have anyone in your building.
00:11:01
Speaker
but already you're hearing that message of like, oh, it's this, it's that, it's this. And so I think once you go through the process to your point, like you could be example of that work, like how did you come out on the other side or not even just that, but as you're going through it, what you're learning about yourself, how you're impacting your students. So I'm envisioning that same feature for you because it sounds fantastic. And I hope it's everything that you've been dreaming of to be quite honest,
00:11:29
Speaker
And with that, I really want to go back to a point that you made where you shared like kind of you've been thinking about board certification for a little bit, right, a year or two. And then that first year you were saying you kind of were just like checking yourself against the standards, reflecting before you made the decision this year.
00:11:51
Speaker
to submit. Why was that important for you to like take that time to just almost, I don't know, almost like be one with what National Board is asking of you to ensure that you were ready for submission the following year? Yeah, well, you know, I felt like I was being fake. You know, I can't turn this in because this is not me yet, you know, but I knew that I could get there because I knew I just kind of had
00:12:19
Speaker
You know, when I read through the standards, I think it was just a lot more than maybe we think about. Altogether, all of those standards at one time, we think of standards like, oh, we have to meet the standards that the kids need to meet. We don't always reflect on the standards that we also need to be meeting, right? Like when we ever talk about standards, the teachers need to be meeting never because teachers might get mad and be like, hey, don't tell us what to do. We already know what we're doing.
00:12:46
Speaker
So that's been hard too for me because as I'm going through the process, I've had like ideas for the grade level and they're like,
00:12:54
Speaker
making us do more work, you know. One, this one woman on my grade level this year told me, any extra work you choose to do is your choice. So, and I'm like, yeah, but I'm trying to move the whole grade level. Like she was like, so if you want to do it for everybody, fine. But I was like, yeah, but I'm trying to move everyone forward. Like I understand what you're saying, but like, who's gonna do it if we don't do it? I understand it's extra work, but we have to do extra work.
00:13:19
Speaker
So to me, it's been a really worthwhile process because I feel like I'm a better teacher and it's kind of hard now for me to be like, oh my gosh, you're not, what do you mean you're not assessing that? You know, like, what's your, what's your benchmark? What's your, what's your midpoint? You know, and I'm like, I never really would think about that before. You're just trying to meet the standards, you know. It definitely, I think,
00:13:43
Speaker
makes you think about your practice in a different way. And then I think at the core of that is like, I think you start to see your students in a different way, right? Because they're very integral to this process. Like without them and their feedback and their experiences, board certification is kind of
00:14:02
Speaker
It doesn't happen without them, right? And so in our pre-planning, we were talking about some of the things that you have started to do or have been doing with students, like different extracurriculars. We're recording as we're recording right now because I believe you are working late on a thing that you stay after school for. So I'm so curious, how are those extracurriculars or like opportunities to have students work in different ways
00:14:29
Speaker
showing up in your teaching or even what you're learning about yourself through board certification.
00:14:35
Speaker
You know, and they're showing up in really great ways. You know, I really feel lucky that there's been a shift in the district where I work, that they're willing right now to invest money in extended learning opportunities, other than the traditional coding, or the traditional, you know, for a long time, it was just intervention, you know, that's all we could do after school was reading intervention, math intervention,
Extracurricular Leadership
00:15:02
Speaker
And that was it. You know, this year I've been given the flexibility. I started a club called Rake, R-A-K-E, stands for Random Acts of Kindness, etc. And I was inspired through an SEL training I went to, a wellness training I went to over the summer.
00:15:18
Speaker
where a speaker said to share his success in that kind of a club. So, you know, what we do is we meet, we talk about how we can impact the campus with kindness. You know, on Fridays, we work on campus beautification. We go around and help the custodian, you know, pick up all the jackets and the water bottles and the lunch pails.
00:15:37
Speaker
And we also do this thing called a rake request, where any teacher, anybody in the whole school can send a request to our club. And it's like for a picture, or do you want an inspirational poster? Do you want a fun letter from one of my kids, one of my members? And you'll kind of give me a breakdown, like, what's this kid's name? What's the situation? Do they need a little support? Are they doing a great job? Whatever.
00:15:58
Speaker
And one of my, you know, I sign it to one of my Rake members and they work on the project. We deliver it to the teacher. And we got this wonderful message from one of the teachers saying how it's really been impacting her students' behavior. And she shared a picture of the kid and that everybody's cheering for the kids that get the Rake pictures or the
00:16:19
Speaker
things that come from our club. And then she also shared a text from the mom that said thank you for, for just the rake requests that her kids were getting because the kid comes home and he's excited and he's excited to go to school now. So that's my one club. I do that on Mondays and Fridays. And then on Wednesdays and Thursdays, I do a Legos engineering club with second and third graders, which has been so much fun. I was sharing with a friend the other day that they don't even talk to me. It's like the easiest club I've ever done. They just
00:16:47
Speaker
They just kind of, you know, just like an adult that is in the room with them, you know, if they have any questions, fine. But they're just so excited to just build and have the freedom that, you know, they can do what they want during that time. And it's been so much fun. So we had an older club at my school, the fifth and sixth graders had Lego Robotics.
00:17:08
Speaker
And the little kids were like, hey, we want to do Legos. And I thought, sure. And it's been amazing. We're going to do a showcase next week where we're going to right now they're like building a town. It's really cool. It's going to be really amazing where the parents are going to get to come in and see what we work on at Lego Club, Lego Engineering Club. So, yeah, I've been really fortunate to have administration that, you know, they listen to my pitch of my idea and they say, yeah, sure, go for it.
00:17:34
Speaker
So it's been really fun. I love that because what I'm also hearing and not only your passion for the work that you do is like there is an underlying piece of advocacy there, right? For moving from just enrichment activities or reinforcement activities to now your students and students in the community have access to Rake, which that makes my heart so happy. I was so excited hearing you talk about random acts of kindness and etc. And like the impact on students and community and just
00:18:04
Speaker
even the Lego Engineering Club, how students are in there collaborating, brainstorming, doing critical thinking. And you're just the adults in their room, right? Like they're learning with and from each other.
00:18:17
Speaker
And what a wonderful experience those little people get to have because of your advocacy. And so I just want to say kudos to you as an outsider looking in slash listening in. I know what that takes to get that kind of stuff up and running. And so I want to say thank you on behalf of your students because I think that's amazing. I think that's so amazing. Thank you so much.
00:18:41
Speaker
You know, when I really feel like going through the National Bird Process, you notice too that their brains need that also, right? So they shouldn't have to go all day doing reading and math and then do reading and math after school too. Some of the kids in my class that are thriving during the day is hard for them. You know, maybe math and reading isn't their spot, but in my class.
00:19:03
Speaker
that's where they're so excited to come there. And they're all their attendance is perfect. Their behavior is perfect. You know, they're so excited at the end, finally, so they see me on campus, you know, they're proud of themselves. So that's what I think is my, my thing's always been it has to be like a homeschool community thing, right? Like you have to be proud of where you're from. You want to make the school look good, because this is my school and, you know, and then go home and talk about it too, and get your family involved and come out and check out our showcase. So
00:19:33
Speaker
Yeah, thank you. I feel really lucky that we have that at our school. Okay, so someone might be listening to this podcast, Jennifer, and they're like, I just heard her say, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, she's after school, doing these extracurricular activities with kids.
Balancing Certification and Life
00:19:50
Speaker
And she said earlier that she's submitting all four components in one year.
00:19:55
Speaker
Where or how do you find the time? Where do you plan to ensure that you're, one, taking care of yourself amongst all of this, but also feeling like you are submitting the work that you want to that shows your practice as you're juggling the things that you do after school plus personal life and submitting all four components this year.
00:20:17
Speaker
Yeah, well, that's what I think is kind of nice about this process is you can kind of work on it anytime and anywhere that you want. So you do have to, you know, be in your classroom to collect the evidence and to record, but all the writing that everybody hears about, you know, the 35 pages for component four and things like that, you can do that anytime. So I just try really hard, especially at this point, it's crunch time, you know, take any chance I have, okay, you could write something, you can edit something,
00:20:45
Speaker
And I just keep seeing that light at the end of the tunnel. Like this time next year I won't be doing this. And you know, in two months I won't be doing this. So I just really keep just thinking about if I just work really hard right now.
00:20:58
Speaker
It's, you know, I won't have to work that hard forever. That's how I'm getting through it. So I just try hard to just, you know, right now. I mean, it is a lot, to be honest, to anybody who's listening. I work on my lunch break right now, you know, working sometimes early in the morning. But like I said, you have to do what works for you because I'm also a single mom of two active teenagers, both my kids are athletes. And so
00:21:25
Speaker
I try to be present for them too. So, you know, you just really have to make a commitment. Luckily, they're in on it too. And you know, they understand that this is going to be something that's really exciting for us as a family that I get to like put that comma and NBC T now.
00:21:40
Speaker
So that's really exciting for all three of us. So, you know, just making sure you have a support system too at home because, you know, if my kid, I wonder what they think because I feel like every time they come home, I'm just on the couch in the same spot with my computer. Oh my gosh, by the time this is over, it's going to be like a dip in the couch where I've sat for two years to try to put all this together.
00:22:04
Speaker
I love that. I love that. And I appreciate how you name that. This is a collective effort, right? Not only within your school community, but like home community as well. And so how do you?
00:22:18
Speaker
engage your active teenagers as they see you coming in to sit down on the couch and to like write your night away. Yeah. Unfortunately, like, you know, if I'm like, I'm so sorry, we're gonna have to, you know, get Chick-fil-A, they're like, Oh, no, we're so sad. Oh, man, we have to eat out? What? Darn it again.
00:22:39
Speaker
Oh my goodness. Okay. So with that, as someone who's doing all four components and while there are similarities, like there are things that are very different about them. Do you, would you say that you have a favorite component? This is my own like secret question I love to ask because I think everyone's answer is always so different and there are reasons why it's a favorite component is always so different. So I'm curious.
00:23:03
Speaker
Well, I definitely think we can throw out component one as a no. So between two, three and four, you know, I know four is the most pages, the most writing, but what I really like about four is that I get to share the impact of rake and the impact of, you know, my after school clubs and the impact of trying my best to collaborate with my team members and showing the growth that we've seen this year. We just had a staff meeting the other day and my boss said,
00:23:32
Speaker
out of the whole school. Second grade's grown the most this year. And so I feel proud because I know that, you know, there's three of us home in grade level. One's very collaborative, one's not, but even the one that's not, she quietly has really been doing it because she kind of cannot because
00:23:50
Speaker
we're all doing it. If we're at a meeting and we have a really good idea, it kind of doesn't make sense if she won't do that. Why wouldn't you do that? It's a good idea. So even though they don't love the extra work, it's working. So that's been exciting. I love that. I didn't think you were going to say component four. I know. When I saw all the pages, that was tough. So component four, I like that I get to talk about
00:24:15
Speaker
the extras that I do and how they're impacting the campus because I do a lot of extra stuff. Component three, what I really like is it was really good for me to watch myself, you know, to watch myself and to see that things that I thought were a really big deal, you couldn't even see that happening. You know, where when I was recording,
00:24:37
Speaker
I thought, oh my gosh, she won't stop talking. You know, like all that noise. It's so noisy. That's all they're going to be able to hear. And then when I watched the video, it was like nothing. As soon as I addressed it, the kids stopped what they were doing. And I thought I was like proud of them and proud of myself.
00:24:52
Speaker
I feel like I've grown as a teacher because, you know, just the way it looked on the video, I was like, wow, that's actually better than I thought it was. So that was good. I love that. I think if I were to answer this question for myself, it would probably be like a toss up between three and four. And I think for the same reasons, like three, I learned more about
00:25:14
Speaker
my physical practice as an educator, like how I showed up in the classroom, like what are the different cues I was able to give students or that they've learned along the way that like they didn't need me for anymore. I didn't have to remind them. But it is one thing to like see yourself on camera and just like your different mannerisms. And if you're listening, sometimes that's the thing that like holds people back of like, well, I don't want to see myself on camera, or I don't like my voice.
00:25:39
Speaker
like put that out the window it is fine it is fine especially like in this world of where most of us are on social media someone's already probably seen your face or heard your voice like yeah and sorry but that's what you look like so you got to just move forward you're just like oh okay maybe not that shirt again like and then also to the point of like students being students
00:26:03
Speaker
Videos are not meant to be perfect because a teaching day is not perfect. We're always responding and pivoting and students are going to be students whether it was my initial attempt at board certification or when I borrowed a classroom to do my maintenance because I was no longer in a classroom setting.
00:26:20
Speaker
Yeah, there were kids in the camera doing things that they weren't supposed to or I was thinking like man I'm rocking this lesson and I go back and watch it and yeah a little Susie over here was like posing for the first five minutes of me teaching and you're just like You just speak to it like this opportunity, but like that's what happens. It's teaching their kids, right? So like
00:26:44
Speaker
And there's no way to try to curate your video, like that it's going to look, you know, like anything like that. So just go for it and just understand that we all understand how a classroom is. That's just how it goes. And just try to be confident with your teaching practice. So I think that's where I had an advantage is I feel like deep down inside, I knew I was a good teacher. And that's another reason I wanted to go for it is I was like, I know I am this, but I felt like I just needed to like dig deeper. Like I knew this was really me.
00:27:13
Speaker
You know, when I was a third year teacher in Los Angeles Unified, the teacher next door, she was national board. And that's all she really, that's all I knew about it. She was just like, Oh, there's a ton of writing with so much work, blah, blah, blah. But I was young in my career to even qualify. So, you know, time just went on. But it's been really nice to kind of
00:27:33
Speaker
take so much time to reflect. And this lighted my career get stronger. And what I've noticed with the few groups I have been a part of, I've been a part of like a couple Zooms or a couple meetings with other national board teachers.
Veteran Teachers and Certification Trends
00:27:48
Speaker
And it's a lot of us veteran teachers. It's not years.
00:27:51
Speaker
years, years having teachers. And there are some of those, but it's, I'm here for 17 years, I'm 13 years, I'm 21 years, you know, things like that. And I was like, I was proud of the group. Like, look at us. Because I felt happy that there's a bunch of us that are making sure we're not the teachers that are 65 and we're like, I've been here 34 years. And you know, they're just pushing worksheets and they're the main teacher. Like, no,
00:28:15
Speaker
We're changing with the times and we're getting stronger and we're making kids excited to come to school and we're making dynamic changes. So I felt proud of that group, you know, that it seems like National Board is attracting all levels. So that's good. That's exciting to hear because like my work now at National Board is really focused on how do we help early career educators see board certification as like a part of their career trajectory or journey.
00:28:43
Speaker
And I was earlier in my career when I was certified, I think I was in my fourth year because at the time you had to have three years and then you could do it. Now the policy has shifted and it's as you feel ready and you have the correct credentials, like you can do it in your second year, you can do it in your third year. And for me,
00:29:01
Speaker
doing it earlier because I learned so much about my teaching was like the right fit for me because I was able to like really be reflective, think about my practice in a different way that wasn't necessarily required of me, but I knew I wanted to be that educator. But then on the flip side, I hear, I was in a meeting actually a few years ago with an educator who was like, I'm actually on my way to retirement.
00:29:26
Speaker
Like I am retiring within the next two or three years. And that year was the year that they were doing their initial certification. So if you're listening to this and this sounds, I don't know, intriguing, you're curious, like I would take the time like Jennifer did and ground yourself in the standards, read through things, but also know that like no matter where you are in your career,
00:29:50
Speaker
Like this is a process for you, whether you're a fourth year teacher who's like, it's this or my master's, but I'm not ready for my master's for whatever reason, this could be your entry point to really thinking deeper about your practice or whether you're literally two years away from retirement and you're using this as like your final, I don't know, gift to the profession. Like people from all across, like their trajectories are going through the process. And I think that is so dynamic.
00:30:20
Speaker
Yeah, and you know, I really think it's important too that districts or states or I don't know how it's mandated, but they've really recognized national board teachers or any kind of people that are going for this kind of elite level training or reflection or certification. In California, that also attracted me to be quite honest. You know, they're offering, you know, a nice incentive each year. If you're certifying, you're at the right school.
00:30:48
Speaker
So, but I think that's worth it. You know, I think that I'm really hopeful that in my lifetime, teachers will get respect like doctors and lawyers and judges, you know, like we are highly trained and we're experts. And you know, if you go to the doctor and you don't listen to the doctor, all right, fine. And the same thing if the teacher gives you an idea like, hey, I think you should work on this at home and you choose not to, it's just like not listening to the doctor in my opinion.
00:31:12
Speaker
So I just think that it's important that districts recognize these teachers, and maybe that will increase the numbers. You know, like for me, once I reach my creation, I have to go to
00:31:27
Speaker
district board meeting and like announce myself and be like I just want to share that I got certified and thank you guys because my district's really good about training and like I said giving me opportunities to just learn new things myself you know like I've never done a legos club but I'm like man I should have been doing this for years you know it's so much fun and rake is just so different you know like we've been able to swoop in and
00:31:50
Speaker
and help on campus a couple times and people have been so thankful and that's like hey that's what we are you know like the talent show the custodian didn't know to set up the table so here comes me and my kids like well do it and we're like moving the tables and setting up for talent show and they were so thankful but it's so great for the kids today I overheard a kid say um
00:32:10
Speaker
You know, one kid said like, oh, you don't like that. And the other kid said, well, everybody doesn't have to like the same thing. And the other kid said, true. And I thought that's so cute that they had that little like, that's what Rake is. Sometimes we just sit in a circle and we like have these little cards and we act situations out to be like, what would you say if somebody said that to you? So it was really cute sometimes to just hear the impact across campus when kids are having conversations, so.
00:32:33
Speaker
Yeah, Jennifer, I could talk to you forever and ever. I mean, I really already feel like in our conversation, you have dropped so many nuggets, like not only about your passion for this work, but also calls to action for like district leadership, school leadership, encouragement for educators in the field who like are kind of maybe wondering, is this for me? So as we head to closure of this conversation, I'm curious if there's any like last piece of
Encouragement for Future Candidates
00:33:02
Speaker
advice you would want to give to someone who's listening and they're like, I don't know. I'm not sure this is for me. What would you say to them? Because I feel like you've been in that spot. And so now that you're out of that spot, what would you have said to yourself back then? Yeah, I say give yourself a chance. They give you a nice chunk of time. They give you a few years to go through it, even if you're just kind of
00:33:26
Speaker
dipping your toe into the water the first year and checking things out. You don't have to do everything at one time and just slowly unfold and learn about yourself. So I highly recommend this process no matter where you are in your career. I'm 22 years in and I really wish I would have done it sooner. I feel like it's really taken my teaching to the next level. I've always felt like I was a good teacher, but now I feel like
00:33:49
Speaker
The kids deserve a teacher like me. You know, I feel like I always felt like I was an asset, but I don't know. I just feel like better. I don't know. I just feel like.
00:34:03
Speaker
I don't know, like puffed up, like, I don't know what we're like, I don't know, it just made me really strong. Like you turn into like the Hulk a little bit, I guess, you know, these powerful, you're stronger now. It just made me stronger. It's everything that you can do right now. Everybody that's listening, if you go through this process, it's only gonna make it stronger. It's nothing negative. Nothing bad's gonna happen except, you know, maybe you'll have a dipping or couch from sitting there for a long time.
00:34:32
Speaker
We should have like a hazard. Makeup dips and pouts if that's where you're working. I really like that description. And I think too, I think that's important for people to hear as you're like thinking of your new Hulk powers is that these are things that were in you, right? Like there's not anything about the national board process that once you read a page once or two times through and you're going to be like,
00:35:02
Speaker
Okay. Now I'm like, I got this. I'm like the Hulk of a teacher. The thing is like, these are things that are already in you. The process just encourage you to like pause for a moment and figure out like, why do you do the things you do? Why are you making the decisions you're making? What knowledge base do you have about your students, your community to make those decisions? And I think sometimes teaching is such a fast pace.
00:35:25
Speaker
profession, especially when you're in the moment, you're like, well, I do the thing, I do the thing, I do the thing. And subconsciously, you might know why. But it's the moment when you pause and you say, well, actually, the reason I know this is because I know this about this student. I know this about their development, which is why I make really intentional research-based decisions to impact their learning. I know that was the biggest aha for me. I was being coached, going through the process, and I wrote something
00:35:56
Speaker
And my written commentary and my coach was like, well, why did you do that? And my response to her was like, well, all kindergarten teachers do that. And I will never forget. She was like, no, Danielle, they don't. You do. And there's a reason why. What is that reason why? And I probably melted in that chair because I'm just like.
00:36:14
Speaker
Hulk teacher, I felt that. I was like, wait, what? That's not something everyone does? And so, yeah, remember that. Everything within you already. Yes. And that coach or that teacher was right that not everybody's out here doing it. But like I said, the kids deserve teachers like us. And I see a big change in my students. I work in a low socioeconomic area with
00:36:40
Speaker
you know, I've had five new kids this year, and also three kids leave. So you know, it's a tough neighborhood. But they're so happy. They're so excited, you know, and I'm so proud of them. What's, what's been great about this process, I think component two, you have to look at
00:36:56
Speaker
them, you know, pick a couple kids and look at their progress throughout the year. And I'm just like, wow, you know, like they did really great. And so did I. So, you know, this is what the kids deserve is elite teachers like us. And then we'll get the respect. It'll all come with it. So, you know, we just have to to do it and get yourself puffed up. Yeah. OK, so I have one last question for you, Jennifer, before we close for real for real. I'm so excited about
00:37:26
Speaker
your future visioning of like what this looks like in December, you submit it, you've opened your email and you're seeing fireworks and your principal and school are celebrating you, your students are celebrating you. I'm curious, what does like celebration look like for you?
00:37:45
Speaker
prior to this. Say you're going to submit on May 12th, I just made that date up, you hit enter, it's in the cloud, it's doing the things that it's supposed to do. How do you plan on celebrating that milestone? Just getting to submission.
Celebrating Achievements
00:38:01
Speaker
Right. Yeah. And because after you submit, there's nothing you could do, right? You just have to wait till December, so you got to go back to my life. So I've already actually booked plane tickets for Hawaii in June.
00:38:11
Speaker
I've never been there. And of course, my kids haven't either. So we're really excited. My son's actually a senior in high school. So we're going to be celebrating his graduation and then my submission, you know, because it's just been all of us together and my daughter's turning 16. So it's her sweet 16. So yeah, so we're going to go to Hawaii to celebrate. So we're really excited. I can't wait. We're so, so excited. I love that. So also listeners, as you're hearing this,
00:38:39
Speaker
This is also like my call to action. Once you submit, I mean, plan before this probably, but like figure out a way that you're going to celebrate the fact that you stuck with the process, the fact that you submitted, whether it is like, I'm going to enjoy a weekend unplugged sitting in the pool or you're taking a European vacation.
00:39:01
Speaker
I hope you take some time to just like revel and celebrate the fact that you have made it to this point of submission and kind of just like honor what that means, not only for you as a professional, but like your practice. And then what comes in December is what will come in December. And then of course there are decisions to make, but I think sometimes we hit submit and they were like, okay, it all hinges on December, but there is so much that has happened in your practice.
00:39:27
Speaker
prior to whether or not you see fireworks in December. And so my biggest plug is like, remember that and still celebrate along the way. Yes. And don't give up. And even if you're like, I can't do this, you can. You just have to keep on going. I felt that too, where I was like, oh no, I don't know if I could do, I don't know if I could get it all, all of it in there, you know, but you can, you just have to start. You know, at first I was like, well, forget it, forget it. You know, like I was not going to do it, but just start. You got it. You could do it.
00:39:55
Speaker
Well Jennifer, I am so glad that you didn't say forget it and that you stuck with it because I don't know if we would have crossed paths or like had this conversation. I've been looking forward to this conversation all week after we talked last week and I'm just so thankful that there are educators like you in classrooms across the nation and can't wait for more people to find this energy, rewrite this passion because it's
00:40:20
Speaker
At the end of the day, it's the students that you're impacting and that makes me so very happy. So thank you for being on with us this evening. And I can't wait for you to celebrate submission. And then in December when you receive your results. Yes. So thank you so much for taking time to talk to me. I really appreciate it.