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Candidate Conversations - Keke Powell - Austin, Texas
567 Plays5 months ago
Candidate Conversations by the National Board is a chance to speak with educators who are currently on their National Board journey. Danielle Brown, NBCT, continues our school year-long journey with Keke Powell! She is a second-grade teacher in Texas and is super fun and engaging! In this episode, we catch up with Keke after submission and how she will be enjoying the summer.
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Transcript
Welcome and Summer Plans
00:00:02
Speaker
Well, hello and welcome back to Candidate Conversations. This has been a conversation that's been a long time coming as we sit in our spaces. um Some of us are on summer break. The unofficial official start to summer has happened, right? So I'm curious for our guests before we even even get into the how are you and where are you now? I'm just curious. It's summer. What are you feeling? What's on the summer docket? School is out. Give us like a little insight. We are in summer break. It's been officially day four of break and it has been fabulous not having to think about making so many decisions in a day. I'm looking forward to my NEA Global Fellow, I was going to say field trip, my trip to Costa Rica. I'll be there for 10 days and
00:01:00
Speaker
Um, just super cool to see the things that I've been working on behind the scenes with my team to see about like all the different animal adaptations to see it come to life. And then I'm going to Florida for three weeks. I kind of did like a work trip and a personal trip. And so I'll be there for a conference for Get Your Teach On. I got it it funded through a grant with my district. And so I was like, oh, I'm just going to go spend an extra week up there, you know, for myself and then do work the following week. So I'm excited.
Bringing Global Awareness to the Classroom
00:01:34
Speaker
So we're back in conversation with one of my favorite people, Kiki Powell. We're going to talk more about her experience with national board submission and all of the things. But I'm not sure if you just heard, she's going to Costa Rica through a fellowship. And so I think we touched a little bit on it like last time. But Kiki, can you just give us like a high level overview of what this not only means for your practice, for your students, but just like you personally? I just want to be able to bring more global awareness into my classroom and show my students that there's so much more beyond our community and our city and our state and realize we can connect with kids all over the country and just to not think small and think, open your eyes wider, make your lens wider to bring people in. I love that.
Educational Learning Party at the Conference
00:02:28
Speaker
So of course, we're going to have to follow up post Costa Rica, post
00:02:33
Speaker
grant, fund it, get your teach on. You all can't see my face, but when she said that's the conference, as a classroom teacher those kind of started happening right as I was leaving. And I was like, I want to be in a get your teach on. It's like a basically an educational professional learning party. So congrats to you. Is this your first time going? It is my first time because usually they always conflict with ISTE. And I'm like, yeah, this is the one summer I can actually make it. Oh, I'm so excited for you. So I'll be following along on social media to live vicariously through you. um But I'm so glad that you also like provided yourself some extra time to just be and have your own vacation while in Florida. That's going to be such a good time for you. So yeah, follow Kiki, y'all, because I'm sure she'll be posting. It'll be good. I'm excited. I'm excited. OK, so this is interview number four, conversation.
00:03:31
Speaker
Yeah, we're gonna call it conversation number four. We've been following you all year. And while that is wild to think about, I can't believe it's been as many months as it has been. There's a lot that's happened.
Navigating Board Certification Submission
00:03:43
Speaker
You've won some grants, you're a part of fellowships. And through all of this, on top of teaching, on top of like living your own life, you were going through board certification this year, which is why we were having conversations and kind of learning from you and your experience. So as we sit here at the end of May, I still can't believe that's where we are, you have submitted your first piece of submission for the process. What are you feeling right now, knowing that that's done?
00:04:15
Speaker
I feel relieved. It was very stressful down to the wire. I was one of those people who submitted on May 16th and I was like, I won't do 18, but I won't do 17, but 16 is good for me. So it was like a huge like excitement. I'm like, did I submit? And then even on May 18th, I actually went back multiple times to be like, did I for real submit? I know I took my photo and I sent it to my PLF, but like, I need to confirm my brain. Cause you know, when you work so hard for something, you just have to really make sure that I went through. Now, I totally get that. And this so I did my maintenance at certificate last year. And even then, like going through the process, I sat and I recorded and voice-over it. OK, this is me adding this document. And this is me adding this document. OK, and now I'm clicking Submit. And I sent it to my friend. like This is proof, but also just like to reassure myself that I did the things that I think I was doing. Because sometimes you're just in there moving, like doing all the motion.
00:05:13
Speaker
And you're like, I hope I submitted and uploaded that thing correctly. So I'm so glad, too, that your response is so authentic. Relief is a real feeling people have after submission, right? again So with that, you submitted on May 16. The deadline was May 18. I'm so curious. There's a lot of moving pieces, right? So was there something that you learned through the submission process itself? And if so, like what advice or things you want to remember for next year? May 2025. I definitely learned that when I wrote my whole written commentary that I'm definitely not the best writer, but with a lot of sentence stems and a lot of critique and nice feedback. My mentor is great. I'm like, just give it to me. I can take it. Tell me what you really how you really feel about it. And the way that she, I was able to ask questions like,
00:06:11
Speaker
I'm like, probe me, stem me. like I just need someone to pick all the great things that I'm doing in my brain. And after reading like my first version to like my 20th edit version, I'm thinking, oh my gosh, this is literally what I was like getting to. yeah And then I was able to like highlight the cool things that I'm doing. While also being myself and adding my I did add some fun flair Like exclamation marks and I know we can't have a lot of fluff But I'm like, it's just me if I can start have one exclamation sentence out of like the whole paper It's fine, you know, so then when the reader reads it they'll be like, okay, you know, I can see her personality coming but it was really rewarding and now when I ask questions to my kids, I'm like I
00:06:59
Speaker
Why do you think that? Tell me more. And I want to probe them to get something more out of them. I love how this process like even transcends your own experience, right? Of like writing and reflecting and analyzing and refining, but also like how you engage with the world around you to include your students. And I also just want to extend some kudos for keeping a hold of or even knowing where your initial draft was to like all the iterations of your other drafts so you could see the differences in the type of writing. So I'm going to challenge you. I'm not going to say that you're not a great writer. I'm going to say that writing to National Board to attend to the questions, right? It's a very different type of writing than I think most educators are accustomed to.
00:07:49
Speaker
as someone who can be extremely flowery. Like I look at some of my emails and I'm like, girl, just like get to the point. Like, hope you have the best day ever. I'm a journaler, I'm a reader. And so like to me, that is part of like my craft. But when you're working through this process, it's really like, these are the things I did because I know my students, which impacts them by. And I know sometimes it's hard to like pull out the, pull out the, maybe some of this the external things that we wanted to share. And so I think, I'm curious, like at what point do you feel like you've got to the point where you're saying, okay, I can use like one less exclamation point and I could like take out some of the fiery language. How far into the process did you really see that as like a part of your writing process?
Strategizing for Future Submissions
00:08:36
Speaker
It was like 75%. When I was 75% done with component two, because component two was the one that I wanted to like be my solid one. Not saying my C4 isn't solid, but I was like, this is what I feel the most comfortable in because it's like mine was on ah small group reading strategies. And it's like, this is literally what I do every single day. like it's something that my kids are constantly doing. It's my most familiarized thing. I mean, we live, breathe, and teach small groups. So it's like, I got this. And hearing like, okay, well, why do you do this? Or um why is it important to pull specific students in your small group? I'm like, well, let me tell you why. This is what, you know. And so being very specific and
00:09:29
Speaker
giving like the data to support the why. Yeah, I think sometimes that's the part that oftentimes in having conversations with candidates, that's not the first thing that comes out, right? Oftentimes we write and it's in generalities. We say, well, you know, I know small group instruction works, so I do it. Not necessarily beyond that. Like, what do I know about my students specifically that makes small this small group instruction important for them at this time? And I think through the process, you get to start to embody that and you just now in your practice, like that's how you start to think and move. And so you've been through this process for the full academic year. You submitted components two and four. Hindsight being 2020 or looking back,
00:10:21
Speaker
Is there anything that you would do differently as you're moving into submission for next year? um Or even things that you would want to make sure that you do again to set yourself up for success? Yeah. I already thought about like the summer when I have some time, like I'm, I have a four hour layover. What am I going to do? I'm going to read my C3 written instruction because I need some, you know what I mean? I'm going to utilize the time that I have. yeah So then I can pick out things in my brain to think about, all right, if I know I want to video this um reading lesson, then I'm going to start thinking of all the things that I've done in my past and pick out what is a good,
00:11:01
Speaker
moment where I can engage my students and have them give me the responses that I can help stem them and get that light bulb moment to go off and just plan ahead as much as I can and yeah, I'm not submitting May 16th next year. I'm gonna do it way sooner and my goal is to like have C3 done by Christmas so then when I do C1 I get to study and then Get that off of my plate. I appreciate how you're being authentic to you and saying like, I have a four hour layover. Like I can do something like reading by component instructions.
00:11:42
Speaker
Because I think my answer would have been, I'm going to play my Switch. I'm going to watch some YouTube. I have some books on my Kindle I need to finish. I saved that for on the plane. Oh, OK. There we go.
Preparing Students for Certification Process
00:11:54
Speaker
There's balance. There's balance. But I really like to highlight the fact that you said, even in that like prep that you might be doing in your layover, part of it is just like reflecting on what you've already done as a teacher, right? It's not like sitting there. building like this whole new plan or like a dog and pony show, you're gonna take time to say like, what did I teach that I think might demonstrate what needs to be shown in component three? And like, what would that look like for me moving forward? And so I'm curious, do you have a way in which you plan to capture that thinking? Are you someone who like annotates on paper instructions? Are you a tech person? um Because there's so many different ways that one could go about that.
00:12:37
Speaker
I like do everything both ways. I like write on and all my, I mean my binder has notes on everything. Like when somebody, if I'm watching a webinar, especially like on national board and they're giving feedback or ideas on how to help future candidates and they say, asking yourself these questions. I'm writing these questions down all over and I'm putting them on. Okay, this is a C3 question. So when I go back and I open it up, I'm like, oh, this is going to help me write for this question. Someone said, you know, this, and I'm like pulling from everything.
00:13:10
Speaker
And then um videoing is fun because I already video quite a few of my lessons when I'm teaching. It's just more of like having the students feel comfortable with the video because when they see a camera, oh my gosh, they're the next Hollywood star. They just get so excited. so starting them early with like, all right, Ms. Powell is going to teach this lesson. Or sometimes I do it just to pretend like I'm recording when I'm not, just to see how students react to let them know like, this is for me to better my career. Like I want to practice to make sure that I'm stemming you guys. So I'm successful. So you can be successful in having them like understand the why with everything. That is so important. And if someone is listening in there,
00:13:53
Speaker
apprehensive about Component 3 because of that recording aspect. I just want to name, to your point, like kids are going to be kids. They see a camera. They're going to be Hollywood actors and actresses. And they have grown up in a time that is so different than myself, probably you, as far as like access tech technology. um My sister-in-law is an esthetician and she had posted my niece getting like a kid facial. And tell me why my five-year-old kindergarten niece was like doing influencer moves. I was like, what is this? And so like to your point of like being in front of a camera, like they get it already. She was like doing the tapping on her face what is it little face mask that she put on. She was like doing the ASMR tapping to like show the package. And like, oh, this feels so good on my skin. And I'm like, you're five years old. You know all the moves. like You're not a favorite. I love it.
00:14:53
Speaker
You are not afraid of this camera. So C3 and C1, I love the ambitious goal of like being done by December. um And the event that life happens, do you have plans for like, if you have to go beyond December, what that might look like? Yes, I'm totally cool with going beyond with December and I like realize my most busiest months in life are literally like March, April, May. And I just I can never get away from it. Like there's that's when everyone's like reaching out like, hey, can you do a collab with this? I'm like,
00:15:33
Speaker
No, but I was like, yes, you know you don't want to say no, because it's a really great opportunity. And so I'm like, OK, well, if I do by December, everything will be OK. Or if I don't score as high as I wanted to on C4 or C2, then I already have in the back of my mind, like, all right, I'm going to spend like January picking one of them. And that's the one I'm just going to fine tune it and get it all out there to fix. and I probably won't do both. Just take a solid one and stick with it. No, that makes sense. And again, for people who might be on the fence or I'm in some of these Facebook groups and people are like, OK, you know, going at this for the very first time, not sure about anything about National Board, where do I even start? um Before I like go into the website, before looking at standards, it might be helpful to take an audit of your time
00:16:30
Speaker
just so you know what you have access and flexibility to do. The process is flexible. And I think we can hear that in the way Kiki's explaining like how she plans to attend to certain things, but you're absolutely right. If you know that March, April and May are bananas, like probably don't wait to record in March and then hope that you get something by April so you can write in May. Like you have that time and flexibility to push the timeline forward because the timeline is your own. um So did you feel like Kiki to that point, did you come to that realization on your own or did coaching help you realize like, hey, March, April and May were like tough to get through this process. I might need to like bump up how I access components three and one next year.
Final Months of Submission
00:17:22
Speaker
I realized, well, I started doing C4 really good in November. And then December was like, I feel like that's another, I mean, the holidays, you just want time for yourself. And it's like you're halfway point. And then January came and that's when I really hit C2. And C2, I felt like was going really strong, but then I started um just taking a little bit more time to get my writing done and then by the time like April hit okay C2 was done now let me can get all my C4 solid together and I don't know like I'm just that type of person when it's like oh the the deadline's coming like guy let's get it in gear and I'm doing it and you know you just get excited and I'm like totally one of those people it's like
00:18:14
Speaker
and Oh, it's like two days before I can still do it, you know? so ah So even though I worked on it so much throughout the whole year, I still feel like I just did so much in March, April, and May. yeah Just because I knew, I'm like, oh, I still have time. Let's fine tune this. Yeah. So Kiki, we know that next year, you're going to be working on C3. And C1, you shared how you're already thinking about C3 starting this summer. at a layover in the airport. With C1 being more of an assessment base, like I'm going to a testing center, doing some selective response, writing some responses to constructive response questions, is there a prep that you're considering now for component one? Or do you see like you taking time past what you would like to be done with component three to really focus on component one prep?
Assessment Challenges and Preparation
00:19:08
Speaker
Yeah, I want to do start prepping more like in January. um Assessments are not my not my strong suit. A lot of people don't know this, but it took me like four times to pass my teaching test because I'm just not a test taker. And so when people find out, they're like, wow, really? I'm like, yeah, I i am just like an ordinary person who just struggles with test anxiety. And and when I look at a question, I'm like, oh my goodness, this is wild. And I actually had to, no one actually knows this one, but I actually had to take my ESL exam in February. And if I didn't pass it that I would not get my, I wouldn't be able to teach in my district because it's a,
00:19:52
Speaker
you get two years to teach. So I was secretly stressing out about that this whole school year. And this was my third time taking it. So I actually reached out to an awesome lady. Her name was Erica Garza. She is the cook curriculum coordinator and she helped tutor me. I went to her session and then she came to my school and tutored me after school. And then I ended up passing I probably did not pass without her help and so I was excited and I joked and I'm like I gotta have a job for next school year because I finally got my ESL certification so I definitely struggle with online tests and I'm like already thinking about C1 if I don't pass I'm like it's fine I can just take it again next year like how I do all my other assessments.
00:20:39
Speaker
It's okay. Okay, one, thank you for being so vulnerable. Two, I literally have goosebumps as you were talking, like, one, about your process and kind of like your own needs with assessment, but just how passionate you are about the profession. Like, had you let the testing, quote unquote, hold you back? What a detriment to like your district and your students. I mean, you're going to Costa Rica on a national fellowship. I know. What? Yes. Wow. Oh my gosh. Kiki, I always appreciate our time together, especially your four days into summer. So thank you for saying like, yeah, jump on a clock and have a conversation. um This will not be the end of our following of you. If you don't know that now you do. ah We're going to continue to keep up with you, especially as you continue to grow and excel and do amazing things in the profession.
00:21:36
Speaker
um Of course, we'll check back in once scores are released and see how you're doing, how you're feeling.
Advice on Certification Journey
00:21:42
Speaker
But for this, as we kind of say, bon voyage as you head off to your many adventures this summer. If someone is listening to this and they're like, OK, Kiki is super relatable, like testing, not her thing, like planning, like plan to do the thing, but also like life happened. Also, I want to live a life. And so if Kiki can do this process, like I think I can too, but I'm still kind of on the fence. What might you you say to someone who is listening to this conversation, sees themselves within you, but also is kind of so like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't even know where to begin. What would you say to them?
00:22:23
Speaker
I would say don't be afraid. Find a buddy. Find someone that you can go through the process with. It's a lot easier when you have someone to connect with and find resources to help you. I was very fortunate enough to have a district cohort that opened up the opportunity for me. I've always was on the fence about it for many, many years, but I just didn't know where to start. And so when I saw the email, we're looking for people who would like to join the cohort. I'm like, Why not it's a great way to connect and network with people.
00:22:56
Speaker
you get to find people with the same passion and drive as you and you just get to further yourself and challenge yourself. I think the key word there is challenge yourself as a teacher to showcase the great things that you're doing behind the scenes. Not everyone's going to see the great things that you're doing and this is like your voice and to show like, hey, I am a great teacher and I want to show to the world like I want to be the best that I can be. That would be my best advice. All right, so y'all have heard it here first. Find a group if there is one in your area. Even a partner. I've heard from candidates who just have one other person in their school who they you know bounce ideas off of one another. They set time to write together. Even if you don't have a full blown cohort, there could be someone in your school who's like, I've been on the fence too. Let's get off the fence together, right? And like do what we can with what we have.
00:23:54
Speaker
um even that like one step of above just like doing it alone could be the thing that pushes you to do it. And so Kiki, we are so grateful that you have really opened the door to your classroom, your practice, your thought process as we've had conversations this year.
Closing Remarks and Well Wishes
00:24:13
Speaker
And we just wish you the best this summer, have the best time and all of the things that you have worked so hard for, like enjoy Costa Rica, enjoy your concerts, enjoy your time in Florida and we will be in contact with you in the new year and the new school year, that is. And we can't wait to learn more about what's going on in this college classroom. Sounds good, thank you!