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Candidate Conversations: Keke Powell's Capstone to Certification
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Welcome back to Candidate Conversations! In this special and highly anticipated episode, we bring you the culmination of Keke Powell's National Board Certification journey. For those who have followed Keke's progress through our series, this episode is where we see her efforts come to fruition as she prepares for her final Component 1 assessment.
Keke reflects on her growth and increased confidence throughout the process, sharing how receiving scores from previous components helped her strategically approach her Component 3 submission. She dives into the power of starting early, the crucial role of mentor meetings, and the transformative impact of analyzing her lessons, even with her students. Her intentional approach to tackling Component 1 last, after gaining experience in written components, offers a unique perspective for future candidates.
Beyond the certification itself, Keke discusses how the National Board process has already impacted her career, shaping her communication about her practice and opening doors to new leadership opportunities, including the Teach Plus Texas Policy Fellowship. This episode is a must-listen for any educator considering National Board Certification or looking for practical strategies to elevate their teaching and leadership. Keke leaves us with empowering advice on preparation, seeking help, and continuously filling your brain with knowledge. Join us as we celebrate Keke's incredible journey and look forward to welcoming her as an NBCT!
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Transcript
Introduction and Context Setting
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back to Candidate Conversations, where we're here at National Board having conversations with candidates in the National Board process. And I'm going to start off with this interview is going to a little bittersweet for me.
00:00:15
Speaker
have been following this guest for quite some time. We've been checking in, seeing how things are going along the process, and this could be potentially the last podcast.
00:00:27
Speaker
I'm seeing fingers crossed on the other side that y'all can't see. So we're going to speak it into existence. This will be last candidate conversation, the focus on candidate.
Achievements and Process Insights
00:00:37
Speaker
So let's go ahead and Kiki, let's catch people up with what's been going on.
00:00:42
Speaker
It's your last day of school. So thank you for being with us. Yes. What has been going all the things that just wrapped up my 10th year of teaching.
00:00:52
Speaker
i submitted my C3 a week before the deadline. There's been, I had good growth. I am now, um, a T I a, uh, Texas ex exemplary teacher, which means I have the data to show that I had at least, um,
00:01:14
Speaker
60% growth in my students to make years average growth. And so was like, yes, it validates all the things that I'm doing and trying to stay afloat with everything and ready for summer. i have a ton.
00:01:25
Speaker
have like five teacher PDs that I'm going to this summer and I'm so excited. i love connecting with people and having a blast and connecting with all my friends. Wow. I'm just I'm smiling from ear to ear because one, i love how much energy and passion that you're having on the very last day of school. I remember as a classroom teacher, it was like crawling to my bed, kind of tired.
00:01:49
Speaker
um So one, kudos to you. And then two, just the excitement and the growth that you have made over the year. And then to have that, you know, um empirical data, but also like that documentation that shows all the things that you've been reflecting on and refining is actually coming out in the outcome of how your students are achieving. So congratulations to you.
00:02:10
Speaker
And so you did share, you submitted. So how did the submission feel maybe different or similar to submissions in the past? This one I felt like the most confident in because now that I had my scores from C4 and C2, I knew exactly what the expectation
Strategies for Success
00:02:29
Speaker
was. And I went into the game plan knowing that i started so early on and i really took my time with everything. And something that really helped me be successful is I set up so many meetings with my mentor.
00:02:44
Speaker
Like I looked at my calendar and I was like, All right, here's four months. I need to meet with you at least twice a month so I can turn around, get the feedback that I need and see what I need to monitor and adjust on my end.
00:02:57
Speaker
And then I take my actual C1 assessment on June 3rd. So then i haven't actually celebrated quite yet. I was very happy. i had an ice cream after I submitted C3 because I was like, this is a win. I'm also lactose intolerant. So I cannot have ice cream. So I'm like, no, I earned this. This is great.
00:03:19
Speaker
And so I will be after June 3rd, will probably celebrate with a nice dinner to myself or maybe go crazy and have a milkshake because that's one of my favorite things you have to have too.
00:03:31
Speaker
Yes, I just felt more confident into myself. And even my mentor was like, I see a whole 180 into your writing and you know how to and really like digest the standards and really make sure that the fluff is not there.
00:03:48
Speaker
So, yeah. So I'm curious. There's two things that I want to unpack there. And Funny enough, it won't be about the milkshake. Two things I'm most curious about is, one, you said that after getting you know feedback and scores in the last cycle, you decided to start earlier this year.
00:04:08
Speaker
So how do you think that starting earlier really supported you? In addition to like being able to schedule out you know meetings with your mentor, was there anything else that knowing that you had quote unquote time um supported you in doing for this year?
00:04:22
Speaker
i really had to think, what lessons that I have taught in my previous years that I thought were really great standout lessons. And so whenever I went in knowing like my big science unit was in December, January, February, I was thinking with the mindset of, okay, I need to make sure I have um the backwards planning of mind. This is what I want to teach and I need it to align with everything that I already have.
00:04:49
Speaker
And I actually used my math lesson that aligned with my T test. So that was, which was what my evaluation, which is perfect. Cause I wanted to, like double dip in both things. So then I could reflect on, okay, was my lesson good enough?
00:05:05
Speaker
Um, all of those things. And so was good, you know, reflecting on everything. It's incorporated more hands-on and manipulatives throughout my lessons that I wouldn't have done in previous years.
00:05:18
Speaker
So it's helping me become a better teacher overall, too. Appreciate that. And the second part of that that I wanted to unpack.
Feedback and Improvement Methods
00:05:27
Speaker
um So in addition to starting early, you also shared that you felt like and you had feedback, right, that you're writing.
00:05:34
Speaker
i don't want to say it got better, but maybe it was tighter. It was more in alignment with what the prompts were asking you. So what do you think that shift was from you know, going at your first year in submitting to like submitting now and how, what was that shift for you? Like writing and analyzing? Do you feel like it came naturally? Were you just more aware because you've done it once?
00:05:57
Speaker
I feel like I was more aware and I really went back to reading the standards, making sure that I hit every single one that was in my C3 and then finding ways to incorporate the verbiage into my writing as well.
00:06:12
Speaker
and then asking my friends who have been certified for a little bit, like, okay, really critique me, did i hit um the accomplished teaching standards, did I hit every little pinpoint, and so having them just let me know that I was on the right path with all the encouragement, that was super helpful, and i always had, like,
00:06:36
Speaker
sentence stems right in front of me just things to check off that was visual to make sure that i was hitting everything to you know we always say you know reach for the four having all that ready so yeah so then i guess my second third question at this point she just keeps coming um so you're taking component one as like the bookend of your whole process right and i know some people who see the numbers in chronological order and they're like one two three four i'm going to do it that way people split it up i think the beauty of this process is you get to make decisions for however you want to engage and i'm so curious why component one for you felt like the bookend of your process and how might you use knowledge and experiences from the written components to support you as you sit next week for component one so i chose to do c one last because i would have
00:07:33
Speaker
all the experience of what it was like to write for national boards. So then I would be more knowledgeable on how to make sure I'm explaining it correctly in the way that I would think they would want to hear it.
00:07:45
Speaker
And then i did see three this year because I love videoing. I love videoing my lessons on social media. Like that is my jam and it's fun and my kids love it. They always wanted to be in the videos. And so I was like, this video, everyone could be in it, you know? So they really enjoyed that.
00:08:05
Speaker
And so really just showing them like, okay, like this lesson is going to be recorded and practicing with them and then showing the kids the videos to see like but how they interact and seeing like, okay, I asked this question.
00:08:18
Speaker
um Did everybody answer? Why didn't you answer? Were you nervous? You know, talking it through. and then i was testing for C1 is actually like my weakness.
00:08:30
Speaker
like taking tests is not my jam. I probably I shared in one of the candidate conversations that it took me like four times to pass my teaching test because it just gives me so much stress. And this time around, i'm like, no, I got this. I'm feeling very confident. I've been testing. I've been setting a timer for 30 minutes. I'm like, somebody give me a problem.
00:08:49
Speaker
Tell me I will write about it, you know, and just finding all the ways. And so feeling like C2 and C4 were were like C4 was so meaty and I wanted to get it out of the way, but I also wanted a easier component, even though none of them are easier, but and something with less stress to go with it. So I'm happy with how I mapped everything out and how the order I chose.
00:09:14
Speaker
I really appreciate your intentional kind of explanation about why you chose what you chose. And than how each decision fed into one another.
Innovative Teaching Approaches
00:09:23
Speaker
Also, kudos to you. i literally jaw dropped when you were like, oh, and I share the video with my students.
00:09:29
Speaker
never thought to do that. I only did it once when a kid was misbehaving because I wanted them to see what they looked like. But like from the instructional aspect, how like how strong does that make not only their connection with you, but like talking about data and student needs for a kid to be like, oh, yeah, you know, I didn't answer any of the questions because I didn't know this Like what?
00:09:51
Speaker
Yeah. And it was great to hear what they had to say, too, because some of them say, you know, whenever I see the camera rolling, it takes me a while to get acclimated to it. And then I have one kid who's like super hyper rambunctious and he, the way he shows engagement is dancing right next to me while I'm teaching, like still focused and stuff, but a different style. And so showing other kids that it's okay to be different when you're in the classroom. It's okay that if this is how going retain the information by, you know, doing whatever you need, sounds good to me. So, I mean, it's just letting them be who they are and then meeting them where they are.
00:10:27
Speaker
Oh, I love that. So I am a big proponent and I'm a big believer in the fact that, you know, yes, the outcome of this is that people want the four letters behind their name. And i truly believe that there is something that's transformational that happens in your practice as you're going through the process.
00:10:45
Speaker
I'm wondering if you can share a little bit about how going through the process has impacted your career, whether it's like some of the leadership opportunities you've had, the way you talk about your practice in general.
00:10:56
Speaker
ah What about the process is already showing up? even without the letters there yet. um It was funny because we had to do a meeting about things that we thought were going great at school and things we can work on. And my team asked me, how do we phrase that? And I would say it as if I was writing it for national boards, like am my component.
00:11:19
Speaker
And they're like, how did you come up with that? literally this is what I've been writing for for the past years of my life I got this and it was just so funny so like even like the verbiage I mean having friends that have also been on the candidate conversations like Thomas Courtney and Myrda just seeing the way that they present themselves and all the advice that they give to their peers and their friends are just great people to look up to and finding different connections along the way to, I just really thinking outside the box and kind of just, I feel like sometimes I just see this. And so seeing like the full picture of everything, it could be outside of the classroom. It could be going to a teacher PD. It could be just like, you know, even at McDonald's, you're sitting there and you need, someone needs help. Just thinking different ways to, you know, be a better teacher overall.
Process Improvements and Future Plans
00:12:15
Speaker
So that's amazing. And so I'm also very curious because i believe that hindsight is twenty twenty right? You've gone through the quote unquote fire and I can look back and be like, oh, I would have done this differently or I would actually would have done this exactly the same.
00:12:32
Speaker
Is there anything now that you're on the other side of all the written commentary um components that you're looking back and you're like, oh, if i were to do this again, i would do it this way or actually this really worked out. So like moving forward, this is something that I i would continue to do.
00:12:49
Speaker
Yeah. So with C3, when I did my video, I watched it. And then the second time when i watched it again, i would literally timestamp everything. I had like four full pages and I was like, 115, ask this question. And I would write the question down. 120, this student said this. And I was like strategy or then like 215, this was a technique.
00:13:14
Speaker
I was very specific. And I was so happy that I did that because someone actually had taught me that. um It was, so easy to write my written commentary because I could easily go back and then I would highlight it to know that i used it.
00:13:29
Speaker
And then i reflected on, man, I should have done this for C4. I could have easily, when I was doing the formative assessments and the summative, easily I could have just written down, okay, I use this technique, which was an exit ticket. I use this technique. Maybe I did a Google form and then highlight those different things to make my life easier and the longer And so my best advice was just ask them,
00:13:55
Speaker
ask people for strategies and tips because everyone does things differently, but finding something that works for you. I was always reading Bobby Faulkner's book.
00:14:07
Speaker
I'd be going to the airport and I would carry it with me all the time. I'm like, Oh, got two hour plane ride. Well, I'm going reread chapter one or component one to make sure that I may have everything ready to go And so just overfilling your brain with knowledge. So when that time comes, you feel ready and not like worried some.
00:14:25
Speaker
because I felt this year was more relaxed and chill. I like, I know what I'm doing. So I have a question then connected to that because, you know, the work of your certificate area can either expand beyond the age that you teach and or is like below, like the grade level below.
00:14:43
Speaker
And for me, as someone who did early childhood generalist, my age band was ages three through eight, but I was like pretty much a kindergarten teacher my whole career. And so there was learning that I had to do obviously about, you know, kids' developmental levels and older, age of bands.
00:15:01
Speaker
so I'm curious, how did you prepare yourself, especially as you're thinking about C1, which is like just a few weeks away? How did you prepare yourself to like build knowledge, gain knowledge about, you know, either grades or ages that are not necessarily what you're in currently?
00:15:16
Speaker
That's literally me. I'm an early childhood generalist. I am reading the kindergarten standards. I'm reading the first grade standards and my mentor is a pre-K teacher.
00:15:28
Speaker
um Miss Miller. And so I'm always asking her, okay, what do you do in your classroom? I've actually gone into a couple of kinder classrooms at my school. I'm like, hey, can I just sit here for about 30 minutes? I'm not really focusing too much on you. I'm kind of going through all the content that you have, flipping through workbooks and seeing, okay, like how do you differentiate?
00:15:46
Speaker
What are some different skills that you're working on? Because I know it's specifically like letter sounds and some of my students still have those issues too, but trying to see what is something that I can take away that I can just see visually and then having them share different strategies as well with different conversations, just constantly like filling up my brain with as much as I can and having them tell, I'll ask them a question like what if little Susie comes in and she doesn't, she can't read anything. Where do you start?
00:16:17
Speaker
Yeah. Thinking of whatever question could possibly come up on the test. I am amazed by you. I'm so, every time we sit and have conversation, I'm like, I want to teach with her.
00:16:30
Speaker
And to me, like, that's like a very high praise, right? I think when someone wants to be your colleague, they want to learn from you. And every time I talk to you, Kiki, that's how I feel. Cause I'm like, why didn't I go sit in other teachers' classrooms to just like watch the kids in third or second grade?
00:16:45
Speaker
I'd read books, but like there is something that's so different than like seeing it in action, right? To see like how teachers fix a misconception. or how students engage in a way that maybe my five and six year olds didn't.
00:16:56
Speaker
So yeah maybe one day, maybe one day we'll be colleagues. ah So Kiki, you've already shared that you have a plate full of teacher PD this summer.
00:17:08
Speaker
I'm so curious, like what does going into the next school year feel like for you? What are you looking forward to? You will have this process Other than scores, right? You'll have this process behind and So what what does next look like if you're not necessarily prepping for the process?
00:17:25
Speaker
So my next big project, Thomas Courtney actually put it my brain. he was like, you need to go and apply for Teach Plus. So I got into the Teach Plus Texas Policy Fellowship.
00:17:38
Speaker
And so I'm really excited about that. He like gave me all the tips. He's like, you'll get in. You'll be fine. i was like, okay. And so when I had my interview, I was like, he said, I'll be fine. So I'm just going to keep believing in it and it'll come into existence.
00:17:52
Speaker
So I'm really excited because I'm already really active in my teacher union with TSTA. And so being able to learn how to be more of an advocate and saying more of those keywords, like flipping your brain. You say,
00:18:04
Speaker
specific words for NBCT. And then like, if you go talk to legislators or congressmen, you got to talk this way, you know, and just being able to, you know, have it flow out in a better way, i guess I would say, and just really pushing myself but like beyond my classroom that I already am.
00:18:21
Speaker
I love trying new things. And this is something that's really out of my comfort zone because when we go to our Capitol right now, the people that are around me are really good at talking.
00:18:32
Speaker
And they just know what to say and like really pack that punch. And when it comes to me, I'm like, okay, what can I say that they, that hasn't already been said. So just getting those experiences and just trying something new. So that's where my time is going to go. And,
00:18:49
Speaker
I just always have to keep busy. I can never just not do nothing. I don't know. I enjoy it. This is like, people get a high on life. Like I get a high on teacher PDs and try anything. So that's me. I totally resonate with that. I'm so excited for you and this next venture. And yes, sometimes talking to policymakers can be, it's different, right? It's not necessarily talking to your teacher next door, but I know that you will excel at it. Cause I can already tell you have like the foundation, which to me is passion.
00:19:18
Speaker
And so now it's just like building the skill set to do it in a way that like taps the punch in a short amount of time, which also, you know how to do, because you know how to write for board certification.
Advice for Future Candidates
00:19:26
Speaker
So with that, as we close, i always want to provide an opportunity for the guests to share either a piece of advice and encouraging word.
00:19:38
Speaker
The cycle as we're recording this has just opened. So there might be people who hear this in a few weeks and they're like, okay, this is for me. I have the summer. What could I be doing?
00:19:49
Speaker
So maybe a little bit of advice and an encouraging word as we close out this final candidate conversation and then welcome you back on our NBCT side of the conversation.
00:20:01
Speaker
Yes. My best advice was to would just be to read. would honestly just go and read through your um whatever certification that you're trying to go through and really sit down and make notes of the things that you already are doing, because many of us are already doing these things and then just making a list of, okay, that's the evidence that I have.
00:20:26
Speaker
One of my favorite things to do is put a big white anchor chart and just like take notes and be like, I've done this, I've done that and categorize it by standards. So then that way it's a quick visual and it's huge.
00:20:40
Speaker
um, for you to see. So whenever you're writing, you can look at and be like, oh, I need to add this, put check by it and ask for help. I cannot explain in enough to ask for help.
00:20:52
Speaker
There are so many people that are willing to help and want to pour into you and let them. So now I have a follow-up because what great podcaster doesn't so, okay.
00:21:03
Speaker
You, you, you have shared, right. Your mentor, asking for help, all these these different kind of networking connections that you have. What if I'm a teacher, and again, this may not be your experience, but if I'm a teacher who doesn't have um a colleague in the building or even a support network, like where would you go to ask for help? Like how would you still get that need met of like community and collaboration if it's not created or already there in a district or a space in which you're in?
00:21:35
Speaker
Um, if you're in Texas, you can Google Texas MDCT and there's a whole coalition that will be willing to help you. If you are not in Texas, you can easily reach out to, oh, you can do Facebook. There's a whole Facebook page that is super helpful.
00:21:52
Speaker
People are always giving at advice and tips. I read them all the time. Many people are like, hey, if you need help, reach out to me. I even put it on my social media. I was like, hey, anyone NBCT certified that would love to help me? don't want to reach out to anyone.
00:22:07
Speaker
um Just continue to ask. And so um my district currently has two NBCT teachers. of trying And so like finding people in within your district that possibly may have that certification.
00:22:24
Speaker
I reached out to both of them and they both gave me great advice. I had one of them, um, help me press videos. And so that would be my best, best bet.
00:22:34
Speaker
Find someone within your state, but if you can't find within your state, go to Facebook. There's like tons of people on Facebook. There's levels to this, right? Like the, I think the big thing is that there's help out there.
00:22:49
Speaker
and so whether you can find it next door or in the state over, um just you have to ask. but its And the chat, the NBCT chat page, because I used that way more this year than I did last year. Like, hey, I have a question. Can you clarify this? And the response was so great. I'm like, I got an answer in five minutes with the whole combo.
00:23:08
Speaker
It's hard to end. So that's another question. I love it. I love it. Well, we're so excited for you. Best of luck um in the next couple of weeks as we sit for component one And I can't wait until we get that email from you that says, hey, y'all, I achieved. I'm so happy that we've had these conversations. Thank you for kind of pulling back the curtain and taking us along with you. Thank you for being so vulnerable and transparent as people listen.
00:23:36
Speaker
And I can't wait to have you on a podcast again an NBCT. Thank you for having me. You're welcome.