Monday, June 4. Hopefully it won’t live in infamy. It is, however, the day I will take the big test. To continue preparing, I reviewed the comments colleagues have left on this blog or by email. I figured you might want to check them out, too, so they’re copied below. More words of wisdom welcome.

By the way, excuse me for cannibalizing my own board to piece this entry together, but maybe others don't go back and read comments on every post as obsessively as I do. Also, I want to take this close-to-graduation moment to recognize that this blog only exists because there are a lot of us trying to summit what I thought would be a lonely mountain top. Somehow, I'm the one who gets to blab about it every week for Teacher, but what I'm really grateful for are the connections that the opportunity has fostered. We're all in this thing together, after all.

This post is a symbolic and completely inadequate attempt to say thanks for joining me on this journey. Hard to believe it’s almost over. Of course, as Brenda reminds, it’s not over until it’s over. Without further ado, let’s review.

One thing I was not completely prepared for was the timing. On the 3-panel screen, the directions appear and the time begins counting down immediately. BUT, the prompts don't show up until you scroll through all of the directions. I started happily reading the directions (which are a little bit complicated for the Spanish listening exam, and not published anywhere I could find), and then I realized that the time was clicking away.
My advice: scroll down immediately so the prompt appears. (The "how to scroll" tutorial will have trained you to do this--ha, ha.) Assuming it's a normal test (no listening, etc.), you should be familiar with the directions and scoring part already. In the reading comprehension section (again, for Spanish) that top left panel was also where the reading passage was located.
I studied by reading the latest methodology book for foreign language teaching, doing some pleasure reading in Spanish, and watching Spanish TV.
Posted by: Sara | May 20, 2007 8:02 PM

Long time reader, first time poster. I also took my assessment yesterday in EA-ELA. I did probably 10 hours worth of preparation over the last two or three weeks, and used maybe 10% of the new information I used. It was hard to go in and get it done, but a big relief when it was over.
I also made my appointment a long time ago, as the spots on Saturdays and locally fill up quickly. It was a very quick 3 hours - just flew by, and I think 30 min for each question was just enough time. Any more, and I'd be tempted to add BS. My best advice - read through all the prompts first, then try to keep your answers as plain and simple as possible (hard for us English teachers). Also, make sure you put quotes from the samples into your response - they mention in each prompt to be specific and use evidence. Good luck!
Posted by: Meghann Donohue | May 20, 2007 10:29 PM

Hi and good luck. My best advice--> use bullets, be short and sweet, and answer each part of the question. It is exactly what it says it will be.
Lots of luck!
I know that when I responded to the prompts I made a short list of the most important points I wanted to make in my response. I think sketched out approximate times I would need to meet to finish. I know it took away actual writing time....but I think it made me much more efficient in getting the asnwers onscreen and I, at least, knew that I covered the most important points.
Marsha NBCT, EA Science 2000
Posted by: Marsha Ratzel | May 11, 2007 3:25 PM

Good luck with the assessment center. I took my AYA/ELA April 29. All I can offer for advice is to wear a wrist brace for carpal tunnel. I'm a fast typer and managed to get through it, but my right hand, wrist, arm, and shoulder were completely numb by the end. I researched websites of common lesson plans from ESL teachers addressing linguistic acquisition in oral and written forms. Happy testing.
Posted by: W. Warren | May 14, 2007 7:18 PM

I am so pleased that I found this information, particularly the test simulations. I have been studying the sample AYA/ELA prompts on paper, but actually having an opportunity to type up a timed response is enormously helpful. Thank you for posting the link. My test is this Saturday, so hopefully it will go well! I wish you the best - I know it's been a very arduous journey!!!
Posted by: Kelly | May 16, 2007 5:20 PM

I've been worrying about exercise 2, specifically relating the universal theme to something from a "non-print text". I've been trying to imagine every universal theme known to mankind and a song or movie that has the same theme. It's much harder than I imagined, and I'm worried about my mind blanking out during the pressure of a timed test. I've been trying to think of movies with multiple themes, such as "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." I'm stuck on Man vs. Nature, as I'm not a disaster movie fan, nor do any songs I can think of deal with the theme. Any suggestions from anyone else how to approach this question? Am I on the wrong track here? Could a "non-print text" be something from current events? That would make it much easier for me.
Posted by: Hillary | May 17, 2007 11:29 AM

Yeah, I'm worrying about blanking on nonprint text, too--except remember: EVERY SINGLE SHAKESPEARE PLAY IS A NONPRINT TEXT. (Well, and every August Wilson/ Tennessee Williams/ Arthur Miller etc etc etc play...but you get the picture.) Also speeches ("I Have a Dream," anyone?) and NPR bits. So I'd say that a clip from a news program or NPR show about current events should work just fine. NPR did a whole series about people recovering from Katrina, which would fit with the Man vs. Nature thing. "This I Believe" is another interesting series, and of course "This American Life" actually treats themes.
I figure I can tie almost anything to a Shakespeare scene, one of the fine art works I'm familiar with, The Lord of the Rings, or the Andy Griffith show.
Posted by: Allyson | May 17, 2007 5:04 PM

Emmet, I have read your blog for about a year and responded several times. I am seriously hoping you are joking. (Maybe I can't determine the author's purpose!) But I will tell you that you can overestimate how easy you think the test will be. Like you, I had never taught ELLs and studied intensely for that part. I wasn't worried about one or two of the others. Guess what? I scored significantly higher on the ELL question and lower on teaching reading, which is what I do everyday. If it is as easy as you think, please share your scores this Nov. (or Dec. if it is like last year). Brenda NBCT 2006
Posted by: Brenda | April 30, 2007 8:17 PM

Feels great to be finished, I really just tried to refresh my memory re: the 6 types of questions to be asked. Advice:
1) Review questions they're going to ask (and released items from FCPS-NBPTS site as well as NBPTS site)
2) First thing I did in there when computer started was write list of standards from memory on scrap paper. That way if there was free time I could review list and make sure that I addressed additional standards.
3) Use the "review" key at the bottom of the screen (to make sure you addressed each of the parts of the question.) Some questions are on three different screens.
4) Wear pants with deep pockets and/or zippered pockets -- because your ID goes with you on your break and if you lose it or misplace it on break you aren't allowed back into the room to finish (all wallets, sunglasses, etc must be kept in locker.) I wore comfortable running pants with the little key pocket and on break, my ID fell out. I had only a mild PANIC attack, but found my ID before my alotted time expired -- ID fell inside my pants leg and was near my knee..... whew! -- what a stupid/horrible feeling....
Best of luck!
Kathleen Nadherny

The challenging part of the assessment center is the focus on ESOL of a couple prompts in which you analyze student responses. The responses you get to work w/ will bear no resemblance to the work quality of your actual students, so direct your efforts toward ESOL. The lit and poetry analysis prompts will be a breeze for you.
Your grace under pressure serves you well …
Stephanie Floros

Posted by Emmet Rosenfeld at 3:10 PM | Permalink | 11 Comments | Recommend

On this beauteous spring day, I’m sitting here in the man zone (my basement office), looking up through a casement window at a bird’s nest in the eaves of my neighbor’s roof. I’m thinking about... well, you know. The testing window is open until June 15. I have to figure out when to shimmy through before it slams shut. I’m having a hard time getting psyched to go do it-- I wonder if anyone else out there is feeling the same sense of ennui?

The assessment center seems anticlimactic, in a way, after the portfolio. Much as I cursed the process going through, I can’t deny that it was all about what was going on in and around my classroom. Somehow, the test center seems removed from that. It feels like a speed typing test.

This is a dangerous attitude, I know (I’m not cavalier, just toasted). Lord knows, I want to do as well as I can on the written test, at least well enough to get over the hump. A colleague of mine who certified last year has already blotted the math from his mind, but swears that it was the assessment section that was his saving grace.

I went back into the bible for motivation, and found this section on scoring:
For the Early Adolescence/ English Language Arts certificate, the weights are set at 16 percent for each of the three classroom-based portfolio entries, 12 percent for the Documented Accomplishments entry, and 6.67 percent for each of the six assessment center exercises. (EA/ELA 2006 pg 35)

In other words, 60 percent of the grade was in the portfolio. And 40 percent is still to be determined. My colleague was right; that’s a hefty chunk. It seems disproportionate. My year of blood, sweat and videotape versus one day of fast typing is hardly commensurate with a 3:2 ratio.

The rationale for this might be similar to the reasons the International Baccalaureate program, in which I used to teach English, weights the end of course essay tests far more heavily than the two papers written during the course. I remember never wanting to tell kids, during the months that they slaved over the lengthy literary analysis, that these papers were ultimately only worth 15 percent of the grade or so. We teachers saw the value in having the kids write the papers, even if the value wasn’t officially recognized. The bottom line for IB: the papers weren’t as “secure” as the test. There was no way of knowing how much a kid’s teacher had helped him, or how, on a 1500-word typed paper. But given the relative security of a testing environment, the evaluators could be pretty sure those hand-scrawled documents were kids’ own work.

So, does NBPTS not trust us? It’s the only conclusion I can draw based on the disparate weights of the portfolio and the assessment center. I’m not taking it personally, mind you. Standardized testing is what it is: certain measures are pragmatic, and must be taken when attempting to measure the achievement of tens of thousands of anonymous individuals.

The only other option I can conceive is worse: NBPTS doesn’t trust itself. The seemingly skewed weight of the two elements could be a tacit admission that portfolio scoring is more subjective than essay scoring. That’s a scary thought.

Maybe, as usual, I’m being too cynical. The 60/40 split might be a charitable way of giving differently-gifted candidates a chance to succeed. Some of us shine on tape; some perform best under the pressure of a timed writing.

Where does this leave me, little old Candidate # 011something-or-other? Pretty much back where I started this post. Staring out my window as wrens flit about, wondering when to go and get this thing over with.

Posted by Emmet Rosenfeld at 4:02 PM | Permalink | 8 Comments | Recommend

Let me set test prep aside to share some exciting news. The dugout canoe that my 10th graders have been working on all year is about to hit the water: we launch from the banks of Mount Vernon at 10 am on May 30. As well as being the centerpiece of our Humanities curriculum, loyal readers will recall that the canoe was a big part of Entry 4 in my portfolio. Most recently, I mentioned a spring break overnight where we cooked cobbler in dutch ovens on The Flaming Canoe as students scraped away with sharpened oyster shells (April 8,2007).

I only wish I could have somehow included in my final portfolio the very cool Fairfax County-produced news segment currently running on Red Apple TV, or the now nearly finished website that our students designed to document the process.

This summer, we look forward to displaying the canoe and the students’ work on the National Mall at the 41st Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, June 27-July 8, 2007. The cherry on top? A student-designed t-shirt is in the works, to be worn proudly on casual Fridays for years to come.

Posted by Emmet Rosenfeld at 8:35 AM | Permalink | 1 Comment | Recommend

I tried a practice prompt. On the advice of my loyal entry reader, Stephanie, I chose one related to English Language Learners. Those are the trickiest, she warns.

The trial run, below, was based on a transcription and writing sample from a (probably Hispanic) student who had read Tom Sawyer. Instead of composing in word, I used an online simulation set up by Patrick Ledesma, an FCPS National Board coach, who’s set up a tri-pane display with a timer on the bottom to give you a feel for the real thing.

I found that jumping from box to box and scrolling took more time than I thought. In fact, I didn’t finish. Below is what I managed in exactly thirty minutes. And boy was it fun. For your best marble and a horny toad, I’ll even let you take a turn. Candidates like me should go to Pat’s site for practice. Already NBCT’s are invited to comment with words of wisdom for us wannabes before we take the test for real.

Posted by Emmet Rosenfeld at 4:55 PM | Permalink | 9 Comments | Recommend