writing for national board 2014-2015

Writing for National Board

2014-2015CERRA National Board Candidate Support

Workshop Toolkit

WS4

2014

CERRA National Board Toolkit 2

Essential Questions• How will I know what to write?• What types of writing are used in the National

Board process?• How can I think more purposely & strategically

about my work and my students’ work so I can write effectively?

• How can I make use of the stages/steps of writing?


General Portfolio Writing Instructions

•Writing about Teaching

Three Types of Writing for NB

1. Descriptive – What happened?

2. Analytical – How, why, in what way?

3. Reflective – How would you handle the situation in the future?

Key Points from the Instructions

• Clarify how everything is purposeful. Answer key questions and make key points.

• Ask “why” and “how” after everything to be more analytical and reflective.

• Say it and show it. NB is evidence-based.• Provide responses appropriate for your

content, grade level, and portfolio questions.• Review your writing for clarity.


Descriptive Writing• Tell what has happened in your classroom. In

this sense, descriptive writing overlaps with narrative writing since it portrays a sequence or procedure or process.

• Description “sets the scene” of the work.• It is logically ordered and detailed. • Prompts use verbs such as “state,” “list,”

“describe,” or start with “what” or “which.”


Descriptive Writing Continued

Your response should• contain accurate and precise enumeration

and/or explanation of critical features.• provide clear and logical ordering of the

elements or features of the event, person, concept, or strategy described.

• include all features or elements that an outsider (assessor) would need to be able to see as you see.

Taken from General Portfolio Instructions


Analytical Writing• provides reasons, motives and interpretation.• is grounded in evidence (materials you submit).• shows your thought process.• answers “how,” “why,” or “in what way(s).”• portrays insight when you are asked to identify a

particularly successful moment in a sample of teaching and to tell why you regard it as successful.

• includes a rationale, logic, examination of the parts that create the whole.


Reflective Writing• includes your thought process (meditation and

contemplation) after you teach.• demonstrates how you make decisions.• shows how you use what you learned from

teaching experiences to inform and improve future practice.

• portrays your self-analysis and retrospective consideration.


Analytical and Reflective Writing

• These writings overlap but are not identical.• When you are asked to analyze or reflect, be certain

that your response meets these criteria:

(a) The subject of the analysis is available to the reader (e.g., the student work samples, the video recording).

(b) The focus of your writing is not on what (which is descriptive) but rather on why (which is both analytical and reflective).

Taken from General Portfolio Instructions


Analytical and Reflective Writing Continued

You need to provide the following:•your interpretations of what happened during the lesson and its results•your conclusions about what should come next•specific evidence and/or examples that support your analysis and conclusions, making your points clearly to the assessorsTaken from General Portfolio Instructions



Unpacking the Prompts• All entries are based on the same logical, but

not linear path.• Begin with descriptions of the class, students

featured, the unit being taught.• Move through planning and teaching stages to

analyze the choices you and your students make.

• End with reflection on the content, the students, and yourself.


Part One:Instructional Context

• This is a discussion of what you knew BEFORE you planned and taught your lesson/unit (and on which you based all the subsequent instructional choices).

• Curriculum• Students• Setting

• Instructional context should be different for each entry.

KOS Dimension 1Making knowledge accessible to all learners• Understanding of student background, experiences,

and knowledge• Previous school experience• Interests (in and out of school)• Special skills• Learning styles• Challenges• Attitude about school


KOS Dimension 2Knowledge of how students of this age develop and learn• Intellectual/Cognitive stages (What is appropriate for

these students to learn?)• Physical (What are typical growth patterns, needs for

movement, abilities of these students?)• Social (How do children at this age interact, establish

trust with adults, deal with conflicts in relationships?)• Emotional (How do children at this age deal with

frustration, anger etc.? What do they need to feel safe and secure?)


KOS Dimension 3Respect and consideration for individual cultural,

linguistic, and family differences• What skills and personality traits make this student unique?• Where does this child live? Who cares for this child?• What is this child’s ethnicity? What characteristics of this ethnic

group must I know in order to teach this child and relate with his/her family?

• What language(s) does this child speak? What language is spoken in the home?

• What are the family’s expectations?• What attitudes about school are present in the home?


KOS Dimension 4Knowledge of students’ self-concept, motivation,

relationship with peers/adults• Is this child a confident learner? Does he/she approach tasks

eagerly?• Is this child happy to be at school?• Is he/she proud of his/her accomplishments?• Does this student get along well with other children?• Is he/she well liked?• Does this child develop trusting relationships with adults? Can

he/she ask for and accept help from adults?



Part Two:Planning for Instruction

• Describe the planning process you used when designing the highlighted unit of instruction.

• Describe methods, materials, and activities you hope to include.

• Justify each choice based on the information you presented in the instructional context.

Key Words: • “For these students at this time”• “…that influenced my…(planning, choice of

materials, etc.)…for THIS instruction…


• The assessor should feel that your choices are logical and academically grounded.

• The assessor should be convinced that you know• your students well. • what content to present.• the best way to present the content.• how to assess student learning.

Part Two:Planning for Instruction (cont.)


Part Three:Analysis of Instruction

Student Work, Videotape, Assessment

Analyze your teaching by responding:• How did your activities further student learning

(or not)?• How did you probe students’ thinking?• How did you address misunderstandings?• Was what you actually did different from what

you planned to do? Explain.• How well did the students understand the

lesson? How do you know?


Part Three:Analysis of Instruction (cont.)Student Work, Videotape, Assessment

You will be asked to analyze the following depending on the component:

• student work • evidence of student learning• your practice as shown on videotape• one or more particular teaching strategies you

chose to use


Part Four: Reflection

• What did you learn about the students, the curriculum, yourself?

• How will that new knowledge be used?• What parts of your instruction worked well?• What evidence supports your conclusions?• What parts of your instruction could have been

done differently? • How might you change the lesson in the future? • What results would you expect?


Your Teaching Should Be Portrayed…

• Clearly • Consistently • Convincingly

Your portfolio entries lead the assessor through your decision-making processes so carefully that he/she is not surprised by a decision, recommendation, or conclusion you make about your students, your curriculum, or yourself.


Understanding the Questions

• Questions are written in italics followed by clarifying questions.

• You must pay attention to and answer BOTH!• The non-italicized portion will be very helpful to

you as you seek to include analysis in your portfolio.

• You might want to embed in your responses key words from the questions.


A Closer Look:A Prompt from a Portfolio

• What are the central features of the three segments selected for the videotape?

Explain how the three segments support

different aspects of inquiry.

From AYA Science


A Closer Look: From Prompt to Task

Prompt What Must I Do?

What are the central features of the three segments selected for the videotape?

DESCRIBE my videotape segments.

Explain how the three segments support different aspects of the inquiry process.

ANALYZE the three segments and tell HOW they are related to the inquiry process.


Unpacking the Prompts:Example

Prompt What Must I do? Finding Evidence

What characteristics of the selected work samples demonstrate the student’s ability to understand and interpret text?

ANALYZE student responses to text.

HOW/WHERE is “understanding” demonstrated in the student’s response to the reading passage? What different ways could the text have been interpreted?

What does the student’s interpretation indicate about his learning?

Stages of Writing• Prewrite—brainstorm, list, outline• Draft—organize notes & ideas into paragraphs• Revise—conference; meditate; paraphrase for

clarity, accuracy, thoroughness• Edit—address diction, order, sentence

structure, examples given• Polish—check mechanics, grammar, spelling• Publish—submit your revised, edited work


NB Writing RegulationsAdhere to NB guidelines regarding •Fonts (size and style)•Spacing/Lines•Margins•Number of pages•Numbering pages•Labels •Cover sheets


Possible Helpful Strategies• Initially type questions from the prompts into your

responses and then ultimately delete the questions, embedding key words from the prompts into your written commentaries.

• Ask other educators to read both the questions from prompts as well as your written commentaries to provide feedback about clarity.

• Upload your written commentaries via “My Profile” and return to them to continue revising and editing until you are actually ready to submit them for scoring.


Resources• www.boardcertifiedteachers.org• www.nbpts.org• Assessment Center Policy and Guidelines• Guide to National Board Certification• Scoring Guide for Candidates• NB Customer Support 1-800-22TEACH

(83224)• www.cerra.org; NB link


writing for national board 2014-2015

Documents

national board process

national board2014

narrative writing

stagessteps of writing

descriptive writing

teachingthree types

portfolio questions

thought process meditation