Tuesday I took the exam portion of my National Board Exam for Professional Teaching Standards in Literacy ages 3-12. I was very stressed prior, but am glad it's over. The test was approx. 4 hours. I left early (9:20) for my arrival at 10:30 -to beat the traffic and am glad I did. There was traffic due to tree trimming on 22-it was literally stopped and I sat or cruised at 15 MPH on Rt. 22 W. The facility is in a corporate center near OLLies' on Tilghman in Allentown, I did manage to arrive by 10:15 and they took me right away. The testing facility also does testing for doctors, lawyers, and I believe Indian Chiefs :) LOL! They do a lot of testing! In fact, that is ALL they do!
Your ID is checked then you are photographed and fingerprinted. They want you to show your pockets-I had yoga pants on-no pockets! Everything but your license and a locker key are taken away(& placed in your locker, hence "the Key")-that is all you are allowed to enter the room with (except for tissues-so you KNOW I took those, just because I was allowed to, not because they were needed). Then you ENTER the room which is kind of soundproof-so it sounds weird. There are rules-no walking around, talking, etc. AND you are watched on a video camera-I considered picking my nose and teeth just to see if I could gross 'em out-but I was too stressed by the exam even to try it. You cannot even put your legs up or they walk over just to see if you are cheating. I cannot divulge any of the test prompts, since that isn't allowed, but it was LONG! Some of the questions seemed easy, others I felt I was searching for reasoning and embellishing my explanations. One was actually out-right stupid and would have been better to have been placed on a marketing exam. Each prompt addresses a different area of literacy-you are allowed 30 minutes for each exercise. On the first exercise(it was a 2 parter) I answered the prompt, then realized I answered the next prompt and tried to cut & paste, then lost the first one, and had to start over with 7 minutes left! This is often a problem for me because I now work on a Mac and the computer was a Dell! The cut and paste buttons just cut but didn't paste. I thought I'd melt down on the spot-instead I typed like a maniac, hopefully I hit the key issues I was hoping to address!
As I said the test was LONG!!!!!! There was only one optional 15 minute break-so you KNOW I took it! I think my butt went numb at one point. I also thought the guy was going to smack me 'cause I kept stretching my arms behind my back-he thought I was raising my hand...Tee! Hee!
I wonder if I'm the only candidate who managed to fit a bathroom break, a brief jog up and down a hallway and two yoga sun salutations into a 15 minute break?-yes I did! After break they fingerprint and check your ID -the place was like Ft. Knox. Who knows-I am sure someone tried to cheat somehow, sometime! Hey.... I could have my sister Kathy, who resembles me, take my test-who knows, maybe she would do better than I did.
I can honestly state now that it is over I have honestly no idea how I did. Is that normal? My mentors tell me yes! I think I prefer the portfolio portion over the exam -yet the portfolio was like a dissertation in length. I thought I would have a melt down, but I managed to survive......so now -let the waiting begin......Remember folks, I don't know the results until December and if I don't pass (& many don't) I do have an option to re-submit ~which means more work and time, but hey..... I've gotten this far-I'm not stopping now-though I admit I thought of quitting (& Knocking Out Jean M. for talking me into it!). But overall, it DOES make you a BETTER educator and you will NEVER think about your students and teaching the same way again...but if you do and you're slacking on the job....I'm sure that God will make sure extreme guilt will settle in.
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