bambi - is this the exceptional children's chat room?
Kathey - hi bambi - yes, but it seems we're the only ones here
bambi - have you started any entries?
Kathey - I've started #6
Kathey - what about you?
bambi - i have done video entry #2 and tomorrow i will begin entry #1
Kathey - wow! - you're on the ball - wish I had that much done
Kathey - what did you do 2 on?
bambi - it took me approx. 15 hours to do entry #2. each entry is a killer.
bambi - i did a reading lesson on video
Kathey - drta or other reading process?
bambi - i did a guided one-to-one reading lesson on specific reading strategies.
Kathey - I was thinking about doing some Lindamood-Bell activities - what doyou think?
bambi - i am not familiar with lindamood-bell. what is it?
Kathey - phonemic awareness in reading - visualization and verbalization
bambi - hey, that sounds like a winner
Kathey - I HOPE so - but first i've got to get it done!!
bambi - it took me 5 takes to get the video i wanted. it is not easy. i spoke too fast in one and then the next one the student acted too silly. be prepared for a few takes.
Kathey - I like the idea of one on one instead of small group/large group like the other areas have
bambi - i heard that only 37% of the candidates pass. that sounds low to me. a little bit frightening, huh!
bambi - one-to-one is easier, more control
Kathey - Yeah, but look at it this way - we have 3 tries -
bambi - i guess i have to be more optimistic. sometimes i wonder if i am really doing what the assessors want.
Kathey - I guess we won't know that until this time next year - I think the guidelines are pretty detailed, but I find I need to keep the standards right next to me as I write.
bambi - i really wish that we had sample portfolios to look at and see just how they are scored.
Kathey - maybe after these first folks get their scores, they will release some samples for us.
bambi - if i just touch on each standard, is that alright. or do i have to really go into detail?
Kathey - i think just touch on them - let them know that you know what it says in that situation
bambi - good advice, thanx
Kathey - remember, I'm in the same boat - well the same ocean as you are
bambi - how many artifacts are you planning to use for entry #5 and entry #6? i heard about 6-9 are substantial, wht do you think?
Kathey - that's what I heard too - which makes it about a page each. I don't think you have to have the minimum # of pages to score well
Kathey - hi monie - are you a first timer too?
bambi - thats what i heard, quality vs. quantity
Kathey - oops I meant maximum heeeheee
Kathey - what are you going to say about your communication log - are you going to use it?
bambi - what are you planning to do for the social skills video?
Kathey - I thought about mock job interviewing with a colleague
bambi - i haven't given that entry too much thought as of yet. i don't know
E Z Ed - i just got my portfolio box from NTBPS and am up to my eyeballs in reading
bambi - it took me weeks to just figure out what i had to do and still i have some doubts!
TXgirl - I teach first grade and just wanted to listen in to the chat.
Kathey - I just got my box on Monday - a little overwhelming isn't it?
E Z Ed - i'm at the totally confused stage also; i've found one other person who went through the process last year
TXgirl - Are ya'll talking about spec. ed. certification?
bambi - i plan on doing a big chunck of the work on thanksgiving break and xmas break
Kathey - ex ed do you have any one else in your system working with you?
bambi - yes, spec. ed. cert.
Kathey - I'm praying for LOTS of snow!!! lol
E Z Ed - yes, sp ed national board cert; so far i'm the only SC DJJ teacher at all to apply for nat cert
bambi - ez ed - looks like you are a pioneer
TXgirl - "Greek" to me. What's SC DJJ?
Kathey - and what a great place to have NBPTS teacher
E Z Ed - blazing a trail! South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice
Kathey - let me guess South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice?
bambi - good guess kathey :-)
Kathey - are you working on board certification or waiting on results
bambi - what are you workin on paul?
paul - can anyone answer a question about entry 1?
E Z Ed - have y'all made contact with anyone else in a DJJ setting, any area, but best in exceptional needs?
bambi - ask away
Susan - ED, where do you work? Not DJJ/SC, but where in SC?
E Z Ed - at the upstate evaluation center in Union
Susan - Hello all- Paul did you get that stuff I mailed to you?
paul - do all the artifacts for entry 1 need to be student work or can 2 of them be checklist type assessments?
bambi - i thought it had to be student work, i could be wrong
Susan - Paul, I have not completed entry 1, but since mine can't do much on the written page, it will have to be something indicating performance - still their work, but not, if you see what I mean
paul - has anyone tried to do writing assessments?
Susan - Yes, and you can't read them unless you know the kids
bambi - i have a question. do you think that the boards actually call the people who verified entries on the verification forms?
Susan - WE have a writing emphasis in our school this year, and I have a good evaluation tool for writing - curriculum based measurement
E Z Ed - bambi, i figure they'll at least hit everything on a random basis. after all, it's what they do for a living!
foursome - trying to contact with a PA teacher
bambi - yeh, you are probably right. sometimes i think that people really can get over on a lot of this.
Susan - Ed- I work in Lancaster, not too far away- you need to email me
Susan - Ed- you have probably had some of my kids!!!
E Z Ed - absolutely, my address is edbetty@gateway.net
E Z Ed - i've had kids from Lancaster
Paul - Susan, is that a typical assessment or would you say exemplary?
E Z Ed - Susan- this is my first time using a chat room, how do i pull down your e-mail address?
Kathey - paul - i looked it up and the "book" says that artifacts 1 and 3 must be student work and then it gives ideas
Susan - Ed- how many do you teach at once, and what is your daily schedule
Susan - Paul- I took a special class to learn how to do it a couple of yrs ago, and it is geared toward more authentic assessment than a Brigance or WJ
E Z Ed - Susan- i have six classes a day, all males, ages 12 - 17 with an occasional 10 or 11 year old, class size runs 12 to 18 depending on how overcrowded we are.
Susan - Paul- it is typical for me now, but lots of things we do that we think are typical are not, I am finding
Susan - Ed- how long have you been doing this? What do you think is going to be hard about the NB process?
E Z Ed - been teaching behind the fence just over 2 years, biggest headache will probably be videotaping confidentiality issues. Next toughest, we only have the kids 28 - 45 calendar days so i don't have much "tracking" time on any of my students.
Susan - I know, sometimes I wish you would keep them longer!!
Paul - well reading entry 1 again it seems artifacts 2 and 4 might allow rubrics but it isn't perfectly clear.
E Z Ed - Susan- everybody does! there are a lot of times we wish we could also because they're obviously not ready to go back to the community.
Susan - Paul, have you made templates for the entry writing, with the questions?
Susan - Ed- we all have serious confidentiality issues, and that is why you have to get those permissions- you should get the at the intake, not to waste time.
Paul - no, it doesn't make a difference for me.
E Z Ed - Susan- so true, i also will have to do a lot of work through the social workers & probation officers to stay in touch with parents/guardians etc.
Susan - I just heard someone say that was a good way to write the entries, wondered if anyone did that- all the entries I have seen had continuous monologue
Paul - jenny i was just wondering if i could use a writing rubric as an artifact #2 or 4 in Entry 1. What do you think?
E Z Ed - yo LA Jenny!
Jenny in Los Angeles - Wow, Paul, I'll have to get myself back in touch with that entry before I can say anything. My 'problem ' is that I've put it all sooooo out of mind to protect my sanity. .,.. Yo EZ Ed!
Jenny in Los Angeles - I did make a sort of template for my entries, tho.
E Z Ed - Jenny- what software did you use to make your templates
Jenny in Los Angeles - I found templates very helpful.
Jenny in Los Angeles - I'm not sure if we're meaning the same thing by templates. I made two kinds, just typing onto my computer...
Jenny in Los Angeles - One was a list of each question, with lotsa space to make notes of items I wanted to include in that question.
Susan - Jenny-do you still have those? Can you email them?
Jenny in Los Angeles - Another was a list of the standards that wen with ech entry. and on that I put notes from the standards - phrases that would directly apply to my particular student.
Jenny in Los Angeles - Susan, I would have to look.I'm not sure what I kept. But I think they , or similar stuff, may already be on the reference site that Loretta directs the newbies to periodically.
Jenny in Los Angeles - Susan, have yo gone to that site?
Susan - I did get a lot of stuff off that site, like words and standards cklists. I just heard someone say something about templates, and I wasn't sure about it.
E Z Ed - Jenny/Susan-I'm a newbie, what's the site?
Jenny in Los Angeles - I'm not sure what EZ meant about templates. (I think it was EZ). But I made my own in the way i described. And others in my tstudy group made ones that were more suited to their tastes.
Jenny in Los Angeles - Ed, do you 'talk' with us on the ongoing website?
Susan - Go to files on the EN egroup site- it is on the left- you can download files
Susan - Ed, also go to links and you can get some good info from related websites
E Z Ed - it was me. sounds like you recreated using the wordprocessor, i've done that. yes, i've posted a message or two on the except needs egroup and two messages on the nat board bb. i'll try the xtra links you just referenced.
Jenny in Los Angeles - Susan, if I may digress...But Ed jumpt in with any other questions, cuz I don't mean to go away form NBC stuff...Well, I 'll come back to this Susan.
E Z Ed - just consider me a sponge, everything helps.
Jenny in Los Angeles - Ed, I did just word process it. And do talk to us on the EN Needs site. Its a good one! and daily, not just Firdays like this.
Jenny in Los Angeles - Susan, I sent your article from your Supt. to every LA Board of Ed member, the superintendent, the union president, Clinton, Gore, Bush, and our State governor!
Jenny in Los Angeles - Our union is considering printing it in the union newspaper - a big 20 production every month. And I got a call from one of the Board members who wants to write directly to your superintendent. She asked me to et the address from you. Can you email it to my private emial this weekend. Pretty exciting, no!
E Z Ed - oh, the en chat room. sorry, i was a bit clueless at first. you bet i'll join in!
Susan - Jenny, that is super. I will keep you posted on phase II about the alternate assessment.
Jenny in Los Angeles - Great!Susan! (Sorry Ed...) Now back to MNC business.
Jenny in Los Angeles - Ed, I think THIS is the EN chat room, isn't it Suysan? I get confused with all the sites.
Jenny in Los Angeles - The other is our egroup for EN candidates, where we post and respond to messages.
Jenny in Los Angeles - I hope I'm not confusing things.
Susan - Ed- you know the EN site, I saw a post from you there asking for info/ help
Jenny in Los Angeles - Oh! OK - you're already there. It must be Friday - I'm slow on the 'pickup'.
Jenny in Los Angeles - Do you two have any other burning wquestions (that will make me wish Loretta were here!)
Jenny in Los Angeles - But I'll try to respond before going to cook dinner.
E Z Ed - i'll keep those cards and letters coming
E Z Ed - took me a few moments to sort the brain
Jenny in Los Angeles - Yes, its been that kind of day. Its nice to decompress here with you two.
Susan - Jenny- are you excited about finding out the results?
Jenny in Los Angeles - Susan, did you receive my missive by mail yet?
Jenny in Los Angeles - Oh, God - people keep asking me what the results are, and it just keeps bringing it up to mind. I am really anxious to know, however.
Susan - Jenny- no I did not- or I would be thanking you! I hope I get it soon.
Susan - Do you have a plan for opening day?
Jenny in Los Angeles - I just got an invite from our Union, whose study groups I participated in along with our web group. They are honoring all those who completed the process. My first thought was, yes - do this before we find out. Its Oce 30th.
Susan - Everyone seemed to be freaking out over that survey on the site. I know my day is coming. It is amazing to watch.
Jenny in Los Angeles - I don't have an opening day plan. But it did strike me recently that I would need my hubby there. Not one to go into a corner and open it myself.
E Z Ed - this has been really neat. got to go archive the old brain for a few hours. see y'all later.
Jenny in Los Angeles - I thought Loretta, as usual, handled it so well. And got us some answers bout it. I'm way behind in opening the recent mail of these last two days, however. So don't know what's new on the topic.
Susan - I think I am already dreading that part more than the ac or the work I am doing now
Jenny in Los Angeles - How are you feeling about the NBC work at this point?
Susan - I am feeling like I am doing too much, and I am not starting anything new. I have enough going on to keep me busy til the end of the year, if I just finish what I have started- projects, committees, etc
Jenny in Los Angeles - Anecdote. I asked our Board memvber if they could find his address using Rock Hills as a start. But they phoned back to say they couldn't. So thats why if you could email me how to write him, I'd appreciate it.
Jenny in Los Angeles - Susan, can't you get OFF those extra things? Won't our school support you enough to do that for you?
Jenny in Los Angeles - It is sooo important to have your time cleared for yyou.
Susan - I am loving the process, but I need to not try to showcase everything and narrow down - I just keep coming up with more ideas- and I need to shelve them
Susan - HI emilee
Jenny in Los Angeles - Emilee - its just us at the moment. Paul was here and EZ Ed, twho newbies who also talk on the egroup site.
emilee - ok
emilee - susan, where are you?
Jenny in Los Angeles - Susan, I rarely loved the process. And i am only VERY relieved during this teaching year, to be feeling the benefits of having gone through it. It has raised my bar on myself and altered my standards for many things.
emilee - btw, i got my survey...yippie!
Susan - It is not the school, or anything extra/ unusual on their part. I am starting the 3rd yr at this particular school, and have support now to do things I have always wanted to do- that is one reason I decided to do NB- along with a bunch of other stuff
Jenny in Los Angeles - I haven't face mine yet.emilee
emilee - it's a real bear...
Susan - Emilee- now you know the survey is not indicative of anything :-)
Jenny in Los Angeles - You guys - worry, but I have to go. Hubby just wondered where dinner is - of all hte nerve! (LOL) And besides I have just got whiteout. Hope you get this message! Bye now!
emilee - i guess i knew that all along, i just had had some really foul nightmares about the assessment center when i wrote that message
Susan - Not much longer, emilee- you have come so far
emilee - see you all next time
