SCET Journal 2020

Reflecting on

Teaching

nary changes occurring through the past twenty years, one thing that has remained constant is my identity as a high quality, accomplished teacher. I have been truly surprised when people ask me why I bother to main- tain my certification now that I have moved into univer- sity realms. Too much work, too expensive, not need- ed, not important, and “designates you as a teacher” have been some of the comments I have received over the past year. Yet, I can’t imagine NOT maintaining my NB Certification. It set me apart at an early point in my career, identifying me as someone not only excellent in her field but also as someone who cared enough to doggedly pursue such a designation, who cared about being one of the best. Now, it sets me apart in my new career as an academic. It seems funny to say, but in universities, everyone has doctorate letters following their name; it is a requirement for the job. But few have References Kentucky NBPL. (n.d.). Architecture of accomplished teaching. National Board Standards and Resources Weebly . Retrieved from: https://kentuckynbpl.weebly.com/ uploads/1/2/0/0/120036800/aat_new.png. National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. (2019). Mission and history. Retrieved from: https://www.nbpts.org/ mission-history/. Dr. Jennifer D. Morrison is currently an instructor at the University of South Carolina. Having lived all over the country from California to Virginia, from Nevada to North Carolina, from Texas to Maryland, Jennifer is a self-professed tumbleweed. She has been a mid- dle and high school English teacher and coach and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Nevada, Reno, in Language, Literacy, and Culture in 2013. She has

the magic ones of NBCT. It still distinguishes me, tying my past to my present and to the profession I love. I fully expect that come 2028, I will be completing yet another NB portfolio, even if I can’t imagine what form it will take by then.

For more information on National Board Certification, please see the following websites in addition to your local school district’s: National Board for Professional Teaching Standards: https://www.nbpts.org/ South Carolina Department of Education: https://ed.sc.gov/finance/financial-services/ national-board-certification/ Center for Education Recruitment, Retention & Advancement (CERRA): https://www.cerra.org/national-board.html

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. (2019). Renewal and maintenance of certification. Retrieved from: https://www.nbpts.org/national-board-certification/renewal/.

j

earned National Board Certification three times, is an alumnus of the Teaching Shakespeare Institute at the Folger Theater in Washington, D.C., and has won multiple awards for teaching and writing including NCTE’s Paul and Kate Farmer English Journal Award. Currently, her research focuses on adolescent, digital, multimodal, and disciplinary literacies as well as nar- rative and qualitative methodologies.

2018/2019

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