I am an art teacher and I am good at what I do.  I teach children how to interpret a new symbolic language and to decode their visual culture while appreciating the history of the work and learning new ways to create.  Teaching a group of 8th graders how to correctly mix secondary colors or use an x-acto knife is a daunting task.  It isn't easy.  I never thought it would be, but I love teaching simply because it means so much to me.  I spent 5 years teaching before I voluntarily completed the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification process.  I embarked on the certification process to validate my teaching, but what I found was a sea of discovery and change.  I achieved National Board Certification in 2007.

          When I started teaching, parents, administration, teachers and other students expected one thing from me: teach how to make pretty "stuff" to hang on a wall.  The National Board process asked me to reflect on my practices as an educator, questioning the learning goals for my lessons and their importance to the education of the students.  I was being asked to explain how my teaching affected the lives of my students.  Not an easy task, especially considering that I had fallen into the routine of making pretty "things" to decorate the halls.  For the first 5 years of my teaching experience, I was satisfied with perfunctory success from both myself and my students.  I read the instructions and prepared for a life altering experience.

          National Board Certification is a rigorous assessment of accomplished teaching and a transformative process.  The process whisked me away to the deepest corners of my teaching practice where I was asked to analyze student work and provide genuine evidence of learning over time.  I was asked to demonstrate knowledge of my content area on demand and watch myself teach to reflect on my strengths and missed opportunities.  Additionally, I was instructed to document my work with colleagues, parents, families,  and the community.  The basic question behind all of this: How does my teaching make a difference?
          The National Board process made me think of my teaching differently, pushing me to reflect deeply about what it means to be a teacher.  As I reviewed my practices as an art educator, I realized that some of the things I was doing in the classroom were merely superfluous, ornamental exercises designed to make my classroom (and the hallways) look nice.  But when I really dug into my practice, I discovered the things that really make a difference.  As a result of the process, I discarded the ineffective practices and habits I practiced during my first 5 years.  This led me to restructure my teaching practice becoming a more reflective practitioner who consistently examines the impact of his teaching on not only his students, but their families and the broader community.  This process changed the way I teach, now and forever.

 

Certificate:  Early and Middle Childhood/Art

STEVEN RICHARD HOKE

11/09/2007

Dear STEVEN RICHARD HOKE:

Congratulations! You are a National Board Certified Teacher®!

I am pleased to inform you that your performance met the standard for National Board Certification® set by the board of directors of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards® (NBPTS®). Please accept my personal congratulations on your achievement. The certificate, a symbol of your accomplishment and the status you have achieved, should reach you sometime after February. We hope you will display it with pride.

To achieve National Board Certification, a candidate must earn a total weighted scaled score that equals or exceeds 275. Your total weighted scaled score, exercise scores and weighted exercise scores are shown on your score profile. Information that describes the criteria used to score candidate responses can be found in the Scoring Guide located on the NBPTS Web site.

The American Council on Education (ACE) now recognizes the National Board Certification process as comparable to graduate level coursework. As a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT), you are now eligible to request a transcript from ACE that recommends you receive up to six semester hours of graduate credit in education. You can find more information about requesting a transcript for graduate credit on the NBPTS Web site.

I am confident that this achievement marks the beginning of a long and productive relationship between you and NBPTS. In virtually every case, achieving National Board Certification signals the start of a new, exciting phase in an educator's professional life. As a National Board Certified Teacher, you have the opportunity to play an active role in charting the future of American education.

You can expect to be sought out by candidates, administrators, media, education organizations and professional associations for your insights on the certification process and other education issues. NBPTS is prepared to help you share information about National Board Certification with your colleagues. Your name will be included among the list of National Board Certified Teachers that is posted on the NBPTS Web site, so please keep your information current in our records. We look forward to your active involvement in the years to come as our work to integrate National Board Certification in American education continues.

On behalf of the NBPTS Board of Directors and staff, I extend our best wishes for your continued success.

With warm regards,
Joseph A. Aguerrebere
Joseph A. Aguerrebere, Ed. D.
President & CEO

 

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