National Board Certification for Foreign Language Teachers
Sponsored by: National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center
August 1-2, 2002

Participants:
K-12 Foreign Language Teachers and Pre-Service Teachers who are interested in pursuing NBC as Accomplished Teachers.

Institute Leader:
Martie Semmer, Facilitator, Denver, CO
Martie Semmer received National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) training to become a facilitator and mentor of candidates applying for National Board Certification (NBC). She is a member of the World Languages Other than English (WLOE) committee that developed the Accomplished Teacher Standards for foreign languages. Martie has taught sessions on NBC at AATF in Denver, AATSP in San Francisco, at ACTFL in Boston, and at the NNELL session in Santa Barbara, CA.

Institute Description:

• Participants in this session gained knowledge of the strategies that will be useful to them as they pursue NBC certification for WLOE.
• Participants received a copy of the WLOE standards and gained an in-depth understanding of the standards through large group and small group discussions.
• The certification process was described in detail, enhanced by examples from interviews with candidates who have participated in the process.
• The “Box” of certification materials that was mailed to each WLOE candidate was explored and discussed part-by-part.
• Participants heard an Iowa teacher describe her experience applying for NBC.
• Presenters offered post-conference mentoring of candidates for NBC by e-mail.

NBPTS leaders strongly recommend that teachers become very familiar with the document World Languages Other than English (WLOE) Standards for Teachers of Students Ages 3-18+ before becoming a candidate for NBC certification.

Activity Photos