This month, May 2023, I officially begin ISTE Certification.
When I first considered attaining ISTE Certification, one could only attend in-person training. These 2-3 day trainings were hosted in about 6 American cities throughout the year. I had my sights set on a Portland, Oregon training in the fall of 2019, but for various reasons, that didn’t happen.
Since then, I have followed several ISTE friends and acquaintances on Twitter and in conversation as they have worked toward their own ISTE certification. There is a common thread among their experiences: it is a lot of work. Perhaps that is the biggest reason that I have been hesitant.
This year, however, the stars seem to be aligning:
- I have coaching colleagues in my district to share the workload – I am no longer the lone coach.
- Several ISTE Community Leader colleagues have recently completed their ISTE Certification – they’ve encouraged me to take the plunge.
- A Canadian organization TakingITGlobal is offering free ISTE Certification to a cohort of 30 Canadians. The going rate for online ISTE Certification is about $825 USD – that’s currently over $1100 CDN. Thus, it seemed to make sense to go ahead and apply to the cohort — and I got in.
And so, here we go! I will join approximately 1800 in 56 countries who are ISTE Certified, or in progress.
Phase 1 is approximately 14 weeks long and consists of five 2-hour synchronous sessions and an additional 30-50 hours of asynchronous work. This will take me until the end of August to complete.
Phase 2 is a rigorous “portfolio” phase where I will have to curate evidence from my practice as an educator to align to 24 criteria in the ISTE Educator Standards. This is a 6-month phase that should end in February 2024.
So as I stand on the threshold, I’m feeling about like this:
- 10 % excited
- 70 % “buckle up and prepare for a challenge”
- 20 % fear and trepidation
Advice from ISTE certified friends has been consistent:
- Don’t procrastinate on the portfolio
- Regularly attend “Office hours” for portfolio feedback
- It’s lots of work, but worth it
Wish me luck as I try something new.
What I learned today... 
Hello! I just completed the 14 week process. Was it what you expected?
I did well and I was able to earn the 8 points from the final project submission to apply towards the final portfolio submission. However, I feel like I was not as aware of what I should expect. Any additional recommendations you have now that you have completed the process?
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Hi. You were luckier that me because you could earn the 8 points! I think that started with July 2023 cohorts…. I started in May and had to submit all 24 criteria in my portfolio. I just pressed submit 2 weeks ago so I’m waiting.
I have lots of friends who have previously done their ISTE cert and they all said it was a LOT of work, so I was mostly prepared.
The portfolio process is a LOT of work. Recommendations:
1. I would recommend that you sign up at office hours to have your portfolio items reviewed. I often thought that I was really on track with a criteria… and it turned out I needed to do some fixing. Sometimes minor additions or clarifications, but sometimes for significant edits.
2. Start early – don’t leave the work to the end. It will be overwhelming. Lots of folks from my cohort waited to do the work and some just gave up.
Good luck!
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