Gary Samuel Bogle’s Why…

 

“Let’s just look squarely at the science. And the science says we are all innately spiritual beings with or without the embrace of religion. We are all born with a spiritual core. There is no reason that the scientific lens has to be limited to interpretations or understandings that are simply… material only that which we can touch, that which we can point to. I literally have friends who are scientists who say that because you’ve shown the neural correlates of spirituality in the brain, we now know spirituality is real. We have physical fitness for the physical core. We need spiritual fitness for the spiritual core. And if we build the spiritual core we are 80% less likely to be addicted, 60% less likely to take our lives. We are able to be whole and thrive. We have disintegrated the spiritual core from the rest of the person and disintegration is unhealth.”- Dr. Lisa Jane Miller (Professor of Psychology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University)

 

My name is Gary Samuel Bogle and I want to write education policy for the United States of America. I envision a society where we no longer simply speak to our highest values but cultivate them collectively, like ants, using indigenous knowledge systems and practices. I pursued National Board Certification (NBC) because I want to revolutionize our education system. I want to broaden our idea of educational success to include our spiritual core, and make addressing our inner wellbeing the priority. Currently, instruction, which is predominantly linguistic and mathematical intelligences, and high-stakes testing are prioritized over the well being of educators (administrators and teachers) and students. That being said, demonstrating that I am an accomplished (effective) teacher is a prerequisite to being worthy of writing education policy for our nation.

 

National Board Certification has made me a more reflective practitioner. That is to say, when I reflect on the results of a lesson, I use that reflection to impact future instructional choices. For example, I noticed that my students did not perform well when required to identify cause and effect relationships, while we were learning about ancient Egypt. Only 3 out of 12 students were successful. So I decided to explicitly teach cause and effect using a video that defined each term and provided multiple examples. Next, I gave students time to collaborate matching real life examples of cause and effect relationships in groups. Then, I modeled how to write a claim and find supporting evidence, when identifying a cause and effect relationship based on ancient Egypt. Lastly, at the end of this lesson students had to independently identify a cause and effect relationship related to ancient Egypt. This time 7 out of 12 students were successful. 

 

In addition to the pay increase, the gifts, and being recognized by New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and other organizations, becoming a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) in December of 2022 has opened doors for me. In January of 2023, I attended professional learning to become a National Board Professional Learning Facilitator. I built community by participating and taking advantage of opportunities offered to me. As a result, I was more than empowered to organize a NBC cohort, which is a professional learning community (PLC) pursuing National Board Certification. Annette Romano (Director of National Board Council of New York State (NBCNY)), who naturally became one of my fairy godmothers (mentors), supported me with this initiative. By the summer of 2023, I introduced Annette to my mentor Richard Haynes (Director of NYC Men Teach) with the intention of creating a NBC Cohort for male educators of color. Nonetheless, this PLC is open to everyone regardless of gender and race. As of today January 15th, 2024, Annette and I have co-planned and co-facilitated 5 professional learnings for NYC Men Teach NBC Cohort in collaboration with NBCNY. Pursuing NBC is a huge commitment, so Annette, Richard, and I are committing two years to supporting this cohort. According to Jolene DiBrango, past NYSUT Executive Vice President, “being a National Board candidate is an outstanding opportunity for professional growth”. Therefore, I want to support educators who choose to be trailblazers on the road to becoming a NBCT. This is one way that I can improve the teaching profession and the learning for students. Therefore, I am eternally grateful to Annette’s and Richard’s leadership and mentorship on this journey. If you are interested in learning more about our NBC Cohort, you can find information on the NBCNY website under their Workshops tab, and my Instagram social media handle is below my photo. 

 

I would like to take the time to thank everyone that played a role in this outstanding accomplishment. Thanks be to God, my family, especially to my mother who takes so much pride in having raised a teacher, my collaboration team (3 colleagues and my assistant principal), and every teacher, during my primary and secondary schooling, that pushed me to apply myself more. Who knew you all together would raise an accomplished teacher. 

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