Why do we even bother?

Part of me wishes that I was old enough to enjoy the life-time credential they used to issue. Alas, I must go through the hassle of renewing my clear credential every 5 years or so... This year I saw the notice on my expiring credential back in October '07. I figured... heck... I still have a few months to think about it (1)

Fortunately, that thought resurfaced just a couple weeks ago (my credential expires in June). I kind of wished that I had remembered to look into it in March; the CCTC isn't the fastest organization in the world when it comes to processing paperwork (2). I did, however have a couple of things working for me:

A) I know that the process of proving that you've done X hours of professional development has been replaced by a sort of honor system. ..... riiiiiiiiiggghhht :-)

B) The process has gone on-line.

So, last week I logged on to the CCTC site and with a couple of clicks and a credit card number, I was renewed. (3) Just like that.

Now... there's a classic "Be careful what you wish for" moment upon me: If they're going to force us to renew the credential, can we make it meaningful? Otherwise, just be up-front about it and say "Hey, we're going to gouge you for $55 every five years.... just FYI." Honestly, I think I'd prefer that to a false pretense that they're checking to make sure that we're keeping our teaching methods sharp and focused.(4)

Okay, you know what?.... I'm just going to shut up, wait for my certificates to come in the mail, turn them in and be happy.


1) You all remember how that sort of thinking got me in trouble with my CLAD?

2) Speaking of CLAD, I filed for it in February, and just got the confirmation of the credential yesterday.

3) Extra geek points if any of you can tell me where that screen shot comes from ;-)

4) Rest assured, I have.