edTPA

 

As I'm reading through guidelines and how to make smart choices for the ever coming edTPA, I'm anything but reassured. I've been training the whole program for this moment, and I still have another quarter and a half to train, but I feel so ill-prepared. I don't think I'll ever feel ready, or qualified for that matter. How do I prove I have the ability to successfully impact students for the better?

One of the first things talked about was your choice in content and what you want your students to learn or gain from that unit. In the fall, I will be teaching a piece of literature not yet taught by my mentor teacher. This is both freeing and nervewracking. I will have a clean slate to work with. All of the ideas can truly be mine, and that is wonderful. On the contrast, this means I won't be able to ask for insight on how my mentor teacher has approached it in the past. The book was phenomenal, and I want to do it justice, but how, I'm not quite sure.

A piece that I am confused on is that the "Making Good Choices" piece says we shouldn't include our rationals within the lesson plans themselves. That is all we've been taught to do, however. We provide research that backs up what we are doing in our classrooms within the lesson connection section. Do we completely disregard this and only talk about our rationals in commentary sections? If this is true, it'll help me reach the maximum amount of pages better, as I am struggling to keep them down to 4 pages right now.

I'm thankful for the experience I am gaining now, as it is only preparing me for the big test which is the edTPA. Everything I am working on and practicing will be used for the edTPA, and I find value in every aspect. There is still so much to work on, but I'm getting there, one day at a time.