Task 3: What are the requirements of the edTPA and what does an edTPA lesson plan look like? (Essential Questions C)
Pre-Posting – In preparation for your edTPA completion DURING YOUR STUDENT TEACHING EXPERIENCE we will be conducting a mini-edTPA for this course. First, print a hard copy of your edTPA handbook to refer to when watching the edTPA Overview Part II video (if you printed a hard copy for Dr. Chapman’s class you can use that one). Next watch the edTPA Overview Part II video (This video is 15 minutes long).
Posting – Post your interpretation of the key points/aspects of edTPA gathered from the video. What information do you see cutting across all of the resources you have read/seen on this topic so far? What are the cautions needed or “hints provided” for making this a quality product?
Fri. November 15, Initial posting
Response Postings – Everyone should respond at least 1-2 times to each group member with a question, clarification, or addition to the thoughts on their postings. You might consider other information, questions you still have as a future teacher, etc.
Response Postings:
By Sunday, November 17: 11:59 PM. Response postings
I appreciated the statement in the video that mentioned “academic language is not a separate task but rather attention to it is embedded in all the tasks.” For me, this stresses the idea that all parts of the TPA, while tedious and extensive, relate very closely to each other. One of the most prominent pieces of information I’ve noticed cutting across all of the resources is the emphasis on understanding student background, and modifying assessments to fit individual learning needs.
ReplyDeleteI also think the most important thing to keep in mind when creating a quality edTPA is to closely follow the rubrics. This is a huge overload of information, but it’s really convenient that it’s all in one place. Between this video, example lesson plans, and our specific content edTPA handbooks, I honestly feel confident that I can find all the information to create a quality thematic unit, and a quality edTPA for my student teaching semester (even if I am overwhelmed!).
One thing I know I need to improve on when creating edTPA lesson plans and planning commentaries in particular, is explicitly addressing how I’m assessing each of the content standards and language objectives. In the past when I’ve practiced TPA lesson plans, I have specific standards and objectives in mind, and can very clearly connect those objectives with each portion of the lesson in my head, but I haven’t explicitly written it on paper, or properly communicated it to the students/observer.
Karin, I know that I heard the statement in the video, but it was great to read it in text. You said, “academic language is not a separate task but rather attention to it is embedded in all the tasks.” You’re correct when you say that it tedious and extensive, but also very important and closely relates to other areas.
DeleteEspecially this second half of the semester, I have felt very overwhelmed with the amount of work, especially for the TPA. After reading your posts, I seem to calm down quite a bit. I enjoy reading about the confidence you have in creating your TPA (both the mini thematic unit, and next semester), lending hope to myself that I too can successfully create these documents. Keep up the positive posts!!
I agree with you and Molly about the importance of academic language in these lesson plans, in spite of the tediousness. I hope that with time, it will become easier as we think about it more and more.
DeleteThe rubrics are really helpful for me; they are pretty overwhelming right now, but I know that when I actually sit down to write it, I will be glad to have them there instead of something much less clear.
Ditto. I'm happy you feel confident, because that makes me feel better. I'm still overwhelmed by the rubric, but it is good they are there.
DeleteI've been trying to go back and "assess" my former TPA's from last year to get a better feeling for things. It's been helpful to see the rubrics in action and I suggest trying it if you have the time. It makes the language a little less complex and easy to digest when you apply it to your own specific example. Obviously my own evaluation is likely going to be different than an objective third party, but it is useful anyway.
I apologize (it seems that's all I do) but I likely won't have task 3 and task 4 posted until late tonight/early tomorrow. Basically, until I get back at a regualr computer. I am ready to throw my tablet out the window.
ReplyDeleteHahah Ian, no problem. I'm obviously a late poster, so completely understand.
DeleteDitto my comments from before. I will have my posts and replies tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI was a little confused when I first started watching the video, but I figured out this is on overview for evaluating TPA. At least that's how it seemed. After watching the video with the edTPA handbook in front of me, I still don't think I know exactly what a TPA is supposed to "look" like.
ReplyDeleteThis whole system could not be more counter intuitive to me. It might as well be written and spoken in another language. I suppose I'm having my own troubles with academic language. Just when I think I get it, I lose that sense and end up being unsure of myself. Maybe it will help to have an actual lesson to pick apart this Tuesday in person. Trying to think conceptually about what a TPA is supposed to look like just isn't clicking.
Anyway, one thing I see cutting across all the resources is addressing student needs. The whole process is focused on the students (as I think it should be) and that part is clear to me. This is reflected in the breakdown of the rubric too. Teacher-centered adaptions are fall lower on the scale. The scoring improves as things become individualized for a specific group students.
The other thing that stands out is how subsequent and prior sections support each other. Each section adds or elaborates upon the previous, but remains closely related to the others. I visually think of it as a nesting doll. Each section of the doll is related, but slightly different. Each doll fits within the other and the size of the doll being relates to the section's specificity.
The most helpful hint is the time clarification. The video states three to five hours of connected teaching. This is somewhat of a relief. I've found I try to pack a lot into a lesson. A single lesson for my content classes may span days. Knowing I can pair things down to focus on a smaller time frame is potentially helpful. I say "potentially" because this will require me to think differently and that can sometimes be a challenge in itself.
Another helpful hint is the rubric breakdown. The overview alleviates a lot of my performance anxiety. Hearing that a three and even a two is an expected occurrence helped a lot. The video was right about this scoring system being different than what I usually experience. I see a five or a four and think of an "A" and a "B". With that way of thinking, two is like failing to me. Knowing this is not the case might be different, but it's definitely welcomed.
As a final note, I appreciate the formatting info. It could be bothersome for some, but I've spent more time designing formatting within my lessons than I probably should. Having someone say, "do this" is a relief at this point.
Ian, I felt just as overwhelmed as you did after viewing this video. I laugh, but with you, on the fact that you/we are having trouble with academic language ourselves. The vocabulary used is so dense, but also so important that it becomes intimidating. Hopefully when you looked at task 4, you weren’t as confused due to the example. At least that’s the way I felt.
DeleteI think the rubric, assessments, etc. obviously stands out, but I’m glad you stated the importance of addressing student’s needs. I feel that I am so engulfed in all of the vocabulary and tasks that I need to take a step back, take a breather, and realize we are simply teaching a lesson to help students gain knowledge. At this crazy time, I’ve often questioned myself, is this really what I want to do? To metaphorically state it, I see myself at the beginning of a race (sometimes feels like a marathon), such as that crazy tough mudder. We have obstacles to go over, under and through in order to achieve our final goal, the finish line. It sucks, is difficult right, now but absolutely worth it in the end.
Wow. Your welcome for "Deep Thoughts", by Molly.
Thanks for pointing out the importance of addressing student needs. They mentioned it in the video, but it's easy to lose track of that in all of the information. I think that's one of the hardest parts about writing a lesson plan, because we usually focus on the kids who will need extra help or the kids who might cause problems, but we often forget about the kids who silently get by, or the kids who finish early with a task. I know I've encountered that in my field experience. That the TPA lessons overlap with what we are learning in our field experiences should hopefully make it all feel a lot more intuitive.
DeleteUgh, Ian I agree. Boo for formatting and spending too much time on nit-picky details. I also appreciate what you said about the scoring system. Being evaluated for the first time is so frustrating, and so nerve-wracking, especially when it's for something as huge as our professional career development! I also tend to think of scaled scores as As, Bs, Cs, etc., and welcomed the idea that this system doesn't necessarily work that way. It's also helped me remember that my students probably feel the same when during their evaluations, and reiterates the importance of staying positive and constructive during assessments - since art can be so dreadfully subjective and difficult to "grade."
DeleteMolly: I did feel better after doing task four. I don't know if I should have looked at that first, or if scaring me and then relieving that fear was the best order for these tasks. I do feel like I'm losing sight of what's important. Or at least that's what I am afraid of the most. It's easy to get hung up on the TPA format and forget these are supposed to be lessons to teach students first and foremost. I appreciate your "deep thoughts". Honestly though (not to be a downer, but...) I constantly go back and forth as to whether it is worth it. If I didn't go into my field experience every week and remember why I'm doing what I'm doing, I don't know if I could power through all this.
DeleteThe takeaway I got out of this section was that the rubrics are important. It seems like there are a lot of them, and if we focus on aligning our lesson plans according to how the rubrics have them set up, we should be fine. It was good to hear the references to language ability and language, because that can be overlooked a lot of time. It was also important for me to hear the emphasis on formatting our lesson the right way so that it will be accepted by Pearson.
ReplyDeleteThat last part is a good parallel to what our students are doing – funneling all of their learning into the ability to pass a standardized test. We are really doing the same thing here. This will be a helpful assessment of our ability to write a lesson plan and even how to think more critically about our lessons, but it doesn’t necessarily indicate what kind of teacher we will actually be. We aren’t demonstrating our ability to teach effectively, but rather to write a lesson plan that meets a certain standard. As cynical as it makes me feel, it’s also somewhat reassuring; so long as we pass the test, we aren’t really being critiqued on the kind of teacher we will be. That’s feedback we will get every day, from our students, their families, our colleagues, and ourselves.
Mike, glad that you point out the importance of formatting our TPA the correct/ “Pearson” way. It’s obvious that the formatting is important, but I think it’s an important look at WHY formatting is important… for the end goal of sending our TPA’s to Pearson and receive passing scores.
DeleteI LOVE that you compared our students, to us as students….when “funneling” all of the learning happening into the ability to pass a standardized test. You are so dead on, and something that I never took into consideration. It truly is not an indicator of what type of teacher we will be, but rather a guideline in making sure that we have the adequate skills to be teaching. The fact that our feedback will come from individuals, rather than test scores, is much more reassuring and natural.
Mike, your honest about feeling "cynical" about writing standardized lesson plans is something I feel like I have to communicate every day when I'm teaching my ACT students. Huge standardized tests like the ACT, SAT, GRE, MTLE, you name it, all have that looming motive that we're not really demonstrating our knowledge of certain subjects, we're demonstrating our specific test taking and essay writing abilities. I've done my best to not get bogged down by these formalities (and try to communicate the same thing to my ACT students) and remember that as important as my edTPA evaluation is, in the end it's my attitude and the rapport I have with students and colleagues that measures how successful I am as a teacher. Thanks for helping to remind me yet again (Sometimes, I need a LOT of reminders)
DeleteDo you think it's best to align our lessons to the rubrics during the creation of our lessons or make a lesson and modify things according to the rubric? I see myself using the later, but I am more of a subtractive than additive person in my approach to most things. I worry that designing from the rubric will run the risk of making the lessons too stiff, in content and delivery. I suppose there is no right way, as long as the end product is there.
DeleteIt's funny you mentioned the similarity between what we are doing and what our students will be doing. If I was them, I wouldn't want to go to school at all! This makes me want to cry and I'm a grown adult with (relative) self-control and self-motivation. I can only imagine how stressful the testing process is for kids these days.
After watching this video, I not only feel overwhelmed, but intimidated by the entire TPA. I don’t know if it’s because I’m at a difficult part in my credit-heavy semester, but to be honest, I’m a little terrified of the TPA. Is anyone else feeling this way? Anyway, just a quick vent, so here is what I have taken away from the video:
ReplyDeleteTPA Handbook- it will become our best friend in the next following months. We need to look through it multiple times and understand it to the best of our ability. It gives all information that we may need.
Rubrics- there is so much information on the TPA, that it is important to stick close to the rubrics to know what is exactly expected.
Commentary- It is important to be able to reflect, write and assess what is happening during the lesson.
Clear tasks- The video clearly states specific guidelines to take into consideration when dissecting the TPA
Vocabulary function/form and academic language- The importance of framing our academic language
Overall I think the video highlights the importance of taking the time to look closely over our TPA handbooks and understand all aspects to in order to achieve a level three on our assessment rubric.
I am a little overwhelmed, too. Especially when it seems like other people understand it better than I do, I feel like it's just me. So, thank you for saying you are feeling that way. I think it will make more sense after we've done the "practice" one for this course, and when things quiet down next semester.
DeleteIt's nice that there is the TPA handbook. Like you said, it will become our best friend. While the amount of information and the importance of formatting is daunting, it's very reassuring that they have things pretty organized and clear. I have come to rely on rubrics so much to help me understand how to complete tasks, the rubrics in the TPA handbook should really help.
Molly you mentioned the importance of sticking to the rubric, as did the rest of us, and I think that this is a great opportunity for us to think about how essential rubrics may be in our own teaching. Students want and need to know what skills are being assessed and how they can demonstrate them as clearly as possible. I've always had love/hate relationships with rubrics. My perfectionist tendencies don't allow me to shoot for anything less that "exemplary," but at the same time, I always find something I disagree with and end up manipulating standards to fit my personal needs, rather than the other way around. Fortunately, in art, deviation is often rewarded, but in this case, it's good to remember that I need to keep my head down and follow the rules.
DeleteI know I have already said this, but I am terrified. You are not alone. I contemplate dropping out daily because I don't know if I am up for it. I think a lot of it is life/workload on top of everything. Even if TPA was all I did with my time and energy I think it would still be tough. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteKarin: I am traditionally a rule-breaker so adhering closely to rubrics will likely be a challenge for me. It hasn't been a problem in the art world (maybe a little more on the business end of things) but usually if I break some rules people don't care and sometimes it's even praised. I'm definitely a stranger in a strange land.