Task 4: What does a quality edTPA lesson plan look like? (Essential Question D).
An important component of your edTPA is planning for instruction. One aspect of the planning for instruction component of your edTPA is your actual lesson plans. To help guide all candidates to think about and address all the required elements required by the edTPA the MSU, Mankato College of Education has developed a lesson plan template. You are required to use the edTPA template for this course and student teaching.
Pre-Posting: To help give a visual of what is expected in terms of content, quality, sophistication and overall general length, please view the example lesson plan.
To view the example lesson plan click on the link below.
Posting - What stands out to you? What 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” for making this a quality product? How will you approach the edTPA lesson plan format now that you have seen this example? What will you do differently than you have done in the past? What questions do you still have?
Response Postings:
By Sunday, November 17: 11:59 PM. Response postings
There are many things that stand out on this EdTPA example and the clearest point I've noticed is the organization and crispness of the message. Everything that we are suppose to include is there, but you can see it in a matter of a few minutes when you initially skim through the text. This stood out because I feel that it is something that my lesson plan is lacking thus far and so I think we need to reflect on how simple we can make the organization because even though TPA format is relatively stable, there are some subtle variations and we need to think critically about what variation works the best for the reader because we don't want to lose points on something, simply because the message was not visually clear from the start.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that everything students were expected to do and the modifications in place, were clear and concise. This makes the reader feel at ease and it ensures that you have truly thought of everything. Overall, there is a sophistication to this example plan and that is a key element we should strive for because it just gives the reader a sense of confidence that you know what you're doing and why you are doing. Teaching is very much about confidence; it helps us manage our classroom behaviors, sets a tone of authority and it encourages trust on the part of those who are critiquing our work. I think it goes back to that old saying "Fake it, till' you make it" and I say this because we are really just students as teachers and the best teachers are those that never stop being curious and critical of what they do, while also being confident it what we know works.
I think I need to reevaluated the structure of my lesson plans because while they are quite detailed, they do lack some organization. In fact, I'm wondering if the TPA template is even the most up to date one that there is because this example looks very different from the template I've been using. I know that mine is a TPA format, but there are some organizational components that it lacks compared to the template observed in this link. What personal experiences have you had that have guided your lesson planning in this thematic unit and what changes are you planning to make in the coming weeks?
I like that you used the word 'crispness' as I feel it really describes the plan well. There are so many components of the plan but it really makes us think of EVERYTHING.
DeleteI've used the TPA format in previous classes. It looked very much the same although it has been tweaked here and there. I know last spring, our class had to download it a few different times within a very short time span as changes were made to the format. I found that really frustrating as it was a little overwhelming to begin with. Now, it seems to be comfortable as I fill it out for lessons in this field service. I know as I taught lessons based off of last years TPA plan, I was worried I wouldn't be detailed enough. As I taught the lesson, I found myself more prepared and felt very confident that I was addressing everything on my plan. It turned out to be a positive experience.
I like how you pointed out that we need to keep the lesson plan simple for the reader to read. I have struggled thinking that I have to use big words that make me sound like I really know what I am doing, when I don't think that is really necessary after reading this plan. I like how you pointed out that it is organized and crisp. I would agree with your statement as I think this is the first time I did not dread reading over one of these plans (also maybe that is because it is not one that I wrote). :) I definitely feel as though I have been so overwhelmed by this template that I've been making it harder than it needed to be.
DeleteIt sounds depressing to say that someone won't actually read our lesson plan in depth at Pearson's, but I think we need to be ready for every outcome and that means having a lesson plan that is so plain and clearly organized that a reader could not miss a thing, unless of course they didn't even skim the project--which in that case, we'd have a bigger problem on our hands. As I said in the prior posts I made, Dr. Chapman said that I had accidentally used the incorrect TPA format because it was not EdTPA, as we are required to use. This is something I will be correcting in the coming week and she is viewing my lesson and video recording my tomorrow, so the pressure is really being turned up.
DeleteI believe this lesson plan is too detailed for real life. In a real classroom setting I cannot see that using this would be something that would fit into planning time wise. This is not to say that I don't believe the lesson plan is extremely thorough and provides a very clear expectation of what will be taught and what I am expecting of students. In this thought, I do think this lesson plan layout is a very useful tool. As a student, I think we need to know the importance of providing all the information in the most clear way that we can. The success of students and the progress of learning will depend on how well organized I am as an instructor. There are many aspects that need to be considered for lesson planning and I believe this format will help me to be a better planner and organizer when creating lesson plans in real life. It is imperative to be as detailed as possible thinking of all the aspects of the student's learning styles, modifications, changes to the plan for specific situations and disabilities, plus it makes one delve into what to teach and why. The focus on academic language within our content area and how to cross language learning into other content areas is huge. All of the materials we have read reiterate these points over and over. Teaching literacy through reading, writing, visuals, talking, and experiencing is a strong focus. The lesson plan helps us to be very deep in thinking about the many ways we can teach concepts and also requires us to have an idea of how to change the method accordingly. Laying out the standards of our particular content area helps us to focus on certain concepts that need to be taught in a given lesson. Completing these lesson plans now will help me to be more in depth in the real world. (Plus I can use these in my 'real world' teaching and build on them!)
ReplyDeleteKris, I completely agree with you about this lesson plan template. As I've been spending more and more time in my classroom assignment this semester I am realizing this template is not something that will be filled out on a regular basis. While it does a good job of making us think through our lesson, in the real world we will not have the time to complete this as thoroughly as it calls for. Like you, I am thankful we have the practice to think through this so that we can do this deep thinking while we are preparing and teaching a lesson, however, it will be hard to keep this up as a first year teacher and going forward.
DeleteGreat take on the reality issue. I tend to think that this is a great idea taken to a degree that becomes cumbersome to use in practice. The idea of having thoughtful, complete, organized, standard based, differentiated, cogent, challenging, timely, and engaging lesson plans is in itself the job of the educator.
DeleteI wonder about a teacher is incapable of delivering this product if a 25 page document can deliver an end product worthy of the students needs, your thoughts?
I know that I am dog piling on this issue, but yes, there isn't much reality in this lesson plan. The truth of the matter is that we always need to be on our toes and we will need to make alterations and accommodations at the last minute all the time and will very little warning, so acting like we will just have everything ready to go is not only unrealistic, it's setting yourself up for failure and disappointment because if you want things to stay textbook, you probably will have a hard time enjoying the teaching profession (maybe that's just me). Not to say that you couldn't have lots of different versions of tests or projects ready, but often we don't know what the unique needs are until they present in specific ways (through IEP/504 meetings).
DeleteI can't begin to say how nice it is to finally see a completed template! I have been feeling as though this template is very scary, but this example does a good job of making it seem simpler. I really like the use of bullet points as that will be a big help to me to know that I can use them. I have to be honest - once again I am overwhelmed by the amount of information that is in the knowledge of students section. In the school where I am placed, the teachers do not get this amount of information about the students, especially the family/community/cultural assets section. I know it is important for us to get to know the students, but sometimes we are not going to get all the needed information in order to complete this section fully.
ReplyDeleteI'm also wondering where the different names for the lesson segments come from. Is there a list we should be using from somewhere so that the segments are named properly?
I do think looking at this plan helps me be able to see how simple this structure can be. Also, I feel like the academic language does not need to be as challenging to figure out as I have been making it so I do feel a bit of relief there.
The completed template does help a lot. It's nice to see how the language should read. I was confused on where to put the "students will" versus another prompt.
DeleteIn the schools I've been in, the music teachers do not always get the student information either. I know Teresa said that no part of the TPA should be empty so I've been stating that the information is unavailable to me at this time. I'm hoping that is sufficient.
It can be a simple structure, maybe the more we view it the easier it will be??
Personally, I think it gets us thinking in detail so that when we do our real life lesson plans, we may create more efficient and detailed plans.
I welcomed the opportunity to see a completed template. Having been expected to fill this out I felt lost in what all was to be included. The information is clear and concise, although I was somewhat taken aback by some of the value judgments made about some of the students. I would hope that some of this information could be provided with less accusatory language.
ReplyDeleteThe level of detail on the how is incredible, I worry if there is enough time the day to produce a document like this, teach several classes, correct homework, sleep and have any sort of social life. But I will assume that the powers that be would not be so myopic as to strip away the humanity it takes to teach day in and day out.
From reading the document it would appear that much of this information would be very similar, if not the exact same, from one edTPA to another so once some of this information is captured future documents may become less labor intensive. It was helpful to see a completed document.
I agree, it's very clear and concise, but I too worry about the time it will take to complete this. Working, teaching, homework... yes and then carving out more time for this seems a little scary to me too!
DeleteIt appears that some of the information may be repetitive but I know from filling out these forms for another class, the information in each section must have a specific focus, so the language will read differently. My past professor at SCSU was very particular about it (for our own good), so my first experience writing a lesson using this format was positive. Our real TPA will have to be 100% complete and I just worry a little about not being detailed enough.