Running Header: TELLING MY STORY WITH MY PDQP 1

Telling My Story with My PDQP

TED 690 Capstone- National University

Bjorn Hansen
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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to address my progress in understanding Domain A of the California

Teacher Performance Expectations (TPEs). I will go over my progress towards competency, my

strengths and needs in this domain, what I can potentially change to become more competent,

and my rationale for picking each artifact in my PDQP for Domain A. Here is the link to my

PDQP website to be referenced if needed: https://bjornhansenteaching.weebly.com/

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Progress Towards Competencies

The first thing I would like you to notice is that I have titled this section as Progress

Towards Competencies. I want to emphasize the word “progress” as it is key to being a teacher.

We never will be perfect but we can continuously push ourselves and progress to be the best

version of ourselves (Costantino & De Lorenzo, 2009). Now as we get into the California TPEs

we see that in Domain A there is one TPE. The Domain discusses “Making Matter

Comprehensible for Students” with TPE 1 emphasizing this through “Specific Pedagogical Skills

for Subject Matter Instruction” (California TPEs, 2013). At first I was a bit confused on what I

needed to do for this domain in terms of picking my articles as I was thinking too deeply into the

matter. After a while it just clicked, I looked at the bigger picture and realized that it is asking me

to showcase my ability to differentiate instruction and modify my teaching to help all my

students understand the content material. Once I had this down I was able to quickly choose my

artifacts.

For Domain A I have three artifacts to showcase, with one of them being this paper. This

paper will allow me to show that I understand the language of what TPE 1 is expecting of me.

Another article I have included is a literature review. I choose the article titled The Matter of

Subject matter by Lederman and Flick, that talked about the importance of teachers

understanding the content that they will be teaching and at what level their understanding needs

to be at. It also discusses how it does not matter how well a teacher knows the content if they are

unable to use pedagogical skills, understand their students’ needs, and know the curriculum they

are teaching. The third article I have included is a basic lesson plan that I have taken and

differentiated in as many ways as possible. I think that this piece really shows my ability to see

where my students may need help and how I can change the lesson/instruction to fit their needs
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in being able to comprehend the material. As I continue to get more and more experience in the

classroom I am hoping that I will continue to grow in this area of teaching as it seems to be one

of the most important ones.

Strengths and Needs

As I look at what I have included as my Domain A articles and think about my past

teaching opportunities I notice there are some things I do well and other things that I can

improve on. One of my strengths is my ability to identify where and when my students may get

confused. I think being able to predict and see points in my lessons that may be tough for my

students allows me to think of ways to differentiate the instruction and give multiple

explanations in various ways. I have a very student first mindset that I feel is necessary in

becoming a great teacher. I want to continue to have this priority in my mind as I continue down

my path.

One thing I think I could work on is really working with the material in the lesson before

teaching it. I have not done my student teaching yet, so most of my teaching experience is

through substitute teaching and asking personal mentor teachers if I can do a lesson in their

classroom. When I don’t write the lesson I seem to be a little bit disconnected from the content

as I focus to much on myself making mistakes of skipping over something. I think that as I get

more time writing my own lessons and getting in the classroom on a more consistent basis I will

improve in this area.

Potential Competencies

As I read through the subsection for Teaching Science under TPE 1, I felt that I was able

to do everything that was listed. However, there is one area that I feel strongly about that I could
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potentially improve. In the subsection it discusses that “Candidates teach students to

independently read, comprehend, and evaluate instructional materials… and to write

argumentative and expository text in the content area.” (California TPEs, 2013). I feel that this

was something that was overlooked in my high school science experience. I was in for a rude

awakening when I got to college and was asked to read and write in a scientific manner. I know

first hand how important it is to be able to read a scientific paper and lab manual and to also be

able to write lab reports and scientific research papers. Teaching the basics will give students a

stepping stone into more complex reading and writing that they will experience in higher

education.

Rationale

After completing Domain A I have a better understanding of where I stand in my

professional development towards becoming a full time teacher. I have enjoyed reflecting on my

previous work and teaching ideologies. I think it is good to be able to look back and evaluate

what I think I do well and where I can improve. I want to continue to differentiate my instruction

to best suit the needs of my students. I want to work on developing scientific writing and reading

skills as they are vital for students who want to pursue a degree in science or even as a career.

Lesson planning and being confident in myself to teach will come with practice over time, but I

will make a conscious effort to work on it. Overall, I think that Domain A is the most important

aspect of being a teacher and I feel that I am on a good path to being competent in this area.
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References

California Teaching Performance Expectations. (2013). Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

Retrieved from https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-source/educator-

prep/standards/adopted-tpes-2013.pdf

Costantino, P. M. & De Lorenzo, M. N. (2009). Developing a professional teaching portfolio: A

Guide For Success. (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.