Running Head: PDQP PROGRESS REPORT, SHEEDY 1

PDQP Progress Report

Mekala Sheedy-Atkinson

TED 690

National University
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Abstract

This paper outlines the progress of my PDQP thus far. A PDQP is a Professional Development

Quest Portfolio which is supposed to showcase the work that you have done as a teacher

professionally. I will go over the goals that I have achieved with my PDQP. As well as talk about

the frustrations, questions, and concerns regarding my PDQP. Finally, I will end with explaining

what the next steps are for completing my PDQP.

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PDQP Progress Report

Goal Achievements

Overall, I am very happy with the progress of my PDQP. A PDQP is a professional

development quest portfolio which is a digital portfolio. PDQP are a great resource because it

helps you organize the work you have done professionally as a teacher. “The e-portfolio is a

multi-media approach that allows the teacher to present teaching, learning, and reflective entries

in a variety of formats (audio, video, graphics, and text) (Costantino, De Lorenzo, 2009, pg.31). I

can use it when applying for jobs, showing my administration my skills, and/or introducing

myself to students and parents.

Currently I am finishing up populating the next two domains in my PDQP. After this I

will have four out of the six domains completed regarding the TPEs. The California Teacher

Performance Expectations define what the six requirements are for teachers in California. There

are six domains total that address different aspects of teaching such as instructional planning,

engaging students, professional development, and etc (Commission on Teaching Credentialing,

2013). My PDQP has a separate page for each domain that showcases three artifacts that pertain

to that domain.

One of my goals was to make sure that I include a video of myself teaching and a video

of content that I created for my students. In Domain A I put a video that I created about the Incas

to display the time and effort that I put into creating material for my students. Domain A focuses

on Making Subject Matter Comprehensible to Students and that is what I did with this video.

Some students are visuals learners, so I created this video on Powtoons to introduce the concept

of the Incas to my students. I also wanted to include a video of me teaching and I did that in

Domain C: Engaging and Supporting Students in Learning. In order to engage students I like to
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do a one-pager meaning the students complete a set amount of tasks on one page demonstrating

that they understood the content being taught. In order to engage the students I made this a group

activity where they would rotate to different stations. Working with peers and rotating stations

allowed the students to work cooperatively and have fun with it instead of just doing it

individually. This video emphasizes the importance of engaging students and helping them

through an activity.

Frustrations

Although I have thoroughly enjoyed this assignment it has definitely had its frustrations

and trying points. One of the hardest parts about this cumulative assignment is being able to

create a website that is visually pleasing and easy to use. I chose to use Weebly since I had not

done that before. I really appreciate all of the features that this website has in order to help me

build my own website. It was frustrating at first trying to figure out to design my webpage. For

example, I didn’t know that you could use spacers to arrange the layout of your textboxes,

picture, etc. Once I played around with the website I was much more comfortable with using it.

Another frustration for me is that I can not change the color, width, or style of dividers in

the page layout section. I really like the dividers because it allows me to show a clear division

between my artifacts. Since I changed my background to a white shiplap the dividers no longer

stand out. I wish there was a way to change the color of the divider, thickness, or style but there

is not. Maybe one day Weebly will change that but for now I will have to work with what I have.

Questions

There are a few questions that I had regarding my PDQP and luckily, we were able to

have some collaborate live sessions that helped me get my questions answered. At the beginning

of the class I was super confused on what I should be doing. Then when we had our first
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collaborate live session and seeing the example of previous student work I had a lot of my

questions answered. I also really enjoyed our last collaborate live session because I got to see the

amazing work that my peers were doing. It made me want to step up my game and create a better

webpage. Seeing their work also gave me inspiration for various types of artifacts that I should

put in PDQP.

A few questions that I have are: what other artifacts could I put on my domain pages to

showcase my teaching skills? How can I continue to encourage myself to populate my PDQP?

Have you heard of successful stories of people getting hired because of their PDQP?

Concerns

Throughout this assignment I have a had many concerns but receiving feedback from my

professor and my peers have helped me calm those concerns. At the beginning I was really

concerned with if what I was doing correct. After receiving constructive and positive feedback I

knew I was headed in the right direction. Another concern was is my PDQP visually pleasing? I

changed my original domain background pages from grey to teal and now to white shiplap.

Hopefully this white shiplap works because I like how it is clean looking but yet gives you a

little something without being too plane.

Another concern I have is putting myself out there and posting a video of myself

teaching. While watching videos of myself I become self-conscious and embarrassed and I was

concerned with how I would feel about putting a video of myself on my webpage for everyone to

see. It really isn’t that bad, and I hope that people will courteous while watching it. I think that

videos help demonstrate who I really am as an educator, so I will have to deal with the

embarrassment.

Next Steps
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In order to complete the rest of my PDQP I plan on populating the last two domains. I

will make sure that I spend the time to carefully find three artifacts for both domains. I want to

work on Domain B this week and work on Domain E this weekend. I would like to have all this

done by Sunday, so I can make final changes on Monday. This assignment is a lot of work but

well worth it so I would like to spend the time to do it right.

I have come to really value this experience because it has helped me reflect as a teacher.

It is important to look at where I am currently and compare it where I was when I started. This

assignment has shown me how much I have grown and yet how much room I still have to grow. I

would like to continue to populate my PDQP throughout my teaching years to come. I think this

would be a great way to keep track of the work that I have done and some of my student’s work

as well.

I look forward to seeing the finalized product of my PDQP along with my peer’s PDQPs.

I also plan on book marking my peer’s PDQP because I can use them as resources. There are a

lot of great lessons, activities, videos, etc. on my peer’s PDQP that I can use. Thank you for

creating this assignment because it is something that I can use in my future whether it be to get a

job or to reflect on my teaching career.

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References

California Teaching Performance Expectations. (2013, March). Retrieved April 29, 2019, 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 Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.