Running Head: TELLING MY STORY USING MY PDQP 1

Telling My Story Using My PDQP

National University

Richard Regal

April 16, 2019

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Abstract

The following is a reflection on TPE Domain 1A and my strengths and needs within that

domain. I also reflect on what competencies will be most meaningful to me as an English

Language Arts teacher and the rationale for certain my artifacts for this domain.

Keywords: Domain, differentiation, learning styles, reading, writing, English Language

Arts
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Evaluating My Progress

Teaching is a profession that requires much from its subject, including an understanding

of how to disseminate educational material to students. Depending on the subject matter, the

techniques and requirements can change. Other factors include the age of the students, the

environment the students are taught in, the ability level of all students in a class, and many more

factors. According to the California Teaching Performance Expectations document, TPE 1A sets

the standard for English Language Arts teachers in making subject matter comprehensible to

students (2013, p.2). The TPE states that “candidates demonstrate the ability to teach the state-

adopted academic content standards to students,” which includes “Reading, Writing, Speaking

and Listening, and Language within the standards that establish a progression of increasing

complexity” (2013, p.2) After teaching for over 4 years, I feel that I have become quite competent

in achieving this domain. My most recent teacher evaluation (Artifact 1) supports this belief,

showing that I scored top marks under Standards 1 and 2, indicator 1. According to the Nevada

Educator Performance Framework Rubric, Standard 1 determines if the teacher connected prior

learning and experiences to new learning, while Standard 2 determines if the teacher created

learning tasks that place high cognitive demand on diverse learners (2017, p.1).

Strengths and Needs

One of my strengths in this domain is the method by which I differentiate instruction. In

an English Language Arts class, the focus is obviously reading, writing, and speaking skills, but I

like to present lessons and tasks that appeal to a wide variety of learning styles. I use audio,

visuals, and tactile features in my lessons to help my students better engage with the material. I
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think by appealing to a wide variety of learning styles, I can more effectively make my lessons

more comprehensible for students. I also ensure that my lessons are high in rigor and demand

plenty of effort on part of the student. One area of focus for me in regard to this domain would be

my ability to quickly determine or grade whether or not my students have found a lesson

understandable. This would also include a way for students to self-assess themselves in a timely

manner, allowing them to check their own progress and make inquiries as needed.

Potential TPE Competencies

The most important competency for me moving forward with this domain is to “determine

the effectiveness of instruction and students’ proficiency after instruction” (California Teaching

Performance Expectations, 2013, p.2). Time flies over the course of a school year and it can be

easy to get lost in planning ahead, but it is obviously imperative that we understand how

proficient our students are after a unit or lesson before we move on. This information not only

benefits our students by allowing us to reteach if needed, but it also allows us to decide if a lesson

or unit needs adjustment for the future.

Rationale

For this domain I chose to include my teacher evaluation (Artifact 1) because it is an

indicator from my supervisor that I can effectively make my lessons comprehensible for all

students. I also have included my literary review of an article dealing with teaching students with

different learning styles (Artifact 2). I reviewed this article because I think reaching learners of all

types is key in making lessons comprehensible for students. Finally, my final artifact (Artifact 3)

is a video of myself teaching a mini-lesson on the difficulties of human interactions, which

introduces one of our class novels, “The Outsiders”. This lesson shows my use of differentiation
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between learner types and my use of text, technology, writing, reading, and communication

between students.
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References:

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

Retrieved April 13, 2019, from https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-source/educator-

prep/standards/adopted-tpes-2013.pdf

Nevada Department of Education. (2017). Nevada Educator Performance Framework Rubric.

Retrieved April 15, 2019.