My thoughts on... Making Good Choices (edTPA)


I do not have a lot of background on the edTPA, or the TPA lesson plan format for that matter. I wish the introductory classes like EDUC 303/309 would have been more informational on this subject. I almost think there could be a class specifically on teaching future teachers about the edTPA. This document helped a lot with explaining the directions and what exactly is expected of students to complete the edTPA. I thought that it was interesting that we would not be scored on spelling/grammar specifically, but rather we would be scored on the professionalism and how clear the edTPA would be. I also thought it was interesting that there was a page limit, which I personally think may be challenging when I actually make my lesson plan. At first I was glad that there was a page limit because I didn’t think that it would be too difficult to shorten down a lesson plan. However, this is simply not the case. Knowing myself, I tend to go down a rabbit hole of research and think “oh this is super cool! Let’s include this in my lesson plan!” thus resulting in me having pages upon pages of research and causing me to have to narrow down what I’d like to include.

I also liked that we’d have to be specific and down to the point in every aspect of the lesson plan. Honestly, this is what I have been learning in all my upper division history classes. Professors make clear that they don’t want any “fluff” and that they just want facts and for us to get straight to the point. I’m happy that I have been getting better at this because I think that this will prepare me for the edTPA. This will also help me not go over the maximum page limit. One thing I do wonder is if the 4 page limit refers to specifically the lesson plan, or if this includes the extra research and resources.

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