Response to edTPA

To be honest, the edTPA scares me, and more than a little.  When it was explained in class that all professionals go through a similar all-encompassing assessments of learning, I felt a little better, until I spent time listening to one of the teachers who I am observing as part of my student teaching.  These kinds of tests were unheard of, even a few years ago, especially when they finished their schooling. They were a little shocked as to how much we go through, before we become them.  As the homework and the efforts pile up, I can’t help but feel like I am slowly being crushed by a wave of molasses.

As I read through this, specific emphasis is spent on making sure those who are going through the process of the edTPA make deliberate and careful observations of the process and of students that are involved.  While the temptation for some might be to view this as a massive test that stands in the way of many of us becoming the teachers, it is easy to see that it might be designed as a process that not only makes us better teachers, but helps us to decide what kind of teacher we want to be.

The idea is not to drown us in work, for on page six it warns, “You will want to think carefully about how much content to address in your edTPA learning segment.  This is a significant decision about manageability…but also for the capacity of the students…”  In other words, this pays homage to one of the adages one might hear in the service industry: “quality is better than quantity.”  The isn’t to send the grading board a whole bunch of crap, but a considerate, well-molded bit that will show who I am, and what I can do.

We must not forget the most important participants in this process the students.  Page 12: “Establishing respect and rapport among and with students is critical for developing a mutually supportive and safe learning environment.”  The idea isn’t to spring the experience on them one day, showing up with video cameras and audio equipment, but to ease them into it.  Perhaps this is one of the reasons we don’t full-time student-teach our first quarter, because the students aren’t used to us, and we aren’t used to the whole process.

This is going to take a while.   I just hope that by the end, I am as excited then about being a teacher, as I am now.  I have come a long way, to just walk away.