Running head: TELLING MY STORY USING MY PDQP

Telling My Story Using My PDQP

Collette Sanchez
National University

TELLING MY STORY USING MY PDQP

2
Abstract

In this paper I discuss the progress and evaluation of my Professional Development Quest eportfolio and my ability to show examples from my teaching that reflect competencies from the
California Teacher Performance Expectations criteria. Additionally, I discuss my strengths and
needs, mainly in regards to fulfilling Domain A, or TPE 1B: Subject-Specific Pedagogical Skills
for Single Subject Teaching Assignments and I also provide a rationale for my strengths and
needs by highlighting specific use of artifacts contained in my PDQP.

TELLING MY STORY USING MY PDQP

Progress Evaluation
With the construction of my Professional Development Quest E-Portfolio I have
evaluated my ability to show evidence that my lesson plans are constructed from state adopted
standards for both proficient and advanced visual art (9-12 th grade). So far I have populated my
PDQP to show a breadth of visual arts curriculum developed over the last few years. My eportfolio artifacts demonstrate strategic planning that show the implementation of visual arts
instruction and examples of student work that show the development of skills, techniques, and
original expressive ideas in visual forms (Commission on Teacher Credentialing, 2013) In its
entirety my e-portfolio showcases lesson plans, year long plans, student work, and supporting
literature on pedagogy, mainly teaching strategies in regards to cultural competency and projectbased learning.
Strengths and Needs
Within the TPE Domain A my strengths are designing curriculum from the state adopted
academic content standards, the national art standards, and assuring that students meet and
exceed content standards (Commission on Teacher Credentialing, 2013) Additional strengths
include modeling and encouraging student creativity, flexibility, and persistence, while providing
a safe environment for students to collaborate and take intellectual-risks with art making. One
need that I have been working on a lot this last semester is infusing my unit plans with activities
in writing argumentative and expository texts in regards to visual arts. I would also like to
showcase examples of student writing in my PDQP.

TELLING MY STORY USING MY PDQP

TPE Competencies
I have a better understanding of the TPEs from the development of this e-portfolio.
Portfolios have the potential to stimulate and strengthen teacher reflection and practice and
provide a comprehensive and authentic evaluation of a teachers performance (Constantino,
2009) The act of choosing artifacts to represent my development as a teacher and implementation
of quality visual arts instruction, forces me to reflect on past work and select examples that truly
represent my teaching philosophies, strategies and outcomes.

Rationale
The strengths of my PDQP are the visual examples of student work that illustrate the
progress of learning and final outcomes in painting, printmaking and sculpture. I am also fond of
the supporting literature papers that I composed during my credential and masters courses at
National University, since cultural awareness and project-based learning are a strong part of my
teaching philosophy. I am aware that I have a lack of current lesson plans because my school
site requires weekly plans that outline curriculum goals, rather than individual lesson plans. My
school site also structures curriculum with Understanding by Design and I found that my UbD
unit plans were more in a rough draft state because I rely more on overall weekly plans to design
instruction. My needs and goals are to refine my UbD unit plans in order to include them in my
PDQP in order to show competency in the development of assessments, transfers and
performance-based learning.

TELLING MY STORY USING MY PDQP

References
California Teaching Performance Expectations. (2013). Retrieved January 10, 2016, from
http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-prep/TPA-files/TPEs-Full-Version.pdf
Constantino, P., & Lorenzo, M. (2009) Developing a professional teaching portfolio: A guide for
success. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.