Running Head: MY STORY Page !

Telling My Story: Domain A

National University

Nicole Castillo

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for

TED 690 - Capstone Course

Professor Weintraub
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Abstract

In this paper, I will tell my story of how my Professional Development Quest Portfolio (PDQP)

came to be by: evaluating my progress towards achieving competencies in Domain A,

identifying my strengths and weaknesses associated with Domain A, discussing potential TPE

competencies to be used in my PDQP, and providing a rationale for selecting and completing the

goals I have chosen for Domain A.

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Telling My Story: Domain A

To tell my story, I decided to use the following artifacts: a lesson plan, a video of my

class in action, and a Literature Review to support the practices found in my video. Based on

these artifacts, I feel that I am able to successfully demonstrate how I practice Domain A in my

classroom.

Progress Towards Achievement

Domain A is titled “Making Subject Matter Comprehensible to Students” (Commission

on Teacher Credentialing, 2016, pg. 2). The artifacts that I selected effectively demonstrate how

I am doing this for my students. My first artifact, a lesson plan, highlights how am I am able to

take math instruction and make it comprehensible through real life context and imaginative play.

My second artifact, a video, demonstrates first hand how my students acquire reading skills

through multi-sensory practice in order for them to gain a deep enough understanding to transfer

that knowledge to reading from print. My final artifact, a Literature Review, highlights a study

that proves that teaching reading skills through song and movement will help students to become

better readers. All of these artifacts were carefully selected to help demonstrate my progress

towards achieving Domain A.

Strengths and Weaknesses

My strengths for Domain A include instruction for Mathematics and English-Language

Arts. The artifacts that I have included in my PDQP help to demonstrate my ability to make

learning comprehensible in these two subject areas. A weakness of mine, however, would be

successfully transferring that into Science and Social Studies related topics. I find that my

students have a much harder time comprehending the information learned in these content areas.
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Potential TPE Competencies

Domain A includes TPE 1A, which is “Subject-Specific Pedagogical Skills for Multiple

Subject Teaching Assignments” (Commission on Teaching Credential, 2016, pg. 2). Within the

description of this TPE, it goes on to describe that multiple subject teachers of English-Language

Arts “select appropriate teaching strategies to develop students’ abilities to read and

comprehend” (Commission on Teaching Credential, 2016, pg. 2). You can find support for my

competency in this area when reviewing artifacts 1 and 2. Continuing on, the description of the

TPE includes that multiple subject teachers of Mathematics “provide a secure environment for

taking intellectual risks and they model and encourage students to use multiple approaches to

mathematical problems. They require student collaboration and written and oral communication”

(Commission on Teaching Credential, 2016, pg. 3). Support of this competency can be found in

artifact 3.

Rationale

I believe that, through my practices in the classroom, I am able to demonstrate

competency of Domain A and TPE 1. While my strengths lie mostly in English-Language Arts

and Mathematics for this particular Domain, my weaknesses are a positive starting point for

goals to improve within this Domain. The artifacts that I have selected demonstrate the practices

that I carry out in my classroom, including the following: teaching reading skills through song

and movement, teaching mathematics through real-life scenarios and imaginative play. Through

all of the artifacts, you can see how lessons in my classroom are designed to make the subject

matter comprehensible for my students.

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References

Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (2016, June). California teaching performance

expectations. Retrieved April 12, 2019, from https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-source/

educator-prep/standards/adopted-tpes-2013.pdf