My Edtpa Personal Statement

When the edTPA program was first introduced to me at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, it seemed like a daunting task and I wondered what I had gotten myself into. Just thinking about student teaching gave me anxiety due to the myriad of tasks required by the edTPA program and the confusing academic language that described them. For the past several months, I have been preparing myself for this huge undertaking that I know I must face. However, as the tasks have been slowly unwrapped and simplified by Mary Conrad in my EDU 702 seminar class, I am beginning to feel more comfortable with what is expected of me. I also came to the realization that as a future teacher, I was expected to do the exact same type of tasks in the classroom, but on a lesser scale. Going through the edTPA process has helped me become more aware of the responsibilities that I am expected to accomplish on a daily basis as a teacher. I also like to think of it as an opportunity to show off what I have learned from my academic experiences at Dominican University and how I have developed into an effective educator.

Without their support and guidance, this whole process would have been too overwhelming for me. Since I understand it better, there are many aspects of the program that fascinate me as a student teacher. For example, the process allows me to become a more reflective practitioner, along with teaching me to think more strategically about how I plan, implement, and assess student learning. First and foremost, teaching is about my students and how I can best facilitate their learning. Because of this, I respect the edTPA program for its objective in assessing a teacher’s ability to