EdTPA for the Rest of Us

What is EdTPA, you ask?

THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT, TOO. 

Is it a new restaurant, a complicated Starbucks drink, a fashion blog?
No, how dare you. EdTPA is life and life is EdTPA. There is no beginning or end, there is only EdTPA.

In other words, EdTPA is how teachers become certified in New York State. The idea is fairly simple, a unified system that each teacher candidate follows in order to attain a certification from a state already recognized as having high standards for its teachers. Since not every state demands that the teacher candidates jump through the various hoops of a unified system like New York does, edTPA is unique in that regard. It's a vigorous process that acts both as a moderator between the school program and the state. By every understanding of the word terrifying, it is terrifying.

I have yet to get to a happy place with the EdTPA (is there a happy place?). It's been an uphill climb, so far. I find the language intimidating and the content draining. But for all of this whining and complaining, using the EdTPA has a resource this semester to hone my skills has been successful. Hopefully, when I start Student Teaching next spring, the EdTPA will be less of a daunting mountain over riding my senses and more of a long, tedious chore.

And, of course, I hope I pass!