Running Head: Domain C Literature Review 1

Domain C Literature Review

National University

Caralyn Shoup
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Abstract

This paper contains rationales for the specific artifacts that I chose when populating

Domain C on my PDQP website. The three artifacts posted in Domain C include an observation

from my Site Supervisor at National, a lesson plan created for a 1st grade class, and a video of the

lesson plan for the 1st grade class. Domain C is all about Engaging and Supporting Students in

Learning and I believe each of these artifacts supports how I have had experiences with this

specific domain.
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Domain C Literature Review

The first artifact that I selected to demonstrate competence of TPE 4: Making Content

Accessible, which falls under Domain C is an observation form. My National University Site

Supervisor filled out the observation during my time student teaching in a 3rd grade classroom.

The specific TPE met in this artifact states, “Candidates incorporate specific strategies,

teaching/instructional activities, procedures and experiences that address state-adopted academic

content standards for students in order to provide a balanced and comprehensive curriculum

(2013, p.12). My site supervisor marked that I was in the Applying stage of domain c, which I

was very proud of. During this lesson, my supervisor was able to see that I demonstrated the

ability to incorporate specific strategies to engage my students and I was able to bridge prior

knowledge in order for the information to be more accessible to them. In my observation, it was

evident to my supervisor that not only was I able to deliver a lesson that resonated with the

students by actively engaging with them, but more importantly that the students achieved the

objectives in this lesson.

The second artifact I chose was a lesson I wrote and presented for a 1st grade classroom

tat I used to volunteer for and that I turned in for a grade in a course at national University. The

National University lesson plan templates are rather extensive, however each section to fill out is

critical, I mostly enjoy the rationale section because that is where you discuss the why of what

you are doing. The why of teaching is simply the most important part of this profession! At a

recent staff meeting, our Principal passed out a passage from the book, Find Your Why: A

Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team by Simon Sinek. The staff read

the introduction to the book and reflected in the meeting about what they liked about the passage.

The introduction can be summed up as that a man was asked why he does what he does for a
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living and he could not tell why he did it, but only what he did. The principal said that we could

discuss all day what we do as teachers, but more importantly we should be focusing on the why

and this really resonated with me. Sinek wrote, “Every one of us has a WHY, a deep-seated

purpose, cause or belief that is the source of our passion and inspiration” (2017, p.6). When

writing lesson plans, I always keep in mind the why behind what I am teaching and why I would

like my students to learn this. I feel that lessons are more purposeful when there is a why behind

it. This lesson gives rationales and or the why behind what the students should learn form this

lesson.

Artifact 3 is a video of the lesson that I did in the 1st grade classroom, it was very

important for me to video myself as a way to reflect on my teaching practices. This was my first

lesson I ever videoed and it taught me a lot about my teaching style, what worked, what did not

work, and ways I can improve. One take away from this video was that there were some students

who were simply not engaged. I decided to put that into domain c as a way to show that I am

reflecting on what did not go well and I am improving my practices now and have come a long

way since this video during a volunteer experience in a classroom. I am constantly thinking of

ways to improve my strategies for keeping students engaged in their learning.

My next step for this domain is to video myself doing a lesson where it demonstrates that

my students are actively engaged in the lesson to show competence of Domain C.

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References

Constantino, P.M., De Lorenzo, M.N., & Tirrell-Corbin (2009). Developing a Professional

Teaching Portfolio: A Guide for Success. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Sinek, S. (2017). Find your why: A practical guide to discovering purpose for you or your team.

NY,NY: Portfolio/Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.