Virginia Tech English Education Program
Teacher Work Sample/Reflective Unit Guide
Introduction:
Building on the work that we did with crafting teaching units during the fall term and the
work that you’ll do in the field this semester, you will be creating a Teacher Work
Sample (TWS) that demonstrates your ability to plan, implement, and assess instruction.
You’ll also be reflecting upon student learning and your own teaching and learning. As
the capstone assignment for EDCI 5744, you will develop, implement, and reflect upon
an original unit plan for two to three weeks of instruction that will be taught in one of
the classes you are teaching in February.
You must consult with your Cooperating Teacher on the topic and content of the unit
because he or she will make the final decisions regarding the content and structure of all
of your lessons and units. You are encouraged to draw upon your PLN as you craft this
unit; however it must be your original work. You are encouraged to consider the
following foundational design questions:
 What is the purpose of this lesson, assignment, or activity?
 What goals and objectives does it address?
 What should students be able to know and do? How will you know they know it
and can do it? AND what will you do if they can’t?
 What do I gain and what do I give up as a result of the instructional decisions
this unit requires me to make?
*Note: These questions are excellent things to keep in mind as you write your reflections
The TWS must include each of the sections listed below. The length of each of these
sections will vary, but as this is a capstone project, a thorough articulation of each
component is expected. Sections 1-5 must be submitted via Scholar as a single word
document. Section 6 can be uploaded in a single PDF file in addition to the word
document if necessary.
Table of Contents
A Table of Contents should list each section and include all attachments, documentation
and references, and page numbers.
Section 1: Contextual Factors
Include information about the learning-teaching context and student individual
differences to set learning goals and plan instruction and assessment. In this description
of the context and setting in which your unit is implemented, you should show evidence
of your:
 Knowledge of community, school, and classroom factors
 Knowledge of characteristics of students
 Knowledge of students’ varied approaches to learning
 Knowledge of students’ skills and prior learning
 Implications for instructional planning and assessment
Suggested length for this section is 1-2 pages.
(Updated 1/14, T. T. Stewart)
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Section 2: Overview & Discussion of Unit Learning goals
You must set significant, challenging, varied and appropriate learning goals that align
with state, district, and school standards. This section should list the key learning goals
for the unit. Note: This should not be a list of daily lesson goals. Those will be included
in your daily lesson plans. This should list the largest overarching goals for your unit.
This section should also include a brief discussion of how you intend to bring the content
into dialogue with your students’ lives.
Suggested length for this section is 1-2 pages.
Section 3: Design for instruction—Lesson plans for the Unit
You must design instruction for specific learning goals, student characteristics and needs,
within learning contexts. Ensure that you have included all elements from the EE Lesson
Plan Template.
Section 4: Analysis of Student Learning
You must use assessment data to profile student learning and communicate information
about student progress and achievement. You’ll need to select one key assessment area to
highlight in this section and discuss the impact of your plans, goals, and methods. You
will also describe, analyze and evaluate student performance data. Ensure that your
assessments are valid. You don’t want to administer an assessment that is focused on
writing if writing is not a learning goal you have addressed in your instruction.
Section 5: Reflection on Instructional Decision-making and Self-evaluation
You must reflect on your instruction and student learning in order to improve teaching
practice. Be sure to address:
 How you adjusted instruction to meet students’ needs?
 What lessons or activities were particularly effective? How do you know they
were effective?
 Which lessons or activities did not go well? For example, did the assessment data
show that a significant number of students failed to master a certain learning
goal?
You should also provide a narrative discussion of your self-evaluation of this unit.
 What things did you do well during this unit? How do you know this well?
 What challenges did you encounter?
 How might you improve this unit in the future?
Suggested length for this section is 3-5 pages.
Section 6: References, Appendices, and Back Matter
This section includes all supplemental attachments, any documentation, instructional
materials (or handouts) that you wish to add, and references. You may include student
work samples (as long as identities are protected), modified assignments, etc. While
sections 1-5 must be submitted as a single word document, you could submit section 6
as a single separate PDF file if that is easier for you.
Deadline for Final Version of Teacher Work Sample/Reflective Unit: Thursday,
April 9th. The TWS must also be included in your ePortfolio. It will serve as an
artifact for many different areas of the final ePortfolio.
(Updated 1/14, T. T. Stewart)
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TWS Template
Table of Contents
A Table of Contents should list each section, all attachments, documentation and
references, and page numbers.
Section 1: Contextual Factors
Information about the learning and teaching context. You use this template to document
these, or you may modify as necessary.
Intern Name:
Class Period:
Grade Level/Descriptor:
Number of Students Enrolled:
School and District Factors: This should include any assessment information available
(ask your CT), SOL performance and relevant data about achievement gap groups.
Resources: Describe the resources (equipment, technology and supplies) available to
you.
Assistance: Note any types of help available to you including, but not limited, to
instructional assistant(s), parent volunteers, resource teachers, peer (student) tutors,
classroom teacher, etc.
Student Differences: How many students in this class fit into the following categories:
ESL, # with IEPs, Title I, Gifted, # with 504 plans?
Student Diversity: Please describe any language, cultural and/or
achievement/developmental differences that will need to be considered when building
lessons and units.
Patterns of Achievement: Indicate the number of students who fit into each pattern of
achievement – below grade level, at grade level, above grade level.
Other Classroom Conditions: Describe other classroom conditions (if any) including
student demographics that have implications for teaching and what might be observed in
your classroom.
Implications for Instruction: Describe two or three ways you will use the factors
identified above in your planning, instruction, and assessment.
(Updated 1/14, T. T. Stewart)
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Section Two: Overview & Discussion Unit Learning Goals
This section details the learning goals for the unit under the following general headings:



Binding Theme or Conceptual Framework
Provide the concept(s) that ties the lessons in this unit together? If you are using
Essential Questions, list the key questions that guide this unit. If you use EQs, be sure
they function as EQs that invite discussion beyond a simple, content-based “right” or
“wrong” answer.
Unit Learning goals
List the unit learning goals (not the activities or daily lesson goals) that will guide
your planning, implementation and assessment of your unit. These goals should
define the key things that you expect students to know, understand, and be able to do
at the end of your unit. The goals should be significant, challenging and appropriate.
They also must be something you intend to measure in the assessments that run
throughout the unit. Number each goal so you can reference it later.
Sequence, scaffolding, and dialogic qualities of the unit
Describe the sequence, scaffolding and dialogic qualities you see across your learning
goals. How do these goals build upon one another? In what order should they be
addressed? Where and how do they overlap? Which should be on-going? Describe
how these goals are connected by a Binding Theme or Conceptual Framework.
Section 3: Design for Instruction: Daily Lesson Plans
Provide the lesson plans for each day of this unit. Consider including anchor links
throughout the document if you’d like to refer to specific elements from these plans in
other areas of the document.
(Updated 1/14, T. T. Stewart)
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Section 4: Analysis of Student Learning
 Description and analysis of student data. You’ll need to select one key assessment
area from your unit to highlight in this section. Be sure to include some kind of preassessment to develop baseline data. Ensure that your assessments are valid. (You
don’t want to administer an assessment that is focused on writing if you have not
made writing a learning goal and addressed it during your instruction). After you have
taught the instructional unit and administered the post-assessment, your next task is to
organize and analyze the assessment results. Design a table (or use/modify the model
below) to record each student’s pre-assessment results, post-assessment results, the
amount of gain between the two (if any) and whether/not the student has attained the
learning goal based on the results of the post-assessment. Be sure to note any
contextual factors if needed.
Name:
Student
(First
name only
or code)
Class:
Pre
Post Gain/Loss
1
Learning Goals
Mark each met with an “X.”
2
3
4
5
6
7
Date:
Comments
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NOTE: While there is no requirement that pre and post-assessments are paper-pencil
based tests, you must have a way of determining gains in knowledge and skills.
(Remember that Smagorinsky’s text offers examples of discussion rubrics.) You will
need to know precisely what behaviors you are assessing when you use a project or
activity as a means of your pre and/or post-assessment (i.e., number of punctuation
errors in a paper, number of elements of an effective memoir used in a digital story).

Narrative Discussion of data
o Whole Class: Using the data from this table, summarize what the data tells
you about your students’ learning in this unit (i.e., the number of students
meeting the criteria).
o Diverse Learners: Compare the results for the identified gap groups in your
classroom. Summarize what the data tell you about their learning in this unit
(e.g., the number of students meeting the criteria).
*Note: It will be helpful to refer to data from this section when you reflect on the impact
of instruction in Section 5.
(Updated 1/14, T. T. Stewart)
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Section Five: Reflection on the Impact of Instruction
Reflection on planning and instructional-decisions:
 How did you adjust instruction to meet students’ needs?
 What lessons or activities were particularly effective? How do you know they
were effective?
 Which lessons or activities did not go well? For example, did you have a class
discussion that didn’t get the students talking? Did you have a significant number
of students fail to master a particular learning goal?
 How might you improve this unit in the future?
Self-evaluation of teaching:
 What things did you do well during this unit (e.g. use of proximity in classroom
management)?
 What challenges did you encounter?
 What goals do you have for the future (e.g. improved wait time)?
Section 6: References, Appendices, and Back Matter
This section includes all supplemental attachments, any documentation, instructional
materials (or handouts) that you wish to add, and references. You may include student
work samples (as long as identities are protected), modified assignments, etc.
*Reminder: While sections 1-5 must be submitted as a single word document, you
could submit section 6 as a single separate PDF file if that is easier for you.
(Updated 1/14, T. T. Stewart)
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