Professional Portfolios

Introduction

The Professional Portfolio is:

• A tool for collecting and showing growth and achievement over time
• An expanded, or multi-dimensional, resume
• A common requirement for teaching placements
• A good exercise in self-evaluation

There are two ways of presenting a Professional Teaching Portfolio:

• A 3-ring binder/notebook-style
• Electronically, stored on hard drives, Zip disks, websites, or CD-ROM.

Notebook-style Portfolio

Be A Smart Keeper:

• Keep a large enough box to store portfolio materials for up to a year at a time.
• Sort through your box at least twice per year.
• Place in your box items such as printed results of special committee work you participated in.
• Keep an inexpensive camera with fast film, flash and batteries in the classroom for visual documentation of your work.

Basics of a good portfolio:

• Essential Components
• Resumé
• Educational philosophy and teaching goals
• Professional Information
• Unofficial copies of college transcripts
• Non-credit coursework
• List of professional development activities, including workshops and conferences attended
• Letters of recommendation
• Formal evaluations
• Documentation of an Extended Teaching Activity
• Overview of unit goals and instructional plan
• List of resources used in unit
• Two different lesson plans, one from your concentration and a unique lesson you taught.
• Videotape of teaching
• Samples and evaluation of student work
• Reflective commentary by the teacher
• Additional units/lessons/student work as appropriate

TIPS:

• Keep It Simple:
  • Don’t overload your portfolio with page after page of lengthy text or repetitive photos.
  • Include:
    • Title of the item
    • Date produced
    • Description of the context
• Be Timely:
  • Review your portfolio at least twice a year.
  • Pencil in changes to your resume at this time so that you can retype an updated version quickly and easily.
• Make Copies:
  • Where possible, use copies of originals in your portfolio, keeping the originals in a safe place.
• Make It Clear:
  • Create a custom cover for your portfolio with a three-ring binder with a clear insert on the cover.
  • Use clear plastic page holders inside to keep your pages clean and neat.
• Keep It Legible:
  • Use a computer to type and print out easy-to-read information sheets or a table of contents.
  • Use 12-point type where possible for easy readability.

Electronic Portfolio*

Why create an electronic portfolio?

• A portfolio that includes visuals, audio, and video formats can be more dynamic.
• Information can easily be stored on hard drives, CD-ROM or Zip disks
• An electronic portfolio is compact, can be easily updated, and can be easily transmitted to potential employers.

Equipment needed:

• Computer
  • The more RAM, the better!
• Scanner
  • A color flat-bed scanner is your best choice.
• Digital Camera
  • Capture video and take single-frame pictures.
  • Close-focus adjustment is best for documenting writing samples.
  • You can also take pictures with your 35mm camera , which can be put onto a CD or scanned.
• Programs

Multimedia Software Program

• Consider using HyperStudio, which has the following advantages:
• Easy to learn and allows the user a great deal of flexibility
• Quick and easy input of sound, pictures, and video
• Ability to link to other programs
• Tools for "drawing" with the mouse
• Available for both Macintosh and IBM
• Ability to print to video
• Other multimedia programs to consider:“HyperCard” and “Digital Chisel”

Web-Authoring Program

• Off-the-shelf software allows you the freedom to create your own portfolio arrangement
• Consider using a web-authoring program such as Claris Home Page, Macromedia Authorware or Macromedia Director

STEPS

• Step 1 - Get Prepared:

• Technical skills required for developing an electronic portfolio include:
  • Converting files from any application
  • Scanning/capturing and editing graphic images
  • Digitizing and editing sound files
  • Digitizing and editing video files (VCR to computer)
  • Organizing portfolio artifacts, creating links and buttons
  • Organizing multimedia files and pre-mastering CD-ROM
  • Writing CD-Recordable disc using appropriate CD mastering software
  • Recording computer images with narration to video tape (computer to VCR
• Step 2 - Plan Ahead:
  • Decide on content of portfolio items (see components of a portfolio (above)
  • Gather multimedia materials to include in the portfolio that represent your growth and achievement
• Step 3 - Storing the Portfolio as you work on it:
  • Store portfolio artifacts digitally/on the computer during the development stages.
  • Some of the most common ways to store items include:
    • Computer diskette
    • CD-Recordable (CD-R) & CD-ReWritable (CD-RW)
    • Video Tape
    • High density floppy (Zip disk)
    • WWW or Intranet
    • Jaz disk
    • DVD-RAM
• Step 4 - Create Individual Portolios
  • Open the template you created and enter information
  • Add information:
    • Text
    • Sounds
    • Scanned images
    • Pictures
    • Video
    • Links to other programs
    • Etc.
  • Save to desired location

* For help in creating your electronic portfolio, you might want to consult Digital Portfolios in Teacher Education, by Laurie Mullen, Jodie Britten and Joan McFadden
(Jist Publications, 2005)