Week KW

K- I now know that student safety is something that needs to be considered at all times when building your portfolio. I also now know how safety at times can be harder to instill in a digital portfolio vs. a hard copy portfolio. Up until this lesson, I never really thought about what others could get from a digital portfolio. I was really only thinking about the educator or the potential boss that was viewing the portfolio and not about the possible parents of the students in the portfolio or of anyone else who may have interest with regards to a student in the portfolio and is now about to see everything online.

W- As always, there are new questions I have with regards to portfolios that I would like to learn more about. First of all, what if you teach a very small class, say 5 students and of those 5 students you are not allowed to use anything in your portfolio that would give away the identity of three of the students. Would this constraint make your portfolio less effective as you would only be displaying two student’s interactions/work within the classroom? Also, if some rare mistake I were to put something in my portfolio that identified one of the students I shouldn’t have what would be the ramifications against me for that mistake? Finally, is there one ePortfolio tool available that is easier to use/navigate through for individuals like me who are still a little fearful of the technology requirement skills required for an effective digital portfolio.

Week 3 "L"

L- I have learned a lot this week, especially with regards to digital portfolios. I have learned that one digital portfolio can look totally different from another digital portfolio and this does not necessarily mean that one of those portfolios is better than the other. Also, I have learned that adding interactive features, videos, links to outside websites and other technological features can really make the difference between an okay portfolio and a portfolio that would definitely stand out in a group of portfolios. I learned that simple things like the quality of pictures you put in your portfolio and the background color you choose for your portfolio can make a difference to those viewing your portfolio. In addition, I learned that if you construct your portfolio appropriately it can be some what easy to have a print portfolio in an instance where you may need such. Finally, I learned that there may be some similarities in my portfolio as compared to other portfolio but in general my portfolio should be very specific to my teaching values and background.

KW Blog Week 3

K- I now know that there are benefits and disadvantages to having an electronic portfolio. I know that some of the benefits to an electronic portfolio are that it is easy to maintain, edit and update and that it makes sharing your portfolio easier. Some disadvantages to having an electronic portfolio are that it can take more time to develop than a traditional portfolio, it can be stressful and by creating an electronic portfolio professional learning/growth can be overlooked during the portfolio process.

W- I want to know how to correctly complete an electronic portfolio without overlooking or not be able to gain professional growth during the process. I would also like to know if I should have some sort of a traditional portfolio in addition to an electronic portfolio for situations where the electronic portfolio is not accepted.

KWL Week 2

K- I now know what a teaching portfolio should include with regards to things like academic qualifications, courses I have taught and my teaching philosophy just to name a few. I know that there are different portfolio requirements for pre-service and in-service teachers. I also know that a teaching portfolio should be a "working" portfolio, meaning that as the teacher I should be consistently updating/adding new information to my portfolio (this should be done at least twice a year).

W- I still want to know some more specifics about a teaching portfolio such as how my student’s growth should be documented in my portfolio. I am also curious as to how a Special Education ED teacher’s portfolio can look in comparison to a general education teacher’s portfolio, maybe a math general education teacher. Would there be any notable difference between the two portfolios? Can some parts of the portfolio be harder for a special education teacher than for a general education teacher to compile?

L- I learned just how much having a portfolio could benefit me as a teacher. I learned that how a portfolio is presented is almost as important as the content within the portfolio itself. I also learned how it is very important to be original, to showcase unique insights, creativity and skill when writing about your teaching philosophy. Finally, I learned that my final product should be printed on quality paper and having it bound with a plastic comb binder along with taking time to prepare a professional document that reflects my skill, experience and my unique approach to teaching and learning is very important.

KWL

"K-Know": I come to this class with not a whole lot of prior knowledge with regards to portfolios. The one thing I know about portfolios or have some experience with has to do with a modeling portfolio. I did some modeling a few years ago for a short period of time and had to get a portfolio created in order to get modeling jobs. My portfolio was not very extensive and entailed only about three different photo shot pictures. My husband and I also have a financial planner and I know we have an investment portfolio through him but it is sad to say that I could not tell you exactly what that portfolio holds. I know we have our money invested in different areas of the market and most of it is in conservative markets while a small share of our funds are in moderate to aggressive markets.

"W-Want"": There are several things I want to know about in regards to portfolios. I want to know what a "good" portfolio entails/looks like for a teacher. I would also like to learn what a teacher/educator should include in their portfolio and what is okay to exclude or leave out from your portfolio or should you try and include as much as possible. I want to also know if there comes a point when too much information had been added to a portfolio and at that point can the portfolio be considered less effective.

"L-Learned": From the information presented in the lesson and the readings for the week, I learned that an education portfolio is much more extensive than I originally thought it would be. I would have never thought about including photos of my class in action to represent the lessons that are actually included as part of my portfolio. I did learn that keeping it simple is important and that overloading your portfolio with lengthy page after page could cause your portfolio to loose its overall effectiveness. I also learned that it is very important to review your portfolio at least twice a year in order to keep it update and relevant in regards to your teaching experiences.