And so begins the portfolio experience. It does bring me back to my teacher education program a little bit as I had to build three portfolios through that experience, but none were digital. I do recall the experience being worthwile as the evidence and reflection were memorable. I found the portfolio in a closet the other day as a matter of fact. Taking a look at it has caused me to reflect a bit on the experience back then and my thoughts now.
First off it will be nice to have a neatly organized digital portfolio as opposed to the big and bulky binder that has traveled with me for six years. Having an electronic binder is also more conducive to sharing and collaboration as it can easily be viewed and commented on by others. It will allow for more creativity and a more diverse collection of artifacts.
I have also been inspired to have students create portfolio's in my summer school class this year. My Civics students will be submitting a webpage that displays reflections on examples of their best work related to course objectives. I am very excited to see how they turn out and feel they will be better indicators of student achievement than a traditional final exam.
So the gathering and reflecting will soon begin...
