The Portfolio Process
The process of facilitating successful student portfolios can be broken into four steps:
Although the first step, collection, is straight-forward, it is not always an easy step to facilitate successfully. It simply requires students to collect and store all of their work. Three challenges at this step are common.
One, most students and many teachers are not accustomed to documenting and saving all class work. Two, there is seldom an obvious place to put the work as it is collected, particularly when artwork or lab work is involved. And three, it is not always obvious how to generate artifacts from things like field trips, community service projects, jobs, and sports. The key skill in this step is to get students accustomed to collecting and documenting whenever possible..
Selection
How one facilitates the second step, selection, depends on the kind of portfolio (process or product oriented) and to what degree a teacher stipulates portfolio requirements. In this step, students will go through the work they collected and select the artifacts for their portfolio. This may be done by the student alone, with peers, and/or with the teacher. Many characteristics about the curriculum come to light in this step, particularly the nature of the work students are doing in class. For instance, if all students have to show are quizzes and tests, the portfolio will be rendered almost meaningless by failing to shed light on anything other than a student's ability to take exams. If, however, students have a more diverse set of work such as audio/video recordings, artwork, projects, journals, computer work, homework, compositions, etc., as well as exams, the portfolio will come to life. In this manner, portfolios provide a great deal of motivation to diversify approaches to teaching and learning.
Reflection
Most agree that the third step, reflection, is perhaps the most important step in the portfolio process. It is what distinguishes portfolios from mere collections. Reflection is often done in writing but can be done orally as well, particularly with younger children. Students are asked to explain why they chose a particular artifact, how it compares with other artifacts, what particular skills and knowledge were used to produce it, and where he or she can improve as a learner. The importance of this step lies in having the student take an active role in the assessment process. Students can observe more directly the quality of their own achievement and internalize more clearly where improvements are needed.
Connection
The last step, connection, has two related facets. The first is a direct result of the reflection process. Upon reflecting on their own achievement and identifying the skills and knowledge they applied in producing the artifacts, students can answer the perennial question for themselves, "Why are we doing this?" They are able to make a more concrete connection between their school work and the value of what it is they're learning. Furthermore, students may come to understand the wider curriculum more deeply. To a teacher's delight or chagrin, depending on the teacher, students may take more active and informed roles in evaluating the effectiveness of the curriculum. The second facet is about connecting with the world outside the classroom. Many successful portfolio programs have students formally present their portfolio to a panel of peers, teachers, parents, and other community members. In some cases, students are defending their work, much like a graduate student might defend a thesis. In others, students exhibit their portfolios in a more celebratory manner. In either case, the resulting connection between the students and the greater community creates an invaluable celebration of student achievement and a rare dialogue about the quality of learning at the local school.
- Collection
- Selection
- Reflection
- Connection
Although the first step, collection, is straight-forward, it is not always an easy step to facilitate successfully. It simply requires students to collect and store all of their work. Three challenges at this step are common.
One, most students and many teachers are not accustomed to documenting and saving all class work. Two, there is seldom an obvious place to put the work as it is collected, particularly when artwork or lab work is involved. And three, it is not always obvious how to generate artifacts from things like field trips, community service projects, jobs, and sports. The key skill in this step is to get students accustomed to collecting and documenting whenever possible..
Selection
How one facilitates the second step, selection, depends on the kind of portfolio (process or product oriented) and to what degree a teacher stipulates portfolio requirements. In this step, students will go through the work they collected and select the artifacts for their portfolio. This may be done by the student alone, with peers, and/or with the teacher. Many characteristics about the curriculum come to light in this step, particularly the nature of the work students are doing in class. For instance, if all students have to show are quizzes and tests, the portfolio will be rendered almost meaningless by failing to shed light on anything other than a student's ability to take exams. If, however, students have a more diverse set of work such as audio/video recordings, artwork, projects, journals, computer work, homework, compositions, etc., as well as exams, the portfolio will come to life. In this manner, portfolios provide a great deal of motivation to diversify approaches to teaching and learning.
Reflection
Most agree that the third step, reflection, is perhaps the most important step in the portfolio process. It is what distinguishes portfolios from mere collections. Reflection is often done in writing but can be done orally as well, particularly with younger children. Students are asked to explain why they chose a particular artifact, how it compares with other artifacts, what particular skills and knowledge were used to produce it, and where he or she can improve as a learner. The importance of this step lies in having the student take an active role in the assessment process. Students can observe more directly the quality of their own achievement and internalize more clearly where improvements are needed.
Connection
The last step, connection, has two related facets. The first is a direct result of the reflection process. Upon reflecting on their own achievement and identifying the skills and knowledge they applied in producing the artifacts, students can answer the perennial question for themselves, "Why are we doing this?" They are able to make a more concrete connection between their school work and the value of what it is they're learning. Furthermore, students may come to understand the wider curriculum more deeply. To a teacher's delight or chagrin, depending on the teacher, students may take more active and informed roles in evaluating the effectiveness of the curriculum. The second facet is about connecting with the world outside the classroom. Many successful portfolio programs have students formally present their portfolio to a panel of peers, teachers, parents, and other community members. In some cases, students are defending their work, much like a graduate student might defend a thesis. In others, students exhibit their portfolios in a more celebratory manner. In either case, the resulting connection between the students and the greater community creates an invaluable celebration of student achievement and a rare dialogue about the quality of learning at the local school.
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