Instructor Name xxx-xxx-xxx (Phone) xxx-xxx-xxx (Fax) name@school.edu (Email)

• Objectives
• This is Important Because. . .
• Content
  • Reflection
  • Evaluation
    
• Show What You Know

Objectives

1. Identify appropriate reflective elements.
2. Identify appropriate aspects for portfolio evaluation.
3. Create rubrics for evaluation.

This is Important Because. . .

Reflection and evaluation make a portfolio a finished product. While one of the main purposes of a portfolio is to be used as an authentic assessment tool, in most cases the portfolio itself needs to be evaluated in some way. You will be evaluating your students' portfolios and your own professional portfolios will be "evaluated" either formally or informally by your intended audience.

The Content

A. Reflection

What makes a portfolio different from a scrapbook is the chance to reflect on the artifacts and the actions that brought those artifacts into being. The author of the portfolio is the only one who really knows how all those events occurred. The inclusion of these reflections as artifacts themselves or as addenda to the original artifacts makes the portfolio a much richer environment for the author and the audience.

Student Reflections

Your students will often need help with this process. What do you want them to gain from looking back over their work? In the beginning, you may have to be very specific about what you are asking them to reflect upon. You might start them off with a short list of questions appropriate to their age level and the artifacts in the portfolio.

Teacher Reflections

Sometimes even grownups need help getting started with reflections. Here are a few questions to get you started:

• How would you describe your personal teaching philosophy?
• What kinds of teaching strategies and methodologies would an observer in your classroom notice?
• What kind of professional growth have you experienced over the past five years?
• What are your teaching goals for the next five years?
• What kinds of steps have you taken to improve your teaching?
• How have you made innovations in your classroom curriculum?

B. Evaluation

There are many forms of portfolio assessment, but the most common is through the use of rubrics. If you are creating your own portfolio, think about how your audience will view it. What are some of the aspects of the portfolio that will make it attractive, informational, impressive, and yet easy to navigate? If you are creating a template/sample student portfolio, you will probably want to have a grading rubric to present to your students at the beginning of their portfolio development. Some of the elements which should be considered in both cases might be:

• Ease of navigation
• Appropriate use of multimedia
• Matching of artifacts to stated goals and standards
• Reflection

Take a look at both of the following sites. Notice the similarities. What makes a good portfolio for students is often just a more simplified version of what makes a good one for professionals.

• Assessment of Student Electronic Portfolios - Nice straight forward rubric for elementary and middle school students. Could be modified for any grade level.
• Evaluating the Electronic Portfolio - Helen Barrett's guidelines for the evaluation of professional teaching portfolios.
  

Show What You Know

Part 1:

Creating reflections and rubrics

1. Create one appropriate reflective document to include in your portfolio. Name the file "Reflections."
2. Create an appropriate set of rubrics to evaluate your portfolio. Assume a total of 50 possible points and create a chart similar to one of the samples given above. Name the file "Rubrics."
3. Post your files to the PLACES Portfolio Lesson 5 folder.
4. If this is the end of your class, please make sure you take the post-test.

For those of you who wish to earn the extra points and finish with a complete project, complete the instructions below.

Part 2: (OPTIONAL FINAL PROJECT - 50 points!)

Complete your portfolio

1. Complete digitizing, converting, and linking your portfolio components. It should be considered a final product for the purposes of this class. . . A professional teaching portfolio that you would be proud to show to a prospective employer or a template/sample student portfolio ready to use with your students.
2. Before you turn it in, check it over once more and using your own rubric (see Part 1), rate your portfolio. You don't have to share your score, but if it isn't super. . . go back and make changes before you turn it in. We MAY use your evaluation tool to evaluate your portfolio! We will definitely compare it.
3. Post ALL the related documents in the PLACES Portfolio Final Project folder. This is due "Due Date here." (Probably 3 weeks.) Make sure you take the post-test.

Evaluation Rubric

All assignments in this course will be assessed by using a rubric. A rubric is a tool designed to assess student performance. They can vary in complexity from the most simple checklist, as used in this activity, to a very complex rating scale or scoring guide. They are considered an important component in many types of authentic assessment.

Activity	Not Included	Included
Reflective artifact appropriate to portfolio	0	5
Rubrics appropriate to portfolio	0	10
Posted correctly	0	5
TOTAL		20

Lesson 1 | Lesson 2 | Lesson 3 | Lesson 4 | Lesson 5

This page was last updated on: September 18, 2001.
This course developed in partnership between the Pinellas School District and the ITRC at UCF.