Prepare a portfolio of artifacts which reflect the progress you
have made in becoming the kind of teacher you want to be. Your
portfolio should be introduced by a reflective essay which
describes/analyzes the portfolio content and its relationship to
your progress and should include captioned artifacts illustrating
that progress. A portfolio can be any type of container that can
conveniently house those items you wish to include: a box, a
folder, an accordion envelope, etc. Use your creativity. This is
your final performance assessment as well as an action research
project which focuses on your becoming the type of teacher you
want to be.
 

Steps in Developing the Portfolio include:

1. identify a metaphor for becoming a teacher. Develop a Power
Point presentation of 3 to 7 slides illustrating the metaphor;

2. prepare a 30-second video of your philosophy of social
studies education (We have a Mavica camera for this purpose.
Since it requires no conversion, it's much easier to integrate
into your portfolio than a regular videotape.);

3. identify three research problems or questions related to your
becoming a teacher, i.e. How does the student you have been
become the teacher you intend to be? Preparing your portfolio is
essentially a document that traces the ways in which you
resolved these problems or responded to these questions. Your
original problems or questions may be revised at any point during
the semester;

4. build a support group with whom you can talk through your
ideas; schedule appointments with me or use email/journals to
discuss your ideas with me; use discussion board as a means for
working through these ideas;

5. throughout your methods block and clinical experience, collect
data/artifacts to illustrate your progress in resolving the
problems you have posed (see #1). Examples: observation
evaluations, journal entries, reflective poems or illustrative
artwork; copies or photographs of student work, lesson plans,
tests you have prepared, videotapes, unit plans, other research
projects, student test data, notes from
students/parents/teachers. You should be looking for ways to
reflect growth over time.

6. analyze your data by looking for patterns across your various
sets of data (A data set is, e.g. all of your journals, all of your
lesson plans, all of your evaluations.) What patterns of
development are reflected in more than one data set. How are
you resolving the original problems or responding to the original
questions?

7. select illustrative artifacts from among your data sets for
inclusion in your portfolio; write a one paragraph caption for
each artifact explaining its significance in the process of your
becoming a teacher.

9. Prepare a photo gallery to illustrate major mileposts in your
becoming a teacher. See a perfect example of such a photo
gallery at http://durak.org/kathy/portfolio/index.html. This
particular example is arranged by assessment areas used in
National Teacher Certification. This is a terrific approach,
however I would expect you to find your own important
categories. Some may overlap the ones used in this portfolio.

10. write a reflective essay describing your progress or journey
in becoming (or perhaps deciding not to become) a teacher.
Refer to your original metaphor and tell how it has either been
fulfilled or changed as you proceeded through your methods
block this semester. describe what its happening to you and
what value it has to your becoming a teacher in terms of the
artifacts you have included in the portfolio. Together, your
portfolio with the reflective essay as its introduction should be
a genuine presentation and self-assessment of your progress in
making the transition from student to teacher.

11. Once you have accumulated your artifacts and decided which
ones should be included, written your captions, and developed
your reflective essay, you need to prepare these for your
electronic portfolio. Develop a concept map for your site . You
can use INSPIRATION for this purpose. You will need to: scan
documents such as student work; scan, edit and enhance
pictures, etc. You'll need to convert your captions and essays
into html format. You will then integrate these into an
impressive electronic portfolio and publish it in the format you
want. Your portfolio can be on a CD-ROM, a website, or a
videotape.
 

There are several good sites for information about developing
portfolios on the internet. I would recommend starting with
these two:
 

http://transition.alaska.edu/www/portfolios/bookmarks.html

http://curry.edschool.Virginia.EDU/curry/class/edlf/589_004/sample.html
 

These are useful examples to study:
 

http://durak.org/kathy/portfolio/index.html

http://www.mandia.com/kelly/portfolio.htm
 

DUE MAY 3