The Portfolio

1. The Portfolio Marketing yourself effectively in an era of global capitalism

3. You want to be a learning manager • Be able to articulate the difference between a ‘teacher’ and a ‘learning manager’ • Believe in the difference • Believe in yourself as able to demonstrate the difference • Argue the difference

4. How will you demonstrate that you are, indeed, that kind of learning manager ? Start to assemble your portfolio NOW !!

5. Why portfolios? • MACER document argues • “People entering the workforce can now look forward to several changes in career… to prepare for this they need to be avid lifelong learners” (pg. 9)

6. If you are an effective ‘learning manager’… • learning managers are futures-oriented • locally active and globally aware • entrepreneurial, knowledge producers • life-long learners • cater for diverse needs of students • self-directed and socially responsible • team players and networkers • creative innovators • high performers that achieve outcomes for students • achieve long-term goals for strategies ends

7. Employers want you to evidence your claims • You need to be accountable for proving your competence • You need to show that you are a professional

8. What is a professional learning manager? • They learn from every experience and every person they meet • They seek on-going professional training to refine their practice • They remain current about educational research • Read professional journals, attend workshops, interact with colleagues in order to benefit from their experience • Ask questions, try out new ideas, reflect on the results • Look for opportunities to learn all they can about others • Volunteer in the community, get to know people and agencies • Join groups, go to meeting and do committee work • Campbell, dignetti, Melenyzer, nettles,wyman (2001)

9. A professional portfolio • Tool that enables you to make sense of a myriad of experiences • Gives a clear picture of yourself as a growing, changing professional • Enables you to demonstrate to others the skills and knowledges you have gained in a field as complex as teaching

10. What is a portfolio? • NOT just a file of course assignments • Not a scrap book of memorabilia

11. 2 kinds of portfolio Working portfolio Presentation portfolio

12. Working portfolio • On-going collection of evidence and examples of variety of work and experiences • Eg. Work units, reflective journals, teacher-made materials, photographs, videos/CD of your teaching

13. Presentation portfolio • Select from your working portfolio to present an easy to read portrait of your professional competence for a particular purpose • Selective and streamlined

14. Presentation portfolio • Should not be cumbersome or awkward • May present teacher-made materials through photographs • May show annotated, abridged version of video or CD

15. How do I organise my portfolio? • Generally around themes or, in the case of Education Queensland, the Professional Standards for teachers • http://education.qld.gov.au/staff/learning/standards/teachers/

16. What counts as evidence in a portfolio? • Anecdotal records – noting behaviours, social, emotional or physical development • May be personal notes about teaching strategies you have tried or others have done. • May be reflections on your own understandings of planning, assessment or child development

17. What counts as evidence in a portfolio? • Article summaries – summarise readings from professional journals, annotated bibliographies around particular topics • Personally written journal articles or research articles from coursework may help to reflect deep knowledge about some topic eg. Parents as partners

18. What counts as evidence in a portfolio? • Assessment that you have devised for your class or individuals • Children’s folios, evaluations of lesson plans, summative and formative records, examples of your comments/marking of children’s work, standardised tests with your reflections.

19. What counts as evidence in a portfolio?Awards and certificates for: • Honours conferred • Memberships in professional organisations • Community recognitions • Volunteer recognition • Shows commitment and social responsibility

20. What counts as evidence? • Bulletin board design • Displays of student work • Shows learner centeredness - creative use of materials to interest and motivate students

21. What counts as evidence? • Philosophy of learning and teaching • Classroom management philosophy • Evidence of networking in the community (letters to parents, guest speakers, agencies)

22. What counts as evidence? • Computer programs you have utilised for both classroom and research • On-line search engines, internet sites • Shows ability to present material in interesting ways and motivate students

23. What counts as evidence? • evidence of variety of teaching strategies you regularly and confidently use • Copy of lesson plan • Photographs of you facilitating cooperative groupings • Your teacher’s evaluations of your competence with different teaching strategies

24. what counts as evidence? • self-evaluations of your own performance • evaluations that others have done on you performance

25. what counts as evidence? • planning documents for: • Teaching (lessons, unit, term, yearly) • organising trips, fieldwork or public demonstrations eg. liturgies, unit culminations, celebrations of work achieved, awards nights

26. what counts as evidence? • Floor plans or sketches– of areas you have been responsible for organising for your particular learners • shows how you understand learner’s needs and classroom management skills

27. what counts as evidence? • IEPs or individualised plans for particular learners • shows how you can adapt your plans for individual needs • knowledge of child development

28. what counts as evidence? • Interviews with parents, teachers and students • list of questions – perhaps from a consultation?

29. what counts as evidence? • Reflective journals • shows you are a reflective practitioner recognising that effective learning management is the way to continuous improvement of the profession

30. what counts as evidence? • ICTs incorporated into your teaching • Videos, CD, OHTs, computers, televisions, document cameras, imovies, iphoto, internet • shows media competencies

31. what counts as evidence? • Professional development plans • professional development activities • professional organisation and committees • professional reading list • research papers

32. Pictures and photographs showing your work with students what counts as evidence?

33. what counts as evidence? • References (in relation to teaching) • From associate teachers • Supervisors of your academic work • from any other work with students or any learners

34. what counts as evidence? • charts or posters for establishing classroom rules or procedures • evidences your ability to create a learning environment conducive to learning and positive interaction

35. what counts as evidence? • Daily, weekly, term or yearly calendars or schedules

36. what counts as evidence? • Student contracts • Other behaviour management tools such as positive reinforcement games • Incentive or reward schemes

37. what counts as evidence? • Teacher-made materials • hear dice shake • puppets, charts, transparencies, costumes, drama props, artwork, films, games, manipulatives, realia

38. what counts as evidence? • Your official transcript • Your fieldwork reports • Your completed unit plans

39. what counts as evidence? • Evidence that shows your passion and commitment to the learning profession • It need not include all of the items mentioned • Be selective, be honest, content and quality count, not volume!