How can we use portfolios to enhance our teaching practice?
Improving PBL Series
EP1: What are the steps to becoming an impactful PBL educator?
EP2: How can we use portfolios to enhance our teaching practice?
EP3: How can we elevate our PBL unit with community partners?
EP4: How can we create a memorable experience via project-based learning?
EP5: How can we teach standards and implement project-based learning?
EP6: What role does reflection play in the PBL process?
EP7: How can we create a dynamic group culture during project-based learning?
EP8: How can students support a cause via project-based learning?
EP9: How can we promote STEM education via project-based learning?
EP10: How can we get students excited about the project-based learning topic?
EP11: What type of creative artifacts/public products can students create via project-based learning?
EP12: How can we write a project-based learning unit?
EP13: How can we write a compelling scenario for a PBL unit?
Every year I explore a new professional learning project. I find something that I'm interested in learning about at a deeper level. Then I spend a year enhancing my knowledge about that topic.
Some of my past explorations included virtual coaching, program design, curriculum writing, designing enrichment programming, and of course, project-based learning. Last year, my focus was learning in public, which resulted in a podcast. I've completed many more learning projects over the last decade. However, project-based learning has been the most prolonged exploration, especially since it's also the topic of my doctoral capstone.
This school year, I wanted to explore using portfolios to improve my practice. I'm referring to exploring portfolios at the student level, the teacher level, and then as a project-based learning teacher coach. If you are interested in documenting your progress, this article will outline what you should consider as you create a teacher portfolio.
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When I was in business school during my undergraduate years, we were encouraged to create a portfolio to showcase our skills, career goals, and work samples to impress an employer for a job. I don't recall utilizing portfolios as a learning tool, but I focused on not being unemployed after graduation. Therefore, I may have missed the professor's instruction about using portfolios for professional growth. There are different types of portfolios, and your desired goal should determine the format you choose.
Types of portfolios
Portfolios typically include a purposeful collection of work products that exhibit your progress and achievement. Portfolios can serve different functions. For example, there are showcase or presentation portfolios, learning portfolios, assessment portfolios, or you can have a hybrid format as well. The portfolio I created in college is an example of a showcase or presentation portfolio because the intention was to collect my best work to share with potential employers. Generally, the presenter decides what to share with an audience.
The idea behind a learning portfolio is to record the learning process. Therefore, the goal is not solely to share a collection of exemplary work. Instead, you want to share a progression of learning. As a result, your work products could include drafts or unpolished artifacts. This type of portfolio also consists of a self-reflection component, which would focus on successes and challenges. Assessment portfolios are often used to record what someone has learned or mastered. The reflection process includes students sharing how the artifacts align with a particular goal, concept, or content.
Yes, it's possible to combine two types of portfolios depending on your intention. While the terminology or names of each type of portfolio may vary, the most crucial part is that you understand the various purposes for different kinds of portfolios. Portfolios can be physical or digital, which means there are numerous ways to display information (publicly or privately). They can be a great way to document your professional growth. This article will examine how teachers can utilize portfolios to enhance their professional growth.
Let's discuss the purpose and components of a teaching portfolio. A teaching portfolio consists of documentation or a collection of information about a teacher's practice. Teachers may develop a portfolio for various reasons, such as demonstrating their excellence in teaching, receiving national recognition, earning an advanced certification, or applying for a new role. I propose to create a teaching portfolio to document your journey as a project-based educator to show your development over time. Crafting a portfolio allows you to reflect on previous project-based learning experiences to analyze your success and challenges with implementing the instructional methodology in your classroom.
Components of a teaching portfolio
If you search online for ideas about what to include in a teaching portfolio, you will find tons of ideas, but don't feel pressured to do it all. Remember, the purpose is to use the portfolio as a tool for professional growth. Every year, the Impactful PBL Network members grow significantly as project-based educators. Some teachers enter our professional learning program with no experience implementing project-based learning and, by the end of the school year, facilitating two or three PBL unit plans. It's sometimes difficult for teachers to recognize their growth because focusing on students' personal and academic growth is more common.
This school year, I'm focusing on guiding teachers through developing a portfolio to document their journey as project-based educators. I created a loose structure as guidance for developing a teaching portfolio focused on project-based learning. The portfolio has three main sections, a background section, a teaching artifacts section, and a reflection section.
Section 1: The background
In the background section, teachers will share their education biography and purpose or desire for becoming project-based educators. This section will also encourage teachers to consider how engaging in the Impactful PBL Network programming connects to their vision and contributes to their professional development. Teachers will articulate what quality project-based education looks, sounds, and feels like in their classroom. This section will also include their individual growth or professional learning goal for the year related to project-based learning.
Section 2: Teaching artifacts
The next section will include teaching artifacts such as their project-based learning unit plan and example daily lessons. Teachers will also collect sample student work such as videos, pictures of physical products, links to digital work, student reflections, etc. For each artifact in this section, the teachers will share a brief statement to provide the document's context or explanation of the media they chose to exhibit.
Section 3: Teacher reflection
Finally, the portfolio will promote teacher reflection. Teachers must reflect on their instructional practices and the impact that PBL had on their students and themselves. In this section, teachers will reflect on the following questions.
What is your plan for continuous growth as a project-based educator?
What went well during the project-based learning experience?
What would you change about the experience?
What did you learn during the project-based learning experience (ex: about the content, your students, yourself, or the process itself)?
My portfolio
This year, I want to explore creating a portfolio to document my journey as a project-based learning coach. Every year, I have the pleasure of collaborating with hundreds of teachers implementing PBL in their classrooms. Potential school or district partners often ask for examples of PBL initiatives that I helped launch. Basically, they are curious to see what teachers were able to achieve due to receiving support from me and access to the Impactful PBL Network.
Also, I would like to create an effective method to organize teachers' and students' work products to reflect and improve my skills as a teacher leader. Therefore, creating a portfolio would hold me accountable for engaging in meaningful reflection. The plan is to loosely follow the same structure shared in this article and showcase my portfolio on this website. For example, the project snapshots page will include examples of projects that teachers facilitated with their students. Stay tuned for updates.
Take action:
Are you interested in creating a teacher portfolio to document your journey as a project-based educator? If this is your first time exploring teaching portfolios, keep it simple. The process should not be stressful, as it should celebrate growth. Avoid overcomplicating the process to prevent feeling overwhelmed when creating your portfolio. Begin the process by choosing one component of the teaching portfolio that you can make this week.