Organizing a Professional Portfolio

Organization and planning are as necessary for teaching portfolios as for creating masterpiece artwork. But like artists, teachers are free to organize artifacts according to their creative instincts. (Burke, Fogarty and Belgrad, 1994) The following table lists possible ways to organize artifacts into a teaching portfolio.

I. Background Information

Resume

Teacher Background

Class description: time, grade, and content.

Written examinations: National Teacher's Exam, State Licensure tests.

A personal statement of teaching philosophy and goals.

This site will help you write your own philosophy of teaching: http://ftad.osu.edu/portfolio/philosophy/Philosophy.html

Documentation of effort to improve one's teaching: seminars, programs, etc.

Implemented lesson plans, handouts, and notes.

Graded student's work such as tests, quizzes, and class projects.

Video/Audio tape of class lessons.

Colleague observation records.

Written reflections on teaching.

photographs of bulletin boards, chalkboards, or projects.

Educational Philosophy and Teaching Goals

II. Teaching Artifacts and Reflections

Documentation of an Extended Teaching Activity

Overview of Unit Goals and Instructional plan

List of Resources Used in Unit

Two Consecutive Lesson Plans

Videotape of Teaching

Student Work Samples

Evaluation of Student Work

Reflective Commentary by the Teacher

Additional Units/Lessons/Student Work as Appropriate

III. Professional Information

List of Professional Activities

Letters of Recommendation

Formal Evaluations

(Wolf, 1996)
(Doolittle, 1994)

Campbell, Cignetti, Melenyzer, Nettles, and Wyman (1997) suggest organizing your portfolio around a set of goals. They add that many professional organizations are setting goals for teachers of the twenty-first century. These organizations include state departments of education, professional societies, and university schools of education. One such organization is the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC). These standards are general and applicable for all teachers, all disciplines, and all grade levels. Campbell et al. (1997) suggest organizing the artifacts in your teaching portfolio around the INTASC standards will greatly facilitate your growth and achievement. Remember that you are providing evidence of who you are as a teacher by how you meet the standards.

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