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Introduction to Portfolios

Introduction to Portfolios

Portfolios are very popular these days. Even in a time when calls for higher standards and tougher testing are louder than ever, many schools are doing portfolios – or at least talking about doing them. So what are portfolios? Aren't they for students who want to go to art school? Don't they have something to do with stocks? And besides, if all you need are good grades and test scores to get into college, why even bother?

Grades:

Designing and Implementing a Portfolio Program

Student holding a portfolio

Designing and Implementing a Portfolio Program

The following set of questions is designed to help teachers and administrators at any level consider all the issues and possibilities in the course of designing and implementing a portfolio program. They are currently framed slightly more in the context of creating a portfolio for graduation or grade promotion, but can just as easily be adapted to the individual classroom or project level. Be aware that every question does not need to be answered in order to design a successful portfolio.

Grades:

Professional Portfolios for Teachers

Professional Portfolios for Teachers

What is a professional teaching portfolio?

Peter Doolittle (1994) defines a teacher portfolio as a collection of work produced by a teacher. Just as an artist uses a portfolio of collected works to illustrate his or her talents, a teacher portfolio is designed to demonstrate the teacher's talents. Kenneth Wolf (2000) defines a teaching portfolio as a collection of information about a teacher's practice, but warns a portfolio can easily take on the form of a scrapbook.

Grades:

Pre-K

Pre-K

Preparing a Portfolio for an Interview

Preparing a Portfolio for an Interview

Avoid This Scenario

Imagine for a moment that you have arrived at an interview for your first teaching position. You are on time, professionally dressed, and armed with a well-developed portfolio. Your interviewer invites you to sit down and begins to ask a barrage of questions. Your mind goes blank; you do not know how to respond to most of the questions. After stammering through them as best you can, you realize that no one has asked to look at your portfolio. Before leaving, you ask the interviewer if he would like to see it.

Grades:

Pre-K

Pre-K

Photographing an Art Portfolio

Submitted by fenadminuser on Thu, 04/26/2001 - 16:04

Objectives

  • Students will prepare photographic slides of their portfolios.

Materials

  • 35mm single lens reflex camera
  • Tripod
  • Two photo flood lights with 3200 K bulbs
  • Cable release
  • 18 percent gray card (may be purchased at aphotography store)
  • Ektachrome 160 ISO film for tungsten lighting
  • Plastic slide sleeves
  • A copy stand may be used for photographingsmall work
  • Neutral cloth as a background forthree-dimensional objects

Procedures

To photograph the artwork, it is important to have even lighting without reflections. The following procedureis recommended.

  1. Turn off overhead lights and work well away from a window.
  2. Pin the work on a wall with a neutral background.
  3. Place the lights level with the center of the artwork and at a 45 degree angle slightly in front of thecamera.
  4. Place the camera on a tripod and use a cable release to avoid camera shake. Look through theview finder to make sure there is no glare (hot spot) on the artwork.
  5. Have someone hold an 18 percent gray card directly in front of the artwork, and take the camera up to it.
  6. Get close enough so you see only the gray card, and take a reading for proper exposure on it.
  7. Makesure you don't block out the light while doing this. Trust the gray card! Cameras will "see" too muchor too little light and will compensate by closing down on white backgrounds and opening up on darkones.
  8. If you don't move the lights, it is possible to take photos of a number of different works of artwithout changing exposure.
  9. To be absolutely certain you have photos with "true" color, you maywish to bracket by taking readings with the gray card, then overexposing one or two stops andunderexposing one or two stops.
  10. Back up and take the picture according to the exposure reading taken on the gray card.
  11. Rarely does awork of art have the exact proportions of the camera. You may either take only a portion of theartwork and fill the view finder, or you may tape the slide later (underneath the slide mount) withsilver tape available from a photo supply store.
  12. Students may wish to take five shots of each work ofart if they are sending out a number of slide sleeves for admission to college.
  13. Slides of artwork may be taken outside in shaded daylight at midday (to assure a full spectrum ofwhite light) with outdoor slide film, but the results may be less reliable. If doing this, bracket theexposures to get one that is perfect. (Take one slide at a perfect reading, then overexpose one slide andunderexpose another slide to try to get a good result.)
  14. After the slides are developed, select the best 12 to 20 and put them in slide sleeves. Someschools say to use absolutely no tape on slides, as it makes it difficult to view them if they shouldstick in a slide tray.
  15. Put a mark or red dot on the lower left-hand corner.
  16. Number and label them asfollows: Name, date when work was done, medium, size, title of artwork.
  17. Include a separate sheetwith numbers corresponding to the slides. After each number on the list give the artwork's size andmedium.

Excerpted from A Survival Kit for the Secondary School Art Teacher.

More on Portfolios

Brief Descriptions
Find step-by-step procedures for photographing an art portfolio. Students can use slides of their art work for Advanced Placement exams and college applications, among other uses.
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Tips for After the Interview

Tips for After the Interview

Take the Next Steps

Going to an interview is like running a marathon; the best part is when it's over. But your sense of relief and satisfaction will be enhanced if you plan to do a few things. First, you need to make a decision about leaving your portfolio with your interviewer. Then, regardless of what you do with the portfolio, you need to be sure to leave your "Portfolio at a Glance" brochure. Finally, after you leave, you need to write a follow-up letter. Let's take a look at each of these.

Grades:

Pre-K

Pre-K

Tips on Interviewing for a Job

Tips on Interviewing for a Job

The Interview

Once you have secured an interview, there are several things that you can do to make it as successful as possible:

  1. Make your portfolio available for previewing.

  2. Pay attention to the impression you give to everyone you meet.

  3. Introduce your portfolio.

  4. Listen for probes and use them as opportunities to provide documentation to your answers.

  5. Emphasize your practical experiences.

  6. Make all of your responses positive ones.

Grades:

Pre-K

Pre-K

Barbara Callaghan

Barbara Callaghan

After teaching in California, for nearly ten years, Barbara Callaghan moved to New Hampshire in 1985 andbecame a school principal. Although she enjoyed the excitement of leading a school, after tenyears she decided to get back into the trenches. She thought she was just taking a year's leave to get firsthand experience with some of the newideas out there -- like multisensory teaching, constructivism, portfolios, and inclusion. Whenthe year was over, however, she knew that she didn't want to leave the classroom again.