This week we were formally introduced to the topic of creating a professional portfolio of our work throughout this cohort. There are different types of portfolios, determined by the purpose or the message that is being conveyed. We reviewed professional portfolios that are posted online, which was helpful in visualizing different interpretations of an electronic professional portfolio. A resource I would like to come back to in the future is the Carnegie Collection of e-portfolios for the variety of educators represented and the structure of the portfolios.
I think my portfolio for this masters program will serve a few purposes; to reflect on the process, to provide examples of the work I've created and to show that I can identify how it all connects to the standards. While coming up with examples of work and reflecting on the process should be pretty natural, I am nervous about connecting it all to the standards. I believe that once I get started and know I'm on the right track, I will be fine...I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed in the moment! I think once I develop the structure and list the categories to be included, finding examples of work represent the topics should fall into place.
I too feel overwhelmed! :) I made a list of all thie things we have to do, by when, etc. That seemed to help me get the big picture and I think I can just get chopping away at the list now.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to doing this portfolio as well. I know many times in a class I come up with a great idea and then I forget a few weeks or classes later what it was. This will be a great way to collect all my ideas in one place to reference and use in my classroom. I worry about choosing which standards I like best. I am not sure where I want to take things in the future. Administrative? College teacher? I want to consider this when picking my standards.
Part of feeling overwhelmed is not knowing where you want to end up. I like Crystal's idea of making the list of tasks, but you should also think about the audience you want for the portfolio. If you are thinking of using it to help land a job, then think of the jobs you want and use those standards. If you want to use it more for your existing position, then use the standards that are in place at your school. It is just a matter of deciding the purpose you want to achieve.
ReplyDeleteEither way the old saying still applies: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Start small and work steadily and you will get there.
After class last week I felt overwhelmed as well, though after looking at some portfolio examples and having an idea of what we need to do, I am feeling more comfortable. We all know we have plenty to chose from to put in our portfolios. Just to look back on all the work we have done up to this point is pretty amazing. I actually can't believe how much we have done, because spread over time, it didn't seem so bad. I do, like you, worry about connecting the standards. But that again, I think once I get into doing that, it will make sense and won't be too bad.
ReplyDeleteSo it seems we all are or were feeling overwhelmed. You'd think I'd be getting better at this with portfolios created for my undergrad/teacher certification and my PDP. However, it's still something that causes me stress every time I have to do it. The standards and the rationale are the part that cause me the most stress. There are plenty of examples out there to look at and I found that helpful. I'm glad this was an assignment. It's also good to know you're not alone. Once it's done, it will be nice to look at all we've done and learned during the past year and a half.
ReplyDelete