portfolios

Why the Portfolio?

To become a licensed teacher in Minnesota, you must demonstrate your achievement of the 10 MN Standards of Effective Practice for Teachers (see below).  The portfolio, in addition to your coursework and clinical experiences, is one piece of evidence the Department of Education uses to verify that you have met the standards. Your Cooperating Teacher and College Supervisor, during their observations and work with you, also assess your student teaching experience with respect to these standards.  Your portfolio helps to document how you have met each of these standards.

What is the purpose of this Standards Portfolio?

The portfolio you complete for EDU 399 must provide evidence that you have met the MN Standards of Effective Practice for Teachers.  These 10 standards and their indicators (the ‘lettered' statements following each standard) are linked on our syllabus to assist you in determining evidence and artifacts that can support your achievement of the Standard. Additional ideas for evidence relating to the standards follow each standard and its indicators.

Is the Standards Portfolio the same as a portfolio you might use in an interview for a teaching position?

Probably not, but there certainly will be overlap.  The primary purpose of the portfolio you complete for EDU 399 is to convince the reader that you have met the 10 MN Standards of Effective Practice.  Although much of what you complete for your EDU 399 portfolio may be appropriate for an interview portfolio, your interview portfolio will probably include other information that might be useful in describing your qualifications, listing your accomplishments, identifying your interests, and characterizing your teaching to a prospective employer.

How should you organize the Standards Portfolio?

It is important to organize your portfolio in a way that makes it easy for the reader to see your evidence for each of the standards.  Therefore, the Department asks that you actually have a section for each standard. However, you may reference entries that are located outside the given section. For example, a given artifact may contain evidence for more than one standard (but not for more than one indicator within a given standard); you do not need to submit multiple copies of the artifact.  But you must cross-reference the standard to the artifact in a way that will tell the reader exactly where in your portfolio the artifact is located and that will make it very easy for the reader to find said evidence in that artifact. Use of plastic “sleeves” is optional.

What must you include in the Standards Portfolio?

COVER SHEET - with first submission, include a cover sheet - see last page of this document.

TITLE PAGE – Be sure to include your name, Department of Education, Gustavus Adolphus College, licensure program including your teaching major/concentration, and your date of program completion.

1.    TABLE OF CONTENTS (for final submission)

Indicate in the Table of Contents each of the following and where items B through H can be found in your portfolio.  Items B through H are not stand-alone items; they are items you have used as evidence for one or more of the 10 standards.  For example, items D, E, and F might be found in your evidence for Standard 3, item G might be found as evidence for Standard 4 (Indicator L); and item H will likely appear as evidence for an indicator in Standard 8. Items B and C could appear as evidence for any number of standards.

1. Sections for the 10 standards.  Use tabs and/or page numbers to help the reader locate a given standard and indicator.
2. Unit Plan - identify where one can be found.
3. Lesson Plan - identify where one can be found.
4. Evidence of instructional adaptations you have designed and/or used for students with disabilities.  Identify the standard and indicator where this can be found.
5. Evidence of instructional adaptations you have designed and/or used for students who are English language learners. Identify the standard and indicator where this can be found.
6. Evidence of how your teaching has been influenced by your knowledge and understanding of students from diverse cultures/races.  See Standard 3 for ideas. Identify the standard and indicator where this can be found.
7. Evidence of your instructional use of technology. Identify the standard and indicator where this can be found.
8. Copy of your Student Work Sample/Assessment Project. Identify the standard and indicator where this can be found.

2.     REQUIRED FOR EACH STANDARD:

1.  STANDARD. A statement of the standard and all indicators should begin each section.
2. For each of the 3 indicators you have selected:

1.   INDICATOR:  State the letter and the language of the specific indicator.

2.  ARTIFACT DESCRIPTION

a) Identify by name the artifact you have included in support of your evidence for this particular indicator. If the artifact is located outside the standard's section, tell exactly where the artifact can be found. 

b) Very briefly, explain your artifact and identify specifically what is contained in the entry that relates to the standard's indicator. You should also use highlighting and/or margin notes on the artifact itself to identify the relevant pieces of the artifact. Be very explicit and direct when indicating what, specifically, in the artifact supports your evidence for the standard and indicator.  The reader is not going to search for the specifics; you need to point out the relevant specifics in the artifact.

3. RATIONALE: Construct your evidence for this indicator (2-3 paragraphs) Explain your rationale for including this artifact. Make your case as to why this artifact, and what it represents, constitutes evidence in support of the indicator you have selected.  For example, if you are using an artifact in support of Standard 4, Indicator (I), it is not sufficient to simply state that “this entry shows that I monitor and adjust strategies in response to learner feedback.”  You need to explain how you do it and why this important. Write in ‘first person' and use personal examples in support of your case.

3. REFLECTION on Total Standard: (approximately one page).  Consider the entire standard and all of its indicators.  This is not a restatement of what you have written for each of the 3 indicators. Instead, consider the following:

a) How does this standard relate to your personal beliefs about teaching and learning?

b) Connect your beliefs about teaching, your content knowledge, and your classroom practices to this standard?

c) What have you learned from your classroom experiences that pertain to this standard? How have these experiences impacted your teaching and your beliefs about teaching/learning?

d) What connections have you made between this standard as a whole and the Education Department's idea of “Principled Practice” in the conceptual framework?

e) Write in ‘first person'.  Include personal examples.

The following items must be included among the evidence you have submitted for the 10 standards. Remember to indicate in your table of contents where each can be found.

 

a) One unit plan must be included somewhere within your portfolio.  Ideally, this will be a unit plan you prepared and taught during student teaching.  However, if your placement did not permit you to use a unit plan of your own, you can submit one that you have created for another course or clinical experience. 

b) At least one complete lesson plan from your student teaching must also be included in your portfolio. 

c) Adaptation of instruction for students with disabilities,

d) Adaptation of instruction for students who are English Language Learners

e) Evidence of how your teaching has been influenced by your knowledge and understanding of students from diverse cultures/races.  See Standard 3 for ideas.

f)  Instructional use of technology.

g) Copy of your Student Work Sample/Assessment Project.  This is the project you will complete with John Clementson's instruction.

Should you include complete text documents, other than the unit plan, the lesson plan, and the Student Work Sample/Assessment Project?

There may be an occasion where you feel it is important to include a complete text document. However, if you do, it is your responsibility to identify the specifics in the document that support the standard and indicator.  Use highlighting and/or margin notes on the artifact to help identify these specifics.  Your “Artifact Description” and “Rationale” (see above) should also refer to and/or summarize the relevant specifics in the document. 

Should you include photographs?

Only if what is pictured provides evidence for the particular standard and indicator.  Again, in your “Artifact Description” and “Rationale,” you would need to make a case for using this photo as evidence.

What are the sources of evidence you can use?

You can draw upon all your experiences and coursework in teacher education; however, the most compelling evidence will be from your student teaching experience because it is your most recent clinical work, and it should reflect your best evidence for the Standards.  Nonetheless, some of your work from courses and from your clinical experiences prior to student teaching may also provide relevant evidence.  For some Standards, it may be appropriate to include a supervisor's or cooperating teacher's written comments about your teaching, but only if the identified comments specifically address the particular standard and indicator. As is true for all artifacts, you need to explain how this entry constitutes evidence and reflect on it in your “Rationale.”

For additional ideas, read carefully the Standards' indicators and the listings of other possible artifacts you can use to support your evidence for the Standards.  Remember, this is not a scrapbook of memories; you will need to choose very carefully the items that provide the best evidence of your professional qualifications with respect to the Standards and the indicators you have chosen.  At Seminar #2, you will have an opportunity to share your ideas for the portfolio with other student teachers.

Samples of previously submitted indicators, rationales, and reflections:

Sample One - Standard 5

Sample Two - Standard 7

Sample portfolios are also available for your examination in the Education Department's Curriculum Lab (Mattson 101)

DEADLINES: These deadlines have been established with the following considerations:

• You will submit one standard of your choosing at Seminar #2.  A faculty member will assess your submission and provide you with evaluative feedback as soon as possible.
• The “portfolio in a weekend” won't work.  You need to distribute the task over the course of the semester.  Three additional standards will be due at Seminar #3, and 3 more at Seminar #4.
• Faculty need time to read and assess your portfolios so you can graduate on time.  Hence, the deadline for the final 3 standards is on December 5, 2005.
•  

SEPTEMBER 30: One Complete Standard (including Cover Sheet - see last page)

Choose one of the 10 standards to complete and submit to Al at Seminar #2.  Choose a standard for which you are confident in your evidence, rationales, and reflection.  Submit it as a finished product.  A faculty member will assess your evidence, rationales, and reflection for this standard, and provide you electronic feedback.  Your submission will be assessed according to the scoring rubric.

OCTOBER 28: Three (3) Additional Standards, along with revisions to first

Choose three additional standards to complete and submit to your reader no later than Seminar #2. The same faculty member will review these standards and reply electronically.

NOVEMBER 18:  Three (3) Additional Standards, along with revisions to previous 3

Choose three additional standards to complete and submit to your reader no later than Seminar #3. The same faculty member will respond electronically.

DECEMBER 5: Final Three (3) Standards, along with revisions to previous standards

As faculty need time to review your standards prior to the final seminar, this deadline does not coincide with the last Seminar date.  Hence, you will need to plan ahead and find a way to deliver or have someone else deliver these final standards to your reader.

 

DECEMBER 16: Final revisions due to your faculty reader.

A FINAL NOTE:  At first, the portfolio task may seem overwhelming; and it will be if you do not lay out a systematic plan for completing it. Therefore, it is important to begin work on it immediately.  Previous student teachers have this advice for you:

a)   Start immediately.

b)   Make good use of the time you have at the beginning of student teaching placement.  Identify what artifacts and particular indicators you plan to use in your portfolio.

c)    Set for yourself a goal to complete one standard every week.

d)    Be a model of organization. Keep everything related to your planning, preparation, and teaching.  Start by organizing materials from courses and experiences prior to student teaching.

Remember, you have either already created your artifacts in previous program experiences or you will be creating them for your student teaching experience. For your first standard, you may want to choose one for which you believe you already have some evidence from previous experiences in your teacher education program.  If you complete your first standard prior to Seminar #2, you could submit it early to Al, thereby increasing your chances of getting early feedback from your reader.  Study the standards and their indicators now (as soon as you read this); list the evidence you would like to use for each standard; link the evidence to a particular indicator for that standard; make a plan for when you will complete each piece of evidence, rationale, and reflection.  Relate this plan to your teaching schedule.

 

You are reminded to write in “first person.”  Your “voice” should reveal to the reader your beliefs, practices, experiences, passions, feelings, etc.  The portfolio experience will help you 1) clarify your beliefs about students, learning, and teaching, 2) identify how you practice those beliefs, and 3) explain those beliefs and practices to others (including prospective employers).