Portfolios

What is a Portfolio?

• A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student's efforts, progress and achievements in school.  

• This collection includes student selection of work, the criteria for judging merit and evidence of student reflection.
  Paulson, F.L. Paulson, P.R. and Meyer, CA. (1991, February). "What Makes a Portfolio a Portfolio?" Educational Leadership, pp. 60-63.

What is the PURPOSE of doing Portfolios?

• To present as complete a portrait of the student as learner as possible.

• To have the student gain in self-awareness and self-esteem with an understanding of their own growth and achievement through the reflective process.

• Preparing for life.

• Building the necessary skills and abilities to become a productive citizen and fulfilled person.

What STRATEGIES are involved in the Portfolio Process?

• Need to focus on production.

• Need to accumulate a mass of material to choose from.

• Perception oriented students are called upon to judge or perceive quality.

• Reflection Centered:

  • What produced the quality?

  • What did I do?

  • How did I learn?

   

What is the RESULT of the Portfolio Process?

• Students take pride in and value their work.

Employment Skills Profile: What are employers looking for?

Student Led Conferences

What are the BENEFITS of student led conferencing?

For students:

• accountability for their own learning

• ownership for progress in learning

• increased commitment to school work because they present to parents

• increased interaction between child and parents

• independence

• self-assessment

• active participation in the evaluation process

• learning of real life skills

• empowerment

• fostering of organizational, communication and critical thinking skills
  

For parents

• assumption of a significant role to play in their child's learning

• active participation in their child's learning

• better understanding of that learning

• less intimidating environment

• forum for parents to have a voice

• more relaxed atmosphere

• better communication between home and school

• a forum for parents to talk to their child productively and positively
  

For Teachers:

• increased student participation

• increased parental involvement

• more effective use of interview time

• gain of partners to aid in reporting/planning for student growth

• freedom to take on an observing role 

What should I expect at a Student Led Conference?

• Your children will demonstrate their understanding of themselves as learners.

• They will share the skills they have mastered and those they have set goals to improve.  

• For each subject, they will show you a piece of work that they are satisfied with and tell you why they are satisfied with it sharing specifically what they did well.

• They will also show you a piece they would like to improve and explain what they did not accomplish and how they would do it differently to improve it.

• Your child will also share experiences of things they have participated in at school.

• They may share their accomplishments in extracurricular activities as well.

What's in a portfolio?

Grade Six Portfolio Contents

Posted & maintained by Janice Biebrich

Updated December 10/02