Portfolios, Journals and Exhibitions

1. Portfolios, Journals and Exhibitions By: Ashley Cooper Mary McCullough

2. TUG OF WAR

3. Essential Questions What are portfolios, journals and exhibitions? Can we use portfolios, journals and exhibitions to assess for, of, and as learning? Do portfolios, journals and exhibitions have universal value for students? How can teachers and students benefit from portfolios, journals and exhibitions? Are portfolios, journals and exhibitions a fair assessment for every learner?

4. Understandings Portfolios, Journals and Exhibitions are used as assessment of, for and as learning. Portfolios, Journals and Exhibitions benefit both students and teachers. Portfolios, Journals and Exhibitions provide opportunities for students to be accountable, creative and reflective. Portfolios, Journals and Exhibitions are meaningful, authentic, and purposeful.

5. Portfolios

6. A Portfolio is… “Purposeful collection of a student’s work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas.” “Portfolios allow for children to share their growth and learning in ways that express their individuality. They allow for teachers, students, parents, and others to focus in the process and not just achievement (product). The portfolio process empowers students to take responsibility for their learning and provides an authentic record of assessment.” (Ntuli, 2009)(Seitz, 2008)

7. Process- Must be Meaningful, Authentic and Planned • “The first and most significant act of the portfolio preparation is the decision of the purposes of the portfolio.” • “A high quality portfolio collection, with clear goals, is an intentional process of gathering items to help us (teachers, parents, students, administrators, other) understand a child and perhaps an entire class or grade level more completely and more in context.” • “If we can begin to consider that the primary purpose for the portfolio is to provide a vehicle for each child to grow metacognitive and to demonstrate competence in telling the story of learning, the door is open for the child to assume ownership. (Barrett, 2007)(Seitz, 2008)

8. Process- an Ongoing Cycle Single products, documentation, photographs, and projects collected over a period of time. “Students should also be encouraged and expected to select items they feel are important for their portfolio. This will help to give ownership to the student and also helps students to see and understand what they are learning.” “The reflection process is a time to revisit and review past work, to think about strength and weaknesses, and to set goals for future opportunities.” (Seitz, 2008) (Wolf, 1989)

9. Teacher REFLECTION & its Purpose Student “The process of developing the reflective commentary is an invaluable learning experience for students. As they revisit a body of work, re-examine it with the added perspective of time, and explore its relevance, students gain both the time and the means of actually seeing their learning processes in action.” “Portfolios support reflection that can help students understand their own learning and provide a richer picture of student work to document growth over time.” “The portfolio process has become a mechanism to guide our own individual process. As individuals within the literacy community, we use the content of the students portfolios and our own reflection to make changes in course content, learning experiences, lectures and presentations.” (King, 2008) (Barrett, 2007)

10. “Portfolios promote student self-evaluation, reflection and critical thinking which are difficult to measure and asses in standardized test. Portfolios also empower students to take responsibility for their learning in a authentic way, one that encourages and requires higher order thinking.” They encourage interaction with other students, teachers, parents and the larger community.” (Seitz, 2008)

11. Relationship of the Process (Seitz, 2008)

12. Assessment: Why Portfolios? • “The complete portfolio and each individual component can be used as a formative or summative assessment depending on when and how often items are collected and evaluated as well as the purpose.” • “Portfolio assessment is a powerful means of monitoring candidate’s knowledge and understandings. Portfolios can also support curricular goals, enhance student understanding through reflection and provide valuable information about a given curriculum. Portfolios provide an intersection between instruction and assessment and a means for students to value themselves as learners.” • “The portfolio process can support the power shift and help students become more self directed and more responsible for their own learning. Children and teachers work together to identify strengths, artifacts and other documentation and to better understand where students need to improve or continue to develop. Students become self-directed when they are supported and scaffold to produce the portfolio.” • “Portfolios allow us the opportunity for interactive assessment. To think about our goal and where the teacher and students are in relation to those goals. They provide a means to gain insight into how to improve as well as what has been done well.” (Seitz, 2008) (Meisels, 1995)

13. Portfolio Differences Between Assessment Types (Barrett, 2007)

14. What’s the Difference? • Artist Portfolio • Financial Portfolio • Student Portfolio A comprehensive picture with a vision for the future. Summative and only show the best of their work. Tells a story about the learner.

15. Peachtree Presbyterian Preschool Patty Randall- Director of Educational Practices Amanda Smith- Pre K teacher, 11 years Ilene Finley- 5-6 year olds, 13 years “Good teachers assess in their hearts and know their students deeply, portfolios enhances assessment and the relationships teachers have with their students.”- Patty Randall

16. Meet Ilene Finley Portfolio in Action

17. Real Portfolio from Peachtree Pres.

18. More Portfolio Entries

20. “Take a Look at Me” Portfolio – “20+ page book that engages individuals , teachers and/or family members as they identify their own and/or their child’s strengths, interests and preferences.” Includes open-ended questions, space for photos and artwork, and reflections for teachers, parents and students to reflect on students’ hopes and dreams http://strengthsbased.com/http://strengthsbased.com/Documents/khalilStevenson.pdf

21. What’s Hot Now?- Looking into the Future Electronic Portfolios (Barrett, 2007)(Goodson, 2007) “Electronic Portfolios are reflective tools that demonstrate growth over time and allow for asynchronous use for both student and faculty, take less physical storage space and minimize administrative processes that are usually overwhelming in a paper-based system.” “Electronic Portfolios provide students with the opportunity to display learning styles through a variety if presentation media and allow faculty to scan collections of work quickly for evidence of specific kinds of learning. These sources include words, sounds and images (either still or moving), creating opportunities for learning and the demonstration of learning.”

22. Portfolio Processes and value-added benefit of Technology (Barrett, 2007)

23. WHO IS THE AUDIENCE? “When planning portfolios, one must take into consideration the audience. The child should be the focal point, yet the teachers also play a key role as they help to guide the child through their learning. Because the portfolio process is an opportunity to celebrate the child, the parent is another key component to consider as an audience member. Throughout the process (the collection and sharing), student, teacher, parent relationships are strengthened.” (Seitz, 2008)

24. AUDIENCE (Seitz, 2008) “ It provides the opportunity to look at each child as an independent learner moving along at his or her own pace, assimilating and sharing information at various stages. In addition, the collection provides evidence of accountability of meeting standards, which may be of interest to administrators and even parents, especially in today’s times of accountability. As we begin to document how children meet standards, audience widens into the administrative realm, including policy at district, state, and national levels. Not only are we showing that children are meeting and understanding standards, but that teachers are teaching that which bas been set out for us to do by federal, state, and local governments. The portfolio can help students to understand and articulate their educational experiences and it helps children to see and make connections. In addition, it is a place to collect and keep work in one place and can help teach and child develop long-term goal and plans.”

25. Circle of Viewpoints

26. Journals, Journals, Journals

27. Purposes of Journals • Record experiences • Stimulate interest in a topic • Explore thinking • Personalize learning • Develop interpretations • See, Think, Wonder, predict, hypothesize • Engage the imagination • Ask questions • Activate background knowledge • Take on the role of another person • Share experiences with trusted readers (Tompkins, 2009)

28. Types of Journals • Dialogue Journals • Personal Journals • Reading Logs • Double-Entry Journals • Language Arts Notebooks • Learning Logs • Simulated Journals

29. What Are Dialogue Journals? • Weekly Journal writing (e-mail or notebook) between student and teacher or student and student (buddy journal) • Student chooses topic and controls the direction of the writing • Writing Topics: interests, concerns, or book student is reading • Student writes 10-15 minutes for each journal response at beg. middle or end of class. • Teacher responds to students’ dialogue journals outside of class • Journal Entries have date, greeting, body of writing and closing (Grande, 2008) (Regan, 2003) ( Peyton, 1997) (Tompkins, 2009) • Teacher modifies journal entry based on grade level and ability level Goal: Teacher introduces topics, asks the student questions, and student responds; teacher responds to student’s questions • Student freely expresses thoughts, ideas, opinions without being judged • Teacher is participator NOT a judge • Journal entries are NOT graded • Teacher includes positive reinforcements (“warm fuzzies”, stickers, pencils) to motivate students