PORTFOLIO KEEPER -
Anyone preparing a portfolio is a portfolio keeper.
The portfolio keeper-
 Collects: gathers samples of their literacies
Selects: decides what will represent them as literate people
Reflects: writes and talks about their decisions
Projects: sets personal literacy goals for reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking
(from Portfolio Portraits ed. by Donald Graves and Bonnie Sunstein)
It is very important for teachers to become Portfolio Keepers with their students.
PORTFOLIO -
A personal writing portfolio is a collection of writings selected by the portfolio keeper in accordance to the criteria chosen. A teacher may guide the selections by requiring certain items to be included.
Portfolios allow students to see themselves as writers, set goals, and reflect on their abilities. Students may keep portfolios in any subject area. For best results portfolios should be student-centered allowing students to make choices and assist in setting criteria. This creates a sense of ownership. They become active participants in the process of preparing the portfolio and evaluating it.
Portfolios are far more powerful than tests, because they highlight differences. Tests measure sameness. Our criteria for portfolios is that they show a picture of the portfolio keeper as a literate person.
ARTIFACTS -
A dictionary definition tells us that an artifact is "any object made by human work or skill." When we hear this word we conjure up images of digging for buried treasures long forgotten. We call our portfolio items by this name, because writing is hard. We have to become archaeologists of writing, "digging deep" to come up with our best work.
Artifacts may include examples of our best work on assignments: poems, essays, letters, projects. Other items may be included as long as they meet the criteria: a favorite quote, poem, or story, a list of our favorite books or the photo of a favorite author, a picture of someone significant to our writing inspiration or progress. A Little League certificate may accompany a picture of the team and a poem about catching a fly ball or a story about a special game. Family treasures like a letter or a poem from grandma may reveal the very roots of our literacy.
A favorite artifact is something written in early elementary grades. Students love to look back and see the progress they have made. In doing so they often discover how far they have yet to travel in their journey of literacy.
A rubric will be formed by the class with stress on variety. Sixth grade work should be revised and polished by the portfolio keeper. Any artifact from previous grades is NOT to be re-written or revised. The purpose of including these artifacts are to show improvement.
WINDOWS -
Just as the windows on a house allow us to see inside, the windows on our portfolio allow the reader "to see inside" of our thinking. On each artifact we include windows (post-it notes) that allow the readers of our portfolios to understand why we included that artifact. Windows nail down the learning. Sometimes the window can be more important than the artifact itself. Student choices and comments reveal a great deal about the portfolio keeper's learning.
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| Last updated 2013/04/25 11:46:59 EDT | Hits 1869 |
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