Teacher-Constructed Teaching Portfolios: Learning

Through Assessment

Karen E. Johnson

Penn State University

March 2008

Purposes

Evidence ArtifactsReproductionsAttestations Productions

Goal statements

Reflection statements

CaptionsAssessment Criteria

Critical Components of Portfolio Design

Purposes

Evidence

Assessment

Critical Components of Portfolio Design

– are established to determine what the portfolio will be used to measure

– is compiled so that students can show that they have successfully met the purposes

– criteria is established to evaluate the extent to which the evidence meets the purposes

– are established to determine what the portfolio will be used to measure

Purposes

Critical Components of Portfolio Design

MA Program Portfolio Teaching English as a Second Language

Purposes:

1# understand their own beliefs and knowledge about language learning and language teaching and become aware of the impact of such knowledge and beliefs on their classroom practices,

2# recognize the highly situated and interpretative processes involved in language teaching and be able to reflect on, critically analyze, and evaluate their own teaching practices,

3# become sensitive to the complex social, cultural, political, and institutional factors that affect language teaching and students' language learning,

4# come to recognize students' strengths and development as learners and language learners,

7# participate in professional collaborations with other teachers as they learn about language teachers, language teaching, and language learning.

5# understand subject matter content from an instructional perspective and learn to anticipate areas that may require additional instructional support,

6# use their knowledge of theory to inform their instructional practices,

MA Program Portfolio Teaching English as a Second Language

Evidence – is compiled so that students can show

that they have successfully met the purposes Artifacts - documents produced as part of the normal requirements of the course or teacher education program.

Critical Components of Portfolio Design

Artifact Examples - documents produced as part of the normal requirements of the course or teacher education program

reaction papers - written in response to course readings

language learning/language teaching autobiography

teaching journal

classroom observations

videotaped lesson - written analysis /stimulus recall comments

lesson plans - instructional unit – course development project

in-class presentations/group presentations

exams

community/classroom- based research project

literature review

Evidence – is compiled so that students can show that

they have successfully met the purposes

documents that capture typical events that occur outside of the requirements of the course or teacher education program.

Reproductions -

documents produced as part of the normal requirements of the course or teacher education program.

Artifacts -

Reproduction Examples - documents that capture typical events that occur outside of the requirements of the course or teacher education program

documents used in teaching assignment (handouts, exams, projects, in-class activities)

excerpts from personal journals

interviews with students

discussions with fellow teacher learners or mentor teachers

student work - oral/written

academic/social events attended

feedback given to students- formal/informal

Evidence – is compiled so that students can show that they have successfully met the purposes

documents that capture typical events that occur outside of the requirements of the course or teacher education program.

Reproductions -

documents produced as part of the normal requirements of the course or teacher education program

Artifacts -

Attestations - documents about the work of the teacher learner prepared by someone else

samples of student work

Attestation Examples - documents about the work of the teacher learner prepared by someone else

formal/informal teaching evaluation written by the supervisor or mentor teacher

student evaluations - formal/informal

peer observations - written summary

cards, notes, email messages, letters from students

Captions - statement or label attached to each document that describes what it is, why it is evidence, and what it is evidence of

Goal Statement - a personal description of the focus of the portfolio.

Reflection Statement - a summary of the documents in the portfolio and a description of how these documents capture and portray particular purposes.

Productions documents prepared especially for the portfolio.

Purposes

Evidence ArtifactsReproductionsAttestations Productions

Goal statements

Reflection statements

CaptionsAssessment Criteria

Critical Components of Portfolio Design

What am I doing? (Goal Statement)

I wanted to see the difference in me from when I began this program until now.

I wanted to reminisce over all the experiences I’ve had (academic, professional AND social).

I wanted to see how I’ve changed as a teacher.

I wanted proof for myself of all the theories I’ve explored.

I wanted CONCRETE evidence of why I have not slept more than 6 hours/night in 4 months.

I wanted to preserve all of my, my students’ and colleagues’ efforts.AND … I wanted to have something to show off.

What is what? - Reflection Statement

Learning about Me

Learning about Language

Learning about Teaching

Being a Teacher

Preparing for the Future

Learning About Me

Included in this section are things I have done this semester that have really helped me to understand who I was before this program and who I am now.

Learning to Teach History - Caption

“This was one of the most difficult, yet most fulfillingpapers I have ever had to write. Before I wrote this, I never thought about the fact that “I teach from somewhere” - that the core of who I am as a teacher and what I want to do with my students, comes from the totality of my personal and professional experiences as a human being. This paper explains a lot about how I became who I am and how I have been shaped by all that is around me.”

#1- understand beliefs about 2LL & 2LT

#2- recognize the situated & interpretative nature of 2LT

#3- sensitive to the complex social, cultural, political, institutional factors that affect 2LL & 2LT

Purposes:

Learning About Language

This section includes somereaction papers, activities about language and language acquisition, and examples of learning how to apply theory to the classroom.

Take Home Exam - Caption

“I hate exams! I have always hated exam! But I realized that exams can help me learn, especially in this course since I never would have memorized the phonetic alphabet if I wasn’t going to be tested on it. Also, this exam forced me to explain myself with regard to my instruction. When I’m teaching oral communication skills I need to be able to articulate to my students why the sound system of the language works the way it does. Without this course, and without this exam, and in particular, without my study group, where we worked until the wee hours of the morning, talking about how the sounds system works and how we would explain it to our students, I would never be able to do this on my own.”

#5 - understand subject matter content from an instructional perspective

#6 - use knowledge of theory to inform their instructional practices

#7 - participate in professional collaborations with other teachers

Purposes:

Learning About

Teaching

This section includes activities I did that helped me learn about teaching from the outside in.

Observation - Caption

“Observing two different teachers teach the same students and the same content really made me see how varied and different people’s teaching styles can be. Clearly, these teachers “teach from somewhere” and that somewhere is very, very different. Despite these glaring differences, it was shocking to see how constrained these teachers were - they were forced to teach to the textbook and to the tests, tests written by their supervisors, not them. These observations also served as a window into what can happen when the “curriculum” becomes a crutch instead of a tool to foster learning and how administrative constraints can really play a destructive role in the creativity of teaching.”

Purposes

#2 - recognize the situated & interpretative nature of 2LT

#3 - become sensitive to the complex social and institutional factors that affect 2LL & 2LT

Being a Teacher

I taught ESL 015 (Academic Writing II) this semester and in this section I have tried to show how I have come to think differently about my curriculum, my students, and myself as a teacher. I believe I grew along with my students, perhaps maybe even more than they did.

Grading Criteria - Caption

“I realized after the first essay assignment was due that I needed to be absolutely crystal clear about my grading criteria. After I began to use these grading criteria sheets I knew exactly what I was looking for in my students’ papers and they knew exactly what I expected. A few still complained about a point off here or there, but overall this put everyone on the same page in terms of how I was going to grade.”

#2 - be able to reflect on, critically analyze, and evaluate their own teaching practices

#5 - learn to anticipate areas that may require additional instructional support

Purpose

Preparing for the Future

I never realized how much we take “good” teachers for granted. In this section, I have included experiences I had this semester that helped me become the kind of teacher I want to be.

Course Development Project - Caption

“This was an excellent exercise for me because when I arrived in the Fall I was told I would teach this course, given the textbooks, syllabus, other course materials and off I went. Having to critically reflect on the goals, content, assignments, and outcomes of this course, made the course more “mine” and the changes I have made reflect all that I have learned this semester about teaching academic writing as well as all that I have learned about the types of students who enroll in this course.”

#1 - understand beliefs about 2LL & 2LT

#3 - be able to reflect on, critically analyze, and evaluate their own teaching practices

#4 - come to recognize students’ strengths and development as language learners

#5 - understand subject matter content from an instructional perspective & learn to anticipate areas that may require additional instructional support

Purposes

Coffee Cup - Caption

“About mid-way through the semester, we ended one of our Friday afternoon classes a bit early and headed over to Otto’s for coffee. Before I knew it, this became a Friday ritual and it was here that I really got to know my students as people with interests, talents, and rich lives outside of the classroom. They got to know me, they got to know each other, and these informal interactions, more than anything I did in the classroom, helped me know how to teach them better.”

Purposes

#1 - understand beliefs about 2LL & 2LT

#4 - come to recognize students' strengths and development as learners and language learners

Assessment - criteria is established to evaluate the extent

to which the evidence meets the purposes.

Technical

Substantive Am I convinced that the student has met or made progress toward the stated purposes?

If the answer is no, - what would I need to see added to this portfolio in order to be convinced that the purposes have been met?

Does the portfolio have a goal statement and a reflection statement? Does each piece of evidence have a caption?

Do the captions contain evidence of thoughtful reflection?

Is the student able to assess his/her own learning?

Has the student made an obvious link between the evidence and the purposes?

Has the student been selective in what to include in the portfolio?

Have a sufficient number of purposes been met?

Does the portfolio as a whole provide sufficient evidence of meaningful learning?

Assessment - criteria is established to evaluate the extent

to which the evidence meets the purposes.

When students fail to provide evidence of growth… - not enough information

- too much information but not organized - no link between the evidence and the purposes

Inter-rater reliability?

How do I handle the workload?