11 Resources for Teaching the Portfolio

The EWP ADs have put together this list of teaching artifacts related to the Portfolio, including presenting the portfolio, understanding outcomes, conferencing prep, writing reflections and other topics. We’ve done our best to add framing and ways for you to think through each material offered. If you want to grab any of these for yourself, please make a copy in Google Docs (File>Make a Copy) and adapt away!

1. Portfolio Skeleton from the CIC

Framing Note: This portfolio skeleton was developed by the CIC a few years ago to give instructors a concrete example of a bare-bones portfolio to share with students. The thought that inspired its creation was that the form of the eportfolio can be tricky, and if we’re asking students to focus more on content and reflection for the portfolio, providing a skeleton can make the process of housing/organizing that information more straightforward. (Alycia Gilbert)

2. Portfolio Workshop Guide: Showcase Piece Reflection + Revision

Framing Note: This worksheet is intended to be used for peer review activity where students work in pairs, reading each other’s showcase piece reflection and revision of their chosen assignments. The questions in the worksheet are intended to check the completion of the portfolio, the writing of the showcase piece reflection, discussion on the outcomes, and the thoroughness of the revision. (Anselma Prihandita)

3. Portfolio Workshop Guide: Welcome Page + Introductory Reflection

Framing Note: This worksheet is intended to be used for peer review activity where students work in pairs, reading each other’s welcome page and introductory reflection for the (Canvas online) portfolio. The questions in the worksheet are intended to check the technicalities of the online portfolio (links, completion of all required elements), the writing of the welcome page and introductory reflection, as well as their contents. (Anselma Prihandita)

4. Conferencing Rubric

Framing Note: This rubric serves both me and the student well to figure out if we got through everything we needed to talk about  in conferences. For portfolios, I have a lesson on the portfolio format and ask them to think through their choices for revision and what outcomes to target before our meeting. (Francesca Colonnese)

5. Portfolio Preparation Worksheet

Framing Note: I ask students to spend a few minutes with this worksheet and bring it with them to conferences (which I usually hold during the first week of the portfolio sequence). This worksheet gets them thinking about the outcomes alongside their written assignments. It doesn’t have to be super detailed, just some preliminary brainstorming that can help us talk through what they plan to do for their portfolio and how they can go about accomplishing that work. (Missy González-Garduño)

6. Peer Review: Circling Sentences to Target an Outcome

Framing Note: A peer review activity in which students work in pairs on a Short Assignment revision. Students underline physical copies of their document and follow steps to generate outcome-specific feedback. (Francesca Colonnese)

7. General Reflection Questions

Framing Note: These reflection questions came up because I felt that sometimes students are too engrossed in the “outcomes” that their reflections ended up just rehashing the language of the outcomes, ticking boxes, being performative. These questions were my attempt to get out of them something more meaningful. Instead of asking them, “Have you fulfilled outcome 1-4 in this assignment?” I asked them to think about the following questions. The result of this reflection can go into the students’ general reflection section in the portfolio. (Anselma Prihandita)

8. Critical Reflections Brainstorming/Annotation Activity

Framing Note: This activity is a helpful way for students to gather evidence or exhibits (however you frame it in your course) of how they’re working with an outcome in their showcase piece. I like that this activity lets students brainstorm content that can be immediately used in their critical reflections, and I also like that it asks students to think about all of the ways their chosen outcome is present before prompting them to get specific and choose the most effective examples–it creates space for them to consider how their portfolio audience will interact with evidence. (Alycia Gilbert)

9. Workshop Guidelines Powerpoint

Framing Note: I use this powerpoint to guide students as they workshop their peers portfolio rough drafts. Students will bring in a rough draft each day of class during the last two weeks and class sessions will be devoted to workshopping those ideas. In the past I’ve done this asynchronously which you can retain or modify if you’d like to do it in person. (Missy González-Garduño)

10. Genre Translation of Outcomes Activity

Framing Note: An activity in which students trace and reflect on their learning through the language of the outcomes by conducting a genre translation of the course outcomes for an incoming English 131 class. (Joe Wilson)

11. Reading Activity and Guiding Questions for Theory of Writing Organized Portfolio 

Framing Note: I assign this text to students because it germinates discussions about transfer, a goal of all writing courses and particularly English 131. This text has them think specifically about writing course assignments, their own engagement in those assignments, the purpose of the class, and their own revising practices. It becomes a launching point for discussing the portfolio that specifically articulates the stakes of revision and reflection in a way that gets considerable buy-in from students: they recognize that the portfolio becomes the site that either secures or maligns their disposition toward transferring learning from this course into future professional/academic/public writing contexts, genres, and modalities. (Joe Wilson)

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