0.1 Part one: e-portfolio  (Page 21/3)

Benefits

Putting together a portfolio is an excellent way to reflect upon what you have learned; what you have applied to your classroompractices; and what you will do next. It's a record of your work, your thoughts, and it holds the seeds to your potential.

A portfolio can be a tangible way in which an educator can shape his or her career, based upon the idea that there is always room forimprovement. Many teachers who engage in the process of creating a portfolio are proud of what they have produced. They see where they began,and how far they have come. Many report that the "product" of a portfolio has helped them to clarify their goals, and it has helped them to find a teachingposition. Portfolios are the most convincing testament to a teacher's work.

Traditional portfolios in the form of folders, boxes, or 3-ring binders hold papers, pictures, cassette tapes, and more. With anelectronic Teaching Portfolio, known as an "E-Portfolio," information can be stored digitally, takes up little physical space, and is easilyaccessed from anywhere in the world.

Teachers Without Borders is pioneering E-Portfolios for teachers, and we have provided a way to for you to create one.

What's in it

Your Electronic Teaching Portfolio (E-Portfolio) will contain the following elements:

• Professional Statement - My view and approach to teaching
• Questions - My thinking about theory and practice
• The Imagined Classroom - School in 2010 through the eyes of the learner
• Bringing New Thinking into Classroom Practice - Evidence of how what's new becomes the standard
• Highlights from Certificate of Teaching Mastery - My best, most challenging, and growth-oriented work
• My Students' Work - Samples of how planning turns into outcomes
• What Students Say - About their work and the process of learning
• My Service Project - Learning that serves my community
• Expertise I Wish to Share - What I can offer other teachers
• What I Need - Skills and resources I seek from others
• Reflections - My life as a learner, teacher, and world citizen
• Picture of My Classroom - A photo that tells a story
• Resume / References / Letters of Recommendation - Support for my future in teaching

In this course, you will be guided through the process of including each of these elements in your E-Portfolio. Once a section iscomplete, you will be able to post it electronically.

To view the site for your electronic Teaching Portfolio, click here .

How to begin

Go to your disk or hard drive where you have saved all of your assignments, and open up the document that contains your written workfor Course 1 Assignment 10. This is where we will begin.

You will now take the written pieces out of the assignment-template that you originally typed them into and place yourwords only in 3 new Word documents that you will create. Here's how to do it:

• Open a new, blank Word document and name it "Professional Statement." Go to your original document where you typed your responseto "Course 1 Assignment 10 - Part One: Professional Statement" and highlight the text you wrote. "Copy it" and "paste" your words into thenewly-created Word document called "Professional Statement."
• Do the same copy and paste for "Course 1 Assignment 10 - Part Two: Reflection" by creating a separate, new blank document and call it"Reflection." Copy and paste your original words from Part Two into this new document.
• Open another new, blank document and name it "The Imagined Classroom." Copy and paste your words for "Course 1 Assignment 10 - PartThree" into this new document.
• When you are done, you will have 3 new documents called: 1) Professional Statement; 2) Reflection; and 3) The ImaginedClassroom. Each document will contain the words you wrote when you first completed this assignment.
• Now that you have completed Courses 1-4 and have broader perspective, go back and revise these 3 pieces to include any new thoughts or ideas. Answering the questions in "Part Two" (the new document called"Reflection"), especially, might hold new meaning for you. Make whatever changes you wish to these 3 new Word documents and save yourchanges.
• When you are done revising these 3 documents, send them to your mentor.
• When your mentor says you're "Ready" to continue, follow the instructions to post these documents to your E-Portfolio.