What is a Portfolio?
A portfolio is a collection of a student’s work that illustrates, defines and documents the student’s development over time. The content may show the development in a particular area, such as reading, writing or understanding scientific concepts. Or the portfolio may be used to show development in several areas, such as reading and writing in the sciences.

There are two types of portfolios most commonly used: the process portfolio and the showcase portfolio. The process portfolio contains more artifacts; for instance, a student may include a number of samples of written work in their original draft as well as how these samples appeared at various stages of revision. Or it might contain many examples of responses to reading selections, lesson plans, etc. The process portfolio is more casual than that of the showcase portfolio.

Portfolio Contents

Philosophy Statement:

• What you believe about teaching
• What you know and believe about children
• What is the role of schools in society

Self-Assessment:

An evaluation of your lab experience and learning. How these have influence your decision to teach (or your decision to continue teaching)

Vita/Resume

Journal Reflections

Articles of Interest

Instructional Resources

Bibliography Reference: Costantino, Patricia M. & Marie N. DeLorenzo, DEVELOPING A PROFESSIONAL TEACHING PORTFOLIO, A Guide for Success, Allyn and Bacon, Boston, 2002