This year my system is taking the process a step closer to implementation by implementing a study model with a small group of teachers.
With the start of the teaching year only a few days away, I wanted to organize my thinking and goal setting with respect to both the State's professional categories and our current system-wide goals.
To date, I have found that the best way to keep my professional house in order is through the use of an ePortfolio. While our system may eventually adopt a program that more readily analyzes, reports and integrates data related to evaluation standards, I find that the ePortfolio serves as a working document for your ongoing professional work, reflection and goal setting.
The ePortfolio has many advantages including the following:
- The ePortfolio is an easy vehicle to share when you are applying for a job, submitting a grant proposal, offering to present at a conference or meeting with your administrator during an evaluation meeting.
- An ePortfolio is quick to update and easy to access--much easier than sifting through a file cabinet for the various paperwork for your evaluations or recertification.
- The ePortfolio can serve as a reflection piece and working document--you can easily update and revise in real time to reflect the work you are doing and the adaptations you are making to develop your repertoire with regard to student learning.
I have found Google sites to be a facile platform that lends itself to global sharing ease. If you would like to see a sample of my current ePortfolio, a work in progress, please take a look. Also if you're interested in creating an ePortfolio, I've outlined the steps in this blog post. On October 24, I'll facilitate a two-hour workshop at the MassCue Conference to help interested educators use Google sites to create ePortfolios and/or content websites. If you're interested, please join me.
