Portfolios

Let's prep for fall.  Plan a portfolio.  I think a hybrid portfolio is best.  What do I mean?  When I teach   home-school Co-op classes, I recommend student keep a composition book for notes and a folder or binder to hold hand-outs, tests, and references.  To me, a portfolio is a composite of a student's best work and includes a variety of work samples: completed labs, written reports, texts, sketches, and summaries.  Notes and lab experiments should be maintained in a marble composition notebook, which can be another artifact for the portfolio.  Additionally, organize a digital portfolio.  I keep a science blog to document most of my science class activities.  Student can save links to the blog as evidence for their portfolios.  I urge my students to take photos of labs or simulations for their portfolios.  When a student completes a concept map or a slideshow, I instruct the kids to save links or screenshots for their digital portfolios.  All of these samples can be catalogued to Drive or a wikispace site.  Then the family can include a link with work samples, photos, reading logs, etc. for submission in a digital portfolio with hard copy samples.  Get on it now!  Take tons of photos and start assembling a digital portfolio.  Better yet, get kids in the habit and save yourself the world.