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CUR/550

Wendy Boykin, Toyshica Gipson, Erika McGaha, Emily Murphy, Felicia Neely, Stacey Scott

December 10, 2018

Dr. Diane Levy

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With student learning and achievement as the primary focus, using portfolios is useful in showing growth, not only for students, but for professionals as well. The purpose and process is explained in this presentation.

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Students benefit from the use of professional portfolios through improved instruction. Results with students should be an important part of the portfolio. This provides evidence of the direct connection between teaching and learning. As teachers document their practice and reflect on their effectiveness, or lack thereof, they make adjustments to upgrade their professional competencies. Portfolios help educators track their professional growth and assess their needs for further development. The ultimate purpose of the professional portfolio is to inform instruction and increase student learning.
(Roberts 201)

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Artifacts and Portfolios: What are they?

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Artifacts and Portfolios: What are they?

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Artifacts: Documentation that represents learning. Student artifacts can be in a variety of formats, and should be evidence that concepts are understood and growth is present. Examples include things like posters, papers, blogs, videos, or art projects. Professional artifacts may include things like professional writing, documented coursework or professional development.
Portfolios: A compilation of documentation that provides a comprehensive and meaningful outline of learning. Professional and student portfolios include artifacts, goals, assessment, reflection and data; and can be in a physical or online format.

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Using Artifacts and Portfolios in the Context Of a PLC

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Using Artifacts and Portfolios in the Context Of a PLC

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Portfolios elicit reflection. The creation of a portfolio is a key element in a PLC for the use of sharing information and ideas that have been essential in the learning process. Artifacts accompanying the portfolios provide a window into the learning of the students. A teacher can share their portfolio with the PLC what they have found that works and what they need to work more on to make it work. Pairing artifacts with he portfolios provide an element of data collection to the reflection process.

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The development of a vision statement is a collaborative effort among leaders and teachers. The vision statement is the driving force of where we intend our students to go. Shared values are vital in creating a vision statement that can be accepted by a consensus of teachers. Teachers and leaders alike, need to collaborate in a positive way for creating a culture that is conducive for student learning. The vision statement is intended to be referred to often, and discussed informally and formally, to be certain it is the focal point of instruction.

Our vision statement  for a virtual school is to provide a variety of learning opportunities for student learning and achievement. Flexibility will be a key characteristic of the program, encouraging individualized support and personalized learning plans for all students. All students and teachers have the potential for excellence, in which we hope to build upon. The students will also become 21st century learners by engaging in technology-based education that promotes creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making skills. Student achievement will be monitored on a routine basis, with changes made accordingly to promote ongoing learning.

In developing the vision statement for the school, we were challenged to collaborate on creating a culture conducive for learning. We had  to support each other, as well as thought about the students that we were teaching  in our virtual school. The vision statement is a representation of  how we will give our students the assistance they need to find academic success. We all need to work together to build a better future for our students, and the vision statement of our school will be our guide in creating the environment we need in order to promote lifelong learners.

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The students will become 21st century learners by engaging in a technology-based education that provide and promote a variety of learning opportunities, creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making skills that will be monitored on a routine basis.

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A link to an infographic that outlines our Vision Development for a Virtual School.

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Brainstorm online with Bubbl.us. Easily create colorful mind maps to print or share with others. Almost no learning curve. Millions of people are using Bubbl.us worldwide to generate ideas, map out processes and create presentations.

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The purpose of an artifact is to provide evidence of your education and experiences. This will likely be primarily coursework, including tests, essays, projects or presentations. Included can be more media-driven artifacts, such as video and photographs. By using a variety of artifacts within your  portfolio it will better represent your pursuits. Artifacts within a portfolio can also be used as a reflection piece. Artifacts can help enhance learning for educators and students.

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As it has been shared, using portfolios as a means of reflection on student learning and professional growth is another way for enhancing instruction. Collaboration with colleagues can be inspired by sharing artifacts of learning, therefore inspiring further growth as individuals.

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Roberts, S. M., & Pruitt, E. Z.
(2009). Schools as
professional learning
communities:

Collaborative activities
and strategies for
professional development
(2nd ed.). Thousand

Oaks, CA: Corwin/SAGE.
Speck, M. (1999). The
principalship: Building a
learning community.
Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Prentice Hall. Adapted
and reprinted by
permission of Pearson
Education, Inc
Using Artifacts: Learning Portfolio Resources. (2018). Utah.instructure.com. Retrieved 9 December 2018, from https://utah.instructure.com/courses/202492/pages/using-artifacts