Why am I writing this personal entry? Well, it is not an attempt to gain any sympathy. It attempts to show what is possible if a clear intention and goal serve the learner's needs. In May of 2022 just near the end of another fantastic school year, I do not remember what happened. But, I was unable to finish the school year and was unable to teach the following year. Why? On May 21st, 2022, I fell down a flight of 16 stairs (luckily carpeted) from the 2nd to 1st story of our home. I was found at the bottom of the stairs. I was found foaming at the mouth. This would lead to a 2-month hospital stay which included an induced coma because my seizures would not stop, several rounds of lumbar punctures, and relearning basic physical movements like something as simple as being able to roll in the hospital bed. Simply put, when I was admitted to the hospital, I was diagnosed as being “critically ill.” Please take a moment and read those words: critically ill. They are not terms...
I started the year with a grand plan for portfolios. But like most plans, it got changed dramatically. But, I do like that I am iterating the work we are doing in class to match a purpose. At the beginning of the year I had a plan to have a portfolio page per unit that would contain
- List of outcomes for the unit
- Reflections on formative quizzes
- Unit reflection with presentation of summative assessment
As we are moving towards adopting Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), I’ve been using science practices as overarching outcomes in assessing student work. So, these same outcomes are addressed across multiple units. This along with a conversation with some people at state ASCD convention, led me to rethink the portfolio design.
The portfolio still has a home page, passion page (where they embed YouTube videos that represent their interests and aspirations), and “Me as a Learner” page (where the learner profile/preferences are housed). But, I’ve changed the unit pages into pages based on the 8 overarching science practices identified by NGSS (we've formally assessed 5 so far). All reflections will be housed on a separate page just for reflections. The hopes are that someday this will develop into a blog type component.
For each Science Practice page, student were required to give a brief introduction of explaining the science practice itself.
After the introduction, students are required to present two pieces of evidence from the term that demonstrate competency for this practice. It turns out that this was a great way to help us all see and understand what each practice was outside of being in the experience of the activity.
I really appreciate this idea of curation and choice of artifacts rather than me just mandating what should be in there. What I really enjoyed was discussing the relevancy of presenting artifacts as evidence of a competency and how that is a lifelong skill that will extend beyond any classroom into the workplace.
The ease of Google Sites has made this processes so much easier to embed evidence and provide a reflection. In addition, Alice Keeler’s WebCam Record Chrome Extension made it possible for those students who have difficulties typing to reflect using a webcam video saved to Google Drive. The students can embed those videos in their portfolio from Google Drive!
I look forward to having students continue to add evidence as they progress through these different practices.
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