Evidence in Site

"Are you open to your own evolution as an individual and as a professional?"
Couros, G., & Novak, K. (2019). Innovate inside the box: empowering learners through Udl and the Innovators Mindset. Place of publication not identified: published by IMpress, a division of Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.
Five years ago, I was hearing the buzz about student portfolios. So, I took the big leap of integrating student portfolios into my classroom. I was using Google Sites as the platform for creation. It was free and at the time our school was just beginning to use Google Apps for Education (now known as G Suite). If ever there was a case in which I felt like I was innovating inside of the box, this was it. Google Sites had lots of opportunities for customization. Almost any type of media could be added and the look of any part of the page could be adjusted. Students could add artifacts, create blog posts, and comment on each other’s work. The big drawback was that the interface was incomprehensible to a novice. There was only one or two students in my classes who had ever worked with Sites before. So, we had to find a way to achieve our goals and do the most without getting lost or intimidated by the tech options.
As I enter this year, this is my 9th cycle of portfolio creation with Andelee Espinosa. (We are on a block schedule so I teach a new group of students at the end of 2 quarters.) With each iteration, I feel like I’m refining the purpose of the portfolio. As the purpose is being refined, the strategies to capture the voice of the learner evolves as well. A lot has changed in terms of technology. Specifically on two fronts: the ease to build sites intuitively using the new Google Sites and the ability to easily capture student reflections in a variety of formats.
I don’t want to get too techy, but want to discuss the purpose of the portfolio and how my co-teacher and I have designed the experience to meet those needs. The goal of the portfolio is to first capture the academic work of the learner and provide them a space to reflect on this work. This year we’ve tried to be more intentional about having learners tie this into unit outcomes.
Students create a single page for each unit. At the top of the page, students place the learning outcomes for the unit. They then embed work from the unit. This is easy to do because our students store their work in Google Drive. This work could be a G Suite file or other work uploaded to their Drive. Next to each artifact, students explain the artifact to a general audience and address how it connects to the learning outcomes. 

We have tried to build in the ability for students to reflect on their learning as well. This occurs after quizzes and at the end of the unit. 

In the past, these have been typed reflections. This mode of reflection wasn’t the most natural form of reflection for many of our students. This year we are using Flipgrid to give learners the option to reflect in a different format. Flipgrid allows learners to reflect with direct address to their device’s camera. They can obscure the video with filters or images if they are uncomfortable with their face on camera. These recorded videos can be accessed from the student’s account at my.flipgrid.com and embedded into their portfolio.
The power of Google Sites is the ability to easily add so many different forms of evidence. These can be audio, video, text, images, or any file students have in their Google Drive.

This is just one format of portfolio. George Couros outlines two different varieties the showcase and the learning portfolio. 

Before you choose your portfolio format, it is essential that you know why you are asking students to create a portfolio or why you are creating a portfolio for yourself. The format should meet the goal. That is the reason why I continue to refine the portfolios we are creating in the classroom.
So many schools and districts are having learners create portfolios that travel with them from grade to grade. These portfolios give a much more complete vision of the learner than mine could ever provide. But in lieu of a model to follow in my district, I felt I had to do something. Looking forward to share the final products learners create this year!

"You can fight to change, adapt to change, embrace change, create change, or lead change."Couros, G., & Novak, K. (2019). Innovate inside the box: empowering learners through Udl and the Innovators Mindset. Place of publication not identified: published by IMpress, a division of Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.

As I continue to iterate, I would LOVE to see your models for learner portfolios to help guide the work we do in our classroom.