Class 12 Readings: Going on the Road

"How to Hold Audience Attention: Be Clear, Be Quick, Be Gone" is the most important message I came away with from the readings. Too often we try to fit too much into a presentation or give the audience more information than they can readily absorb. I college, we've all sat through 3 hour long PowerPoint presentations that were word for word what we read in our text books the night before. this type of presentation does not get across any message except that it's long and boring.

I made the mistake a few times of using the projector to show students articles about topics in social studies. Now, after many groans from students, I instead show brief PowerPoint slides and then let them take the full articles to read on their own.

Class 11 Readings: Portfolios and Assessment

The benefits of portfolio assessment far outweigh the drawbacks in my opinion. However districts, schools, parents, and teachers differ in their opinions regarding traditional grades and standardized tests. The main caveat for many seems to be with applying standard grading to assess portfolios. Another issue has been storing students work. This is becoming less important in the advent of didgital portfolios. Students can take home the original documents and still maintain electronic copies for their portfolios. Time is the other thing that deters many teachers from using portfolios. With digital portfolios, students can be allotted a short time each week to upload, scan, and reflect on items they are submitting. The teacher can then spend less than an hour responding electronically to the students submissions and reflections.


The last two years that I did paper portfolios, there was an entire day spent each semester just sitting and conferencing with each child to determine what they wanted to include and why. I hope that the process will be much smoother in the coming school year.

As far as grading goes, I use Exceeding, Meeting, Progressing Toward, or Below Expectations for academic work and then there is a second grade for effort.

Class 10 Readings: Electronic Portfolios for Students

The readings for today were very exciting. I was thrilled to see so many teachers showcasing their student's work on the web. While I like for each of my students to have a formal portfolio to measure growth, it's also important to let them show off their hard work throughout the year.

Giving students opportunities to share their work electronically also encourages them to put forth their best efforts when completing assignments. I decided to start letting my students post writing assignments of their own choosing on our class web page. This has increased the quality and legibility of many students' work. All students do have the option to type their work and students with disabilities in writing are encouraged to do so.

After seeing some of the other teachers websites I have a million new ideas to try with my students!

Class 9: Electronic Portfolios

Many of the links did not work, but I did enjoy visiting the site of Dr. Helen Barrett. Especially intriguing were the ideas of using different web2.0 technologies to create and host e-portfolios. I also liked the the acronym MOSEP (More Self-esteem with my ePortfolio).

I think e-portfolios are important for teachers and for students. I have two eportfolios, one on Task-Stream and the other in my own web page. My students created portfolios this year, but they were paper based. I hope to incorporate e-portfolios in the fall.

Class 8: Professional/Teaching Portfolios

Two important aspects of portfolios are self- reflection and the criteria for selecting artifacts. In a professional portfolio, this would probably include examples of one's best work and the reasons for including it in the portfolio. In a student portfolio, there would likely be a range of work to demonstrate growth. The reflection piece might be more formal as well.

My first two portfolios during my undergraduate training were 3" binders filled with examples of work from my courses with typed reflections about each one. The binders were covered with stickers and I used fun papers and borders to decorate the pages inside. I was very proud of these and still have them.
My next portfolio was in Taskstream. I uploaded 10 documents and gave them appropriate titles. Then I emailed a reflection paper to my instructor. While this is an efficient way of sharing one's work, it's not very creative or satisfying.

Whatever method of portfolios my students will use, I want them to have a chance to be creative and to feel a sense of pride when they're finished.

Class 7 Readings: Tips for Different Types of Presentations

Preparation is key for a successful presentation. It's important to know what you're going to say and how you will say it. Rehearsing can build confidence as well as to help perfect timing. In addition to preparation, one must also consider both the type of audience and the purpose of the presentation. Planning for a conclusion and letting the audience know when you're about to wrap up are also good ways to make a presentation more memorable.

It's true that much of what we call butterflies can be eliminated if we are well prepared. I know that if I'm asked to speak I get very nervous unless it was planned in advance. I try to remember this with my students and give them time to prepare before they present anything.

I need to work on conclusions I think. I have oftene ended a presentation with "I guess that's about it" or something similar.