Education

Student Portfolio

All students completing the Paraprofessional Educator Certificate or the Educator AAS are expected to complete a portfolio of their work, education and experience. To help you in meeting this goal, every spring we offer a 2-credit course in Portfolio development (ED 263) for certificate completers and an additional 1-credit class (ED 264) for degree completers (must complete all 7 outcomes). It is recommended that you take this course towards the end of your certificate or degree completion. Learning how to do a portfolio is important in the field of education and you may use it as a marketing tool as well!

The portfolio contains artifacts and reflections based on the following outcomes:

  1. Demonstrate appropriate strategies and techniques to provide instructional support to students of diverse populations (in terms of using research, individual instruction, small groups and assessment).
  2. Demonstrate attitudes and behaviors that are appropriate in meeting the needs of diverse populations (in terms of teaching/pedagogy, competence in serving diverse populations and advocacy).
  3. Apply best practices in classroom management to optimize the potential for student learning (in terms of relationship, environment, instruction and intervention).
  4. Practice ethical and legal standards of
  5. Apply technology to support teaching, learning and communication (in terms of skills and proficiencies, and application)
  6. Meet NCLB academic standards of
  7. (For degree completers only) Apply breadth of knowledge in educational theory and practice/ Demonstrate breadth of knowledge across several disciplines in Humanities, Social Science, and Mathematics/Science.

Students will be provided with a more detailed rubric to guide their portfolio development. The course guides the students in applying their experiences to these outcomes, collecting artifacts, writing reflections, and assembling a professional final product. It is imperative that students save and document their work throughout the program so that they can more easily assemble the final portfolio. Students may also want to take pictures or collect student work while doing practicum. If taking pictures or sharing student work, please consider issues of student confidentiality. Finally, self-reflection is key to this portfolio so that our education students have a strong sense of their skills, experience, knowledge and what specifically they bring to the classroom.