One constant for me—no matter what grade level I am teaching—is having my students create portfolios for themselves. There is nothing more rewarding for students (and their teacher) than being able to look back at the progress that has been made from the start of the school year to the end. Up until this year, my students' portfolios have always been tangible and have contained examples of their handwritten work or printed work samples. Now, I am making the switch to digital portfolios with my students. I encourage you to do the same thing. Depending on the type of portfolio you want to create with your students, starting at the beginning of the school year is critical to the process.

Portfolios in the Classroom

Over the years, I have used two different types of portfolios with my students. The first type of portfolio is what I call "A Year of Me." This portfolio contains a collection of work samples taken from every month of the school year. Often, I plan ahead of time type of what work will go into the portfolio, and the kind of work is the same for almost every student. For example, when I was a classroom teacher, for each month of the school year the students' portfolios would include: a book review, a reading response prompt, a writing piece, a short writing prompt, a math problem solving activity, a math test, a written science or social studies activity, and a reflection of something interesting that might have taken place that month (e.g., a field trip, a school assembly, a science fair, etc).

The second type of portfolio is what I call "The Best of Me." This portfolio contains a sampling of that student's best work. I would still include work samples from all major subject areas, but each month would not necessarily be represented. I would also sit with the students and decide together what work samples should go in the portfolio. It is a wonderful feeling to watch students beam with pride as they look at these portfolios containing their "best" work at the end of the school year.

This year, I am making the transition to digital portfolios for students. Because I’m a literacy specialist, all the contents will be reading-related. At the beginning of the school year I had my students create a “reading folder” and a “portfolio folder” on their drive. At the end of every month of the school year, my students will make copies of work samples from their “reading folder” to add to their literacy portfolio (always have them make a copy so ALL their reading work completed during the year remains in their reading folder, just in case you need to reference it). I like to have my students select one sample from each of these areas to put in their portfolio: reading responses, book club notes, book reviews, graphic organizers, and additional activities.

All kinds of portfolios have different benefits, but you should determine at the start of the school year which type of portfolio will work best for your students and with your teaching style, in order to begin collecting work samples during the first few months of school.

I couldn't write a post about student portfolio ideas without having a download for teachers or literacy specialists to use immediately in the classroom.

Today's download is a “reading reflection” that works perfectly in conjunction with a reading portfolio, but can also be used as a standalone activity. With my Reading Reflection Worksheet students will respond to five prompts in detail:

• My strongest reading response was...

• My favorite book was...

• I was a very active participant using my book club notes on...

• The graphic organizer I thought was most useful was...

• The best reading activity I did this year was...

Finally, I love to hear how other teachers are using portfolios in the classroom. If you have a unique student portfolio idea or tips on digital portfolios for students, leave a comment!

Image: By Carmaben (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)]