E-Portfolio
Compose a portfolio of your work in the class. Before getting started think about these big picture aspects of portfolios: The portfolio serves two main purposes: 1.) to allow continued revision of your projects, and 2.) to promote reflection on what you have learned as a writer and thinker in the class. For the purpose of the portfolio composition, the reflections will matter the most--though they will be built upon solid, well-revised projects.
These reflections should shed light on your progression as a thinker and writer for the class. The audience for your portfolio will be someone potentially interested in the educational concerns associated with the kinds of projects we have done in this class.
Portfolios work well at demonstrating learning, growth, effort, and the details of the final products of your work. Your reflections, then, can serve to educate your reader about your materials you learning.
Begin by going to Add Content, and then choosing Portfolio.
Next, collect all of the materials associated with the class. Some of these will be on sites like YouTube or Twitter and others will be on our class Web site. Here is a list to use as you collect:
- Poetry Essay: draft, first revision, and final revision
- E-Poem: draft, walkthrough video, revision, citation video
- Film Review: draft
- Thoughts on Watchmen (no formal projects, but you can share your experience with the text or any tweets)
- Portfolio Video
- Web site comments: You can click on your name in the top-right of this Web site, and then click Track to see all of the postings and comments that you have made.
- Tweets: You can locate your tweets by going to Twitter and selecting Me. Once you find a tweet, select the three dots . . . to open the More link, and then get the embed codes for your tweets. [Instructions for embedding tweets: https://dev.twitter.com/web/embedded-tweets]
- Any other materials related to the class--images of notebook sketches, marked up papers, additional drafts, extra projects, etc.
Using the composing tools in the posting box to create links to or embed all of your materials. I will go over the basics of composing in class. You can also explore some advanced techniques for making the portfolio more dynamic.
Once you have collected everything, you can turn to developing the reflections about the materials. I think it's helpful to guide readers of the portfolio with a kind of story that will help them make sense of the materials. Three themes we will focus on as a whole for the class are materials, process, and outcomes. Of course you can take up your own topics and it's best to have an angle that represents your own take, as well. You can have this in mind as you develop the various sections. Either before, during, or after, you will also want to work on an opening cover letter of a few paragraphs that synthesizes the main themes of the portfolio and prepares readers for what they are about to experience .
Once you have revised your projects, collected all of your materials, and drafted reflections and a cover letter, revisit the portfolio as a whole. Think of the portfolio itself as a key composition for the course. Check that you have one or two key threads that organize and help people move through the discussion in the portfolio. Print out or otherwise carefully comb through all of the prose and the links to polish everything up. Think about any additional videos or materials that you might create or include to capture your learning, your composing process, and the strengths of your projects.
Continue working up until our final. The portfolio will be the final representation of your work in the class.
Here are some samples: