day 11 readings

Using Adobe Acrobat for Electronic Portfolio development

I am warming up to using Adobe Acrobat more in my career. I am impressed with how portable it is. One of the things not mentioned in this article is that the files tend to be quiet a bit smaller. I use my scanner settings to make the document even smaller if there is some limit to size. I was surprised to see and hear that Adobe now keeps the links embedded in documents. If you don't have. or can't afford, Acrobat then you simply need to add your links before converting the document to PDF. The author praises Adobe Acrobat as the main tool for constructing an Electronic Portfolio. She backs this up by using it herself. She gives a detailed description about how she organizes and updates her portfolio. This is a great resource for anyone maintaining a portfolio.

Incorporating Portfolio Assessment

I think that what I most liked about this article is the table on the advantages and disadvantages incorporation portfolio as a form of assessment. It is very practical and honest. There are clearly advantages and disadvantages. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. What two things stood out to me in the disadvantages. One was time. Teachers, under the current education model, are strapped for time. In fact teachers are so pressed that they don't have time to put into effect the best practices of teaching. The second thing that struck me was the institutional and government restrictions. We need to rethink what we expect school to be like if we are interested in doing what is best for schools.

Student Portfolios: Classroom Uses

The main thing that I took form this article is that students can use portfolio's as a form of peer review. I love feedback. I'm disappointed if someone says little, or just give praise. Tear it apart, and tell me how I can do better. I do want to know what the strong points were as well. There is nothing more discouraging then putting your heart and soul into something just to have it go unnoticed. Kids can be cruel, but I have seen something more troubling to me. The often don't want to really critique or edit another students work. I do think that it should happen though. I guess I would like to hear advice on how to make this work.

Kathleen Fischer's Electronic Portfolio

What a great example of an electronic portfolio of a teacher. What I kept thinking about was how useful this would be for selling Ms. Fischer to her parents. It would also be effective in getting hired. I plan on directing interested administrators to my Electronic Portfolio as I begin the interviewing process. I also think that it is valuable to have a place parents can go to see what you are doing and learn something about you outside of infrequent visits to the school. Many parents could never dream of having the time to visit their child's classroom. This site has the feel of taking you into her classroom.