Digital Portfolio - Writing Rocks!

I believe in digital portfolios!  As teachers, we took this job to change kids' lives.  We need to remember that fact and not get caught up in the business of teaching.  Our job is to motivate, to inspire, to instruct, to assist, to question, to model, to engage, and to be the wind beneath students' wings.  None of my teacher hats is labelled, "Wear to Conform to Standardized-Testing Nightmare".  I checked.

That being said, we must engage and motivate our students to learn, and I believe allowing students to get excited about how they show they are learning is a must!  That is where digital portfolios come into play.

Let me backtrack for a moment.  I taught Writing Across the Curriculum for the 21st Century at the TCEA Technology Convention this year.  My students are excited about writing, and I wanted to share their stories with other teachers.  My students say their excitement comes from having voice and choice.  All of my students know they must master the content, and they must write to learn, to share, and to teach all of the content.  None balk at this idea, though, because I allow voice and choice.  My students help to guide our lessons by designing new ways to show mastery, constructing new problems to solve, and making suggestions on how we approach the content.  My students also have choice in how they show they understand the concepts.  In our classroom, technology tools are just as common as pencils and paper.  Students have become experts in using these tools to advance understanding because they use the tools daily and have choice in how they use them.  My students curate their best products in digital portfolios, and they absolutely love being able to share the hard work they have done with an authentic audience.

I recently worked on an assignment in a graduate course to create a digital portfolio of writing strategies for my content area - science.  I jumped at the opportunity to share digital portfolio ideas with my collaborative community while completing the assignment!  We were given choices to curate our writing strategies.  One choice was a blog, but those of you who know me, know I do not believe in using ONLY one tool.  I teach my students to app smash, and I hold the same expectations for myself.  Click on my Padlet Wall link to see my portfolio, as well as tips and tricks to use these tools with students.

Padlet Wall