Portfolios: Reflective Processes for Independence and Innovation

Addie Degenhardt & Kimberly Johnson

Language Arts, The Etude Group

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

1. To help students understand what it means to think, teachers must "make the various forms, dimensions, and processes of thinking visible" (Ritchhart "Making Thinking Visible").

 

 

 

3. "Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives" (Csikszentmihalyi).

Four Corners

2. "ePortfolio technology enables learners to manage the complexity and variability of learning designs and opportunities in formal and informal settings in order to gather evidence of their resultant deep learning" (Batson).

 

 

4. "...intelligent behavior in everyday life depends on thinking dispositions, which concern not what [cognitive] abilities people have but how they are disposed to use those abilities" (Perkins).

Portfolios

A portfolio is a living document, that grows and evolves with a writer. It is a place to showcase writing and thinking throughout a significant time period. 

 

  • Why: Independence and Innovation
  • How: making thinking visible, metacognition, and scholarship

  •  

Visible Thinking

To help students understand what it means to think, teachers must "make the various forms, dimensions, and processes of thinking visible" (Ritchhart "Making Thinking Visible").

 

  • Thinking Routines: expose different ways of thinking
  • Culture of Thinking: practice as a class, tangible evidence, conditions for language and discussion 

more from Ritchhart's Cultures of Thinking

Metacognition

  • Habits of Mind
  • Cognizant of decision making process
  • Considers goals and process of achieving those goals
  • Reflects on end product and future learning

"...intelligent behavior in everyday life depends on thinking dispositions, which concern not what [cognitive] abilities people have but how they are disposed to use those abilities" (Perkins).

Scholarship

  • Recognizes audience
  • Embraces ownership
  • Professional identity
  • Presentation of Learning

"ePortfolio technology enables learners to manage the complexity and variability of learning designs and opportunities in formal and informal settings in order to gather evidence of their resultant deep learning" (Batson).

Portfolio Elements

Ideation

Students will observe, question, make connections and imagine possibilities.

 

  • Individual: complete a Think, Puzzle, Explore via an unpublished blog post.
  • Group: share out initial thoughts via a Generate, Sort, Connect, Elaborate thinking routine
  • Individual: reflect, reconsider, revise initial blog post for publication

 

Writing prompt: What does it mean to grow up?

Guided Practice

Students extend ideation through literary analysis.  

 

  • Annotations reflection
  • Reader response to specific quotes
  • Analysis of literary elements

Creation

Students will apply knowledge and skills to construct an original argument.

 

  • Review blog posts, portfolio documents
  • "I used to think...now I think" and here's why...evidence.
  • Writing conferences

Exhibition

Students participate in a dialogue about their work.

 

  • Finalize product for publication
  • Create an entry slip, artist statement
  • Digital gallery walk

Reflection

Students will analyze their growth as learners and thinkers. 

 

  • How did my thinking change in this unit? And how do I know?
  • How did the ideas of others influence my decisions throughout this process?
  • What were my successes and struggles in the construction of my formal essay? Why?
  • What can I use in the next unit or future?
  • How did this experience affect my identity as a learner, reader, writer, individual, community member? 

 

**add reflection along with links to blogs posts at the conclusion of exhibition page

The Life of a Writing Portfolio

Life cycle

  • Culture of thinking, decency and trust
  • Professional identity
  • Exhibition and art forms
  • Nonfiction writing seminar
    • ​foundation for academic writing
    • interacting with complex texts
    • constructing original arguments
    • framework for using writing to reflect on growth
    • understanding role of technology in effective communication
  • Presentations of Learning
  • 100 percent college acceptance

Creative Questions

What would it be like if...

How would it be different...

What would change if...

How would it look differently if...

ELA Standards

AnalysisWriters analyze the decisions that other writers make when communicating with an audience.

RhetoricWriters make rhetorical decisions in order to communicate with an audience.

SynthesisWriters develop and clarify ideas by interacting with other writers. 

Process: Writers engage in the writing process.

PublicationWriters professionally share their work. 

ReflectionWriters interpret what it means to be a scholar.

ISTE Standards

ISTE 1. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.
ISTE 2. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
ISTE 5. Digital Citizenship
Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.

Learning Outcomes

Works Cited

Berger, Ron. An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2003. Print.

Batson, Trent. "Opening a Discussion on the Definition of “ePortfolio”. The AAEEBL Learner 3.5 (2012): 8. AAEEBL. Oct. 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

Gallagher, Kelly. "Chapter Two: Express and Reflect." Write like This: Teaching Real-world Writing through Modeling & Mentor Texts. Portland,            Me.: Stenhouse, 2011. N. pag. Print.
"ISTE Standards for Students." ISTE Standards (2014): n. pag. International Society for Technology in Education. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.

Pappas, Peter. "A Taxonomy of Reflection: A Model for Critical Thinking." Copy / Paste. N.p., 4 Jan. 2010. Web. 30 July 2014.
Payne Smart, Maya. "Digital Portfolios Pull Double Duty." Edutopia. The George Lucas Educational Foundation, 20 May 2009. Web. 16 July 2014.

Perkins, David, Shari Tishman, Ron Ritchhart, Kiki Donis, and Al Andrade. "Intelligence in the Wild: A Dispositional View of Intellectual      

                Traits."Educational Psychology Review 12.3 (2000): 269-93. Artful Thinking. Traverse City Area Public Schools and Project Zero at Harvard

                Graduate School of Education. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

Ritchhart, Ron. Intellectual Character: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Get It. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002. Print.

Ritchhart, Ron, Mark Church, and Karin Morrison. Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All

                Learners. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2011. Print.

Addie Degenhardt

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

      M.S. Curriculum and Instruction
      B.A. Journalism and Mass Communications

 

Email: adegenhardt@etudegroup.org

Twitter: @AddieDegenhardt

Kimberly Johnson

University of Wisconsin - Madison

     B.A. Education

 

Email: kjohnson@etudegroup.org

Twitter: @_msjohnson

Contact Information

Portfolios: Reflective Processes for Independence and Innovation

By Addie Degenhardt

Portfolios: Reflective Processes for Independence and Innovation

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