Portfolios


Twice during the semester you will submit a portfolio of samples of your coursework. This assignment serves multiple purposes:

  • To encourage reflection on your work during the semester.
  • To hold students accountable for work that would otherwise be ungraded.
  • To strengthen connections between material presented here and what you teach in the classroom.
  • To assess the effectiveness of activities and assignments.

    Your portfolio should include the following components:

    1. A cover page listing the contents of the portfolio.
    2. Your notes on one Topic of the Day discussion or from the discussion of a chapter of the text.
    3. Your notes from one Teaching Practice session.
    4. A comment on the teaching in one Teaching Practice session. This could be about the instructor's strengths and/or weaknesses. This could be about your preferred way of presenting the topic.
    5. One question you asked on the discussion board for Teaching Theory and a discussion of the answer (or lack of answer) to it.
    6. Comments on a "content" activity (building things from equillateral triangles, paper folding and cube construction, exercises from textbook, etc.)
    7. A summary or conclusion discussing how the materials included in the portfolio reflect what you have learned in this class.
    Your portfolio will be collected and graded twice during the semester. Please include all materials from your first portfolio in the final portfolio you turn in. If you choose to resubmit a component (without revision) at the end of the semester that you submitted mid-semester please also include an end-of-semester reflection on each component that is resubmitted without revision -- in other words, write a couple of paragraphs about how your thoughts on that subject have changed or been confirmed. Note that your end-of-semester cover page should list roughly twice as many components as your mid-semester cover page.

    Grade Appearance
    4 Portfolio is attractive, well organized, and materials are easy to locate.
    3 Portfolio is neat, well organized and complete.
    2 Some materials are out of order, hard to locate, or untidy (e.g. fringes on papers.)
    1 Table of contents is not present, portfolio is disorganized, or portfolio is very untidy (pages are wrinkled, stained or torn.)
    0 No portfolio submitted.

    ToTD Grade TP Grade Topic of the Day and Teaching Practice notes
    5 5 Notes fully sumarize discussion and show evidence of a deep understanding of the issues involved.
    4 4 Notes fully sumarize the discussion.
    3 3 Notes sumarize most of the discussion but omit one important point or conclusion.
    2 2 Notes list topics discussed but omit more than one conclusion or important point.
    1 1 Notes are fragmentary or difficult to read.
    0 0 Notes not included in the portfolio.

    Grade Teaching Practice Commentary
    5 Commentary shows a deep understanding of the topic presented and the pedagogical techniques employed by the presenter.
    4 Commentary shows understanding of the topic and includes insightful comments on its presentation.
    3 Commentary misses the point of the presentation (e.g. mistakes a lesson on graphing functions for a lecture on polynomials) or fails to consider teaching technique.
    2 Commentary focuses on technique without considering content.
    1 Commentary is disjointed or otherwise difficult to follow.
    0 There is no commentary.

    Grade Discussion Board Question
    4 Question is pertinent to mathematics education and discussion of responses shows deep insight into the topic.
    3 Question is pertinent to mathematics education and responses are thoughtfully sumarized.
    2 Question is not particularly relevant to mathematics education or responses are not adequately covered.
    1 Discussion of responses is hard to follow or nonexistent.
    0 This segment is not included in the portfolio.

    Grade Comments on content activity
    4 Comments reveal a deep insight into the mathematics presented and a comprehensive understanding of how that content might be presented in a high school or middle school classroom.
    3 Comments clearly summarize ways in which this material would or would not be useful in teaching high or middle school.
    2 Comments suggest student has missed the point of the activity.
    1 Comments are hard to follow (e.g. a page of notes jotted down during the activity.)
    0 This segment is not included in the portfolio.

    Grade Summary
    5 The discussion makes it clear how the components of the portfolio represent milestones along the path to becoming a better mathematics teacher.
    4 There is a thoughtful discussion of how the material presented in each component of the portfolio will impact the student's future teaching.
    3 One component of the portfolio is not discussed or the discussion of the components is more a summary than a reflection on influence on teaching methods.
    2 More than one component of the portfolio is not discussed or the discussions are extremely brief.
    0 There is no summary.


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