Sara,

A portfolio is a showcase of your work. But not a mindless one, so I usually

suggest that you start with a Learning Journal which is a reflexive diary of your
learning.

A typical portfolio will have:

COVER – just like any other work/project you present for someone else to read,
just like a book! What is it, who wrote it, when, where, what for.

LEARNING JOURNAL – this is, as stated before, a true diary of your learning.
When you read a text, listen to a news report, listen to your colleagues and the
teacher, watch a film, participate in a debate, plan a project, do some field work,
…. , all those things you regularly do in class AND out of class  you are
learning! What does the LJ have to do with all this? Well, this is when you stop to
think: ‘Well, that topic was interesting, it reminded me of….’, or ‘I felt really bad
during the debate about the different forms of government. I had a lot of ideas
running in my mind but I was not able to express them clearly and ….’, or ‘Our
study visit to the exhibit Encompassing the Globe was the best way to start the
school year, I believe. I didn’t know that….’
I could go on and on but I think you got the point. Initially, to get you started, I
gave two or three topics for you to write about in your LJ. Now I don’t think that is
necessary, because the LJ is really about you and you’ll know what to write
about.

TEXTS of different types – Most of them will be assignments such as the text you
wrote after our first study visit, or your assessment of the initial group work.
There will be many more assignments but you can also include texts of your
initiative, other than the LJ entries.

PROJECT work - So far you worked in 2 projects (Making sense of the syllabus &
Organizing the Classroom). You are currently preparing a new project about
Citizenship and Multiculturalism.
Your portfolio should have evidence of your work: project plans ( at different
stages), notes of your readings and field work, different stages of production of
the outputs, and the outputs (photograph of your poster, for example.)

LANGUAGE WORK/STUDY SKILLS – As you read and listen you learn new
words and expressions. Why not have organized registers of these new
words/expressions? These registers will help you understand more elaborate
texts and activate the vocabulary you need in a debate, for example, or for
classroom participation, or generally, in many occasions all throughout your life!
On the other hand, when I correct the texts you write you check what was wrong,
right? So, why not refer to a grammar and check how you can understand what
was wrong and improve? Keep notes of this and you’ll have a grammar record.
Again, it will be helpful to … you know!

Well, I could go on but I guess it’s your turn now…

19 November 2009