Portfolios! Yay!

I have always required students to turn in a portfolio at the end of the course, and I have always weighted the portfolio heavily in determining the course grade. This portfolio model is one that was required of me by a pre-determined curriculum, but through both research and practice I have become a big fan of the portfolio in the composition classroom. As I see it, the portfolio should not be just a collection of all the work the student has done in the quarter. This method of viewing portfolios does not encourage reflection on the part of students nor does it offer them the opportunity to exercise rhetorical choices in the representation of their own writing. In the school setting, portfolios are often for the purpose of assessment. But this assessment need not be made only by the teacher, and this assessment need not be only of product. When I ask my students to assemble a portfolio, I try to make sure the following components are in place:

   · Product—at least one piece of writing in the portfolio should be “publication ready”

·    Process—there should be a variety of kinds of writing (different genres, informal and formal), and writing in different stages of the process included in the portfolio

·    Choice—within teacher determined parameters, students should make choices about what they put in their portfolio. Assembling a portfolio is a rhetorical act; students must make the rhetorical choices demanded by the genre if they are to understand that.

·  Reflection—there should be some element of reflection involved in the portfolio assignment. Indeed, this component might be the most important if the portfolio is to be a learning experience for students. I used to assign a reflective essay addressing the entire quarter. This assignment usually elicited “I once was blind, but now I see” narratives about English 101. Now, I usually assign four or five 300-500 word analysis reflections on “artifacts” from the course that students pick to demonstrate their learning and writing. I prefer this strategy because it produces focused reflection which helps students examine their own writing instead of providing me with a conversion narrative.

This quarter I will be teaching English 100, which requires the students to submit a portfolio to a panel. The panel then decides whether the student is ready to pass into English 101 or not. I’m interested to see how this purpose for building the portfolio influences student investment and choices.

I’m also wondering how to emphasize that the assembling of a portfolio is an opportunity for students to assess themselves. I tell them, but I’m not sure they understand or believe me.