portfolios
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Easy Portfolios and Assessments for Early Childhood
It’s almost spring (I’m trying to be optimistic here…), and in many places that means that it’s time to think about finishing up assessments and portfolios for the end of the school year. If you’re about to jump into that, let me help! I’ve got another video for you today that walks through why I created my own assessments, and how you can take advantage of this for your program – they really do make life so much easier! If you want to read more about these assessments and some of the different ways they can be used, then this post is exactly what you’re looking for!
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Google Drive Student Portfolios
I originally shared this post a couple of years ago, and it has been the most popular post that I’ve ever written. I can understand why – we all want easy solutions to conferences and documentation, but no one wants to pay for the expensive platforms that curriculum companies have available. This system is my DIY version of that kind of system. Since most parents are a lot more comfortable with google drive and PDF documents it’s been the best way to share information! Here’s the rest of that original post: I’ve always used three-ring binders to compile my students’ portfolios, but this year my classroom did not have the…
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Google Drive Student Portfolios
I originally shared this post a couple of years ago, and it has been the most popular post that I’ve ever written. It was time to give it a face lift, so I’ve updated the photos, but all of the text is the same! I’ve always used three-ring binders to compile my students’ portfolios, but this year my classroom did not have the extra space to store all of them – 1 binder per student takes up a lot of precious space! I decided to do digital portfolios, and using Google drive to store them has been an absolute lifesaver. Having all of the portfolios on Google Drive meant that…
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3 Things that have changed the way I teach preschool
After teaching toddlers and preschoolers for nearly 10 years, I finally took the time to put all of the things I had learned into 3 different products. These products incorporate all that I have learned from great mentors, as well as lessons that I had to learn myself. Teaching is a journey, and all of us who’ve experienced it have something to share. That’s why it was so important for me to share my insights with all of you. Here are the three products that have given my teaching purpose and direction: Preschool Portfolio Pack: I’ve used similar portfolios and checklists for years, but they’ve never been designed to work…
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Collecting Assessment Evidence
I’ve been doing a lot of work with assessments lately, and one of the most important aspects of assessment is collecting evidence to support any assessment scores and decisions. Personally, I think the most difficult thing about collecting all of this evidence if finding a way to organize it all and track what I’ve gathered and what I still need. To help myself keep all of that information organized, so I have it when I need it, I put together a evidence collection binder for each student. I bound 8 file folders – one for each domain that I collect evidence on, then I taped the bottom of each folder…
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Friday Freebie – Portfolio tags for student selected work
Happy Friday! Even happier Friday to those of you who are celebrating Labor Day weekend! I am ready for a three day weekend, I have a to do list of fun projects that I haven’t had time to do all summer, and I’m looking forward to getting it all done. This week I’ve spent a lot of time talking about assessments and portfolios to help you get some systems in place. Up to this point I’ve talked about the work that you can do to begin preparing portfolio systems, this freebie is something you can use to encourage children to take an active role in compiling their portfolios. Make multiple…
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Start your portfolios now!
It’s not conference time yet, but it will be soon enough. Start putting together your student portfolios now, if you do it little by little you won’t have nearly as much prepping to do when it is time for conferences. Here are some of my previous posts on putting together student portfolios; Preparing for Preschool Conferences What’s in my Student Portfolios Space Saving Portfolios Check these out as you start compiling your student portfolios!
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Taking photos to use in portfolios
A great preschool portfolio includes tons of evidence of growth and development. Some of this evidence should be work samples and artwork, but evidence can also be photos of children participating in learning experiences, interacting with each other, and exploring their environment. Capturing these moments with your camera can take some practice, but once you get the hang of it, it will be like second nature (and the children will eventually forget that you’re taking their picture and stop making those cheesy faces). Here are some tips for taking great portfolio photos; try to get multiple different views of the same thing – close ups and wide shots can both…
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Preparing for preschool conferences
April is almost here, and in my world April means parent-teacher conferences. Since I’m getting ready, I thought I would share my assessments process and all of my materials with you, get ready, this is going to be a long one! I start with three different assessments – yes, three. First, the portfolios. Each of my students has a digital portfolio, you can read more about them in this post and this post. Their digital portfolios are shared with their parents, so they can view them any time, but for their last conferences before kindergarten I print everything and put it in a binder. These portfolios include a page for…
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What’s in my student portfolios
Yesterday I shared a tutorial for setting up digital student portfolios using Google Drive. Today I want to show you what I put in my student portfolios. I include all of these documents, regardless of the age of the student (I have used them with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers). In Ohio we use ODE’s Early Learning Development Standards, so that is what my portfolios are based on. You can explore the standards here. All of these portfolio pages are available in my TPT store, and they are editable, so you can download and get started immediately. Check out my assessments here. Each portfolio starts with a cover page to document…
