Realistically, how else is a teacher to be evaluated? Are you
going to make us tryout? Well we already do. That is what student
teaching is all about. Someone can’t be there to watch us the whole
time. Our portfolio provides a way for us to gather the pertinent
information and share it. It is kind of like an extended resume, and
those are considered valid. Won’t a portfolio also reflect someone’s
level of care? Things will be complete and done well if the individual
cares. Also, this reflects on someone’s work ethic and skill as well. I
think portfolios are great when the situation calls for them.
Look! I'm commenting on your blog post. How interactive of me.
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, I agree that portfolios are a substantive and respectful way of assessing a teacher's work or readiness for a new job. I wonder -- I confess I don't know much about them -- whether teachers are also asked to comment on how individual lessons went or worked. We're in the midst of interviewing candidates for positions at Seven Hills right now, and so often, the way a lesson looks on paper or sounds hypothetically is very, very different (for better or for worse) than the actual experience in the classroom. I'm curious not only in whether featured curricula are actually effective in the classroom but in how accurately and honestly the teacher or candidate perceives and describes that level of success. A teacher with a good plan that doesn't work in the classroom is only slightly better than a teacher with a bad plan that doesn't work in the classroom and, ironically, is worse than a teacher with an apparently bad or superficial plan who is "lights out" in front of actual students. Self-evaluation should (if it's not) be a facet of portfolio assessment...one of many facets.