The Portfolio Development Process

In the second lesson of her course, Dr Barrett discusses and supplements through various resources her concept of the two faces of electronic portfolios wherein she asks is it a workspace for students to process their work throughout the semester; is it a showcase, that is, a product to be built perhaps at the end to be assessed and graded, or is it both? It is, and there are three development levels evident in its implementation. During its process stage it is a “case” for storage or a digital archive, and there is a suggestion that no work, or even the attempts made toward producing assignments should be lost. The electronic portfolio can provide the workspace where everything is saved toward the goal of achieving best examples. It is a reflective journal, which may take the form of a blog, so students look over their various attempts and remark on what they have learned at each stage of their development, and of course, it is a presentation in the traditional sense of how we perceive what a portfolio is, and this may be displayed on a structured website, being that this is the electronic age, where we have so much technology available, many young people are adept at handling same, and there is no longer any need to archive and transport stacks of paper documents as examples of their abilities and achievements. In fact, today there exists the possibility of carrying around representations of ourselves in our pockets on cell phones, small tablets, and the like.
One of the facets of teaching in the modern classroom that heretofore has seemed an insurmountable problem has been the overuse of personal gadgets, which until now have “gotten in the way” of teaching, if an instructor sees his or her job only in the traditional way of, say, spouting grammar rules and expecting students to listen attentively, learn and remember, and then be assessed in some standardized way. This just isn’t possible anymore. The technology is here to stay, and with Fulanita checking with friends about an assignment due in the next hour’s class, or the weekend’s activities, or worse, playing some hand/eye coordination game that ostensibly has nothing to do with the task of the moment, it is frustrating to the teacher who sees it as a distraction. What if, however, the lesson were conducted through the said gadget, and the student were motivated by the idea that every task being done was becoming part of her personal portfolio?
One of the ways, among many possibilities, that students can express themselves, in a mode they often feel motivated to do, is through the telling of stories. These give them the opportunity to write about personal issues, emotions, and problems they are having difficulties in resolving through non-creative channels. I have been assigning writing tasks for several years, with and without formulae and/or templates, but mostly as work to be done outside class. These have always been meant to become a part of students’ portfolios, and have been uploaded to a social networking blog. Unfortunately, without guidance, that is about where I have left them. In recent semesters, students have been instructed to produce presentation portfolios, using Powerpoint, of which, it is hoped, they maintain a copy along with what they present for a grade, but I can see now this is only the end product half of the concept, and there has been little motivation to put an enthusiastic effort into these presentations. Most do not see this as something they may have use for later in life, and thus are doing the work merely to obtain a grade. I feel the onus is on me as the instructor to motivate students to produce permanent records of their learning for purposes they may not yet see. I hope I am up to the task, and that I come out of the course equipped to be more effective at my job.

Teachers' Day

First day of Michael D. Brown's Blog, specifically for school-related stuff and language learning material.

The Meaning of 2012

The Meaning of 2012

Flashback: Soundless Wind Chime

Celebrating Dia del los Muertos

and
Álvaro’s cumpleaños

Lost at Issuu

Open publication

HoW 03-1340

god, hair, leadership, sympathy, and butter

“OMG! Your hair, what happened to it?”
He rubbed his gleaming cranium and said, “I decided to take it all off for the summer. You like?”
“No. I don’t like. You look like a buttered bean. What did you do, polish it?”
“Most women think bald-headed men are sexy and, and I thought it would go over well at work.” Now he was looking for sympathy.
Obviously he hadn’t heard the women in Human Resources referring to him as if he were a god incarnate, but if truth be told, their admiration was based on how he managed to maintain that wavy head of brown hair at sixty-four. It certainly was not based on his knobby nose, and you know what they say about noses…No, it was definitely his do, which she thought, at this moment, definitely did not.
Her first thought, he being next in line for the supervisor’s job, was how to retract the bean remark. She always spoke before thinking, but she was good at diplomacy and felt maybe now she herself had a better chance at the position.

action, husband, warn, row, and toe

He was doing it again, using his tongue for what he called his Scandinavian Move. How to warn him that were he to continue she would be turned off so much she would rather stop and turn on the TV?
Her husband, after his five-week sex therapy-cum-education course, had brought home new moves and actions guaranteed to revive their dormant sex life; as if that were all it took.
He had dutifully learned the Soft Toe Pull, the Venice Row, and this Norwegian thing with his overactive tongue. If she had wanted her nipples massaged to the point of rawness, she could get Mauro to do that, and the dog had more personality than Edgar did, anyway.
That was the one thing her husband could never learn at sex school—how to engage a partner through a winning personality.
“Are you finished yet?” she asked, and found that did the trick. He glanced up from his current activity with the crestfallen look that put the blame where it always seemed to fall these days.
She tried to remember where they had left the remote, but only took note of eager Mauro chewing on his toy.

reason, compare, nice, permanent, and companion

-- There is no reason to compare this moment with anything we’ve done before, unless like your mother, you’re so tradition bound you can’t let the good times go.
-- So you admit those were good and these are…
-- I’m not admitting anything. I’m asking you.
-- Why can’t you be nice?
-- Like…?
-- Like what?
-- Like your dad for one.
-- My dad was my mother’s companion and not like a father to me. I can’t see there’s anything I might have inherited from him which would put me in good standing, nor do I feel living in the past is, as you say…
-- There you go again. You’re on a permanent roll, aren’t you? I’m going to take a nap. I’ll see you later.

HoW 03

HoW 3: Spirit Lake 2012

We did go swimming one afternoon, but I couldn’t keep up with the others, and so hung off the back of the boat just paddling my legs in the water. Most of the time we spent chatting on the porch.

Edward Hopper: Happy Birthday

The House by the Railroad by Edward Hopper (7/22/1882 - 5/15/1967)

Slipstream at Issuu

04/30/12 Slipstream

Sparsely Furnished Dream

01/28/12 Sparsely Furnished Dream

Edward Hirsch: Happy Birthday

"Edward Hopper and the House by the Railroad" by Edward Hirsch (01/20/50)

Seattle