German Portfolio Plan (Rough) 

This summer I have discovered the power of a portfolio.  I have always wanted to try one and this year I am determined to get started.  Most of my students are studying German for the first time and a portfolio will give them the opportunity to see growth as they progress through their years of German.  I hope that the portfolio is also a means to increase retention and interest in the language because of the value of sharing.  I would like to ultimately have a German awards evening at which students and adults gather to share the accomplishments of the year.  This awards evening would be in late April or early May.   

            It will be a challenge for me to organize a solid portfolio.  I find that the imagination process is hard, but easier than putting the ideas to work.  

Purpose: I will have my students make a portfolio to help them see that they are progressing and also to show progress through the Illinois Standards.  In German III/IV, I may try to do unit portfolio for the ART and the German History.  I think it would be exciting to integrate portfolio together with WebQuests.  These two elements could make  for  well-rounded Art and History Units.  It would also make the units more exciting if students presented visual material, while reading. 

Type:  To start the year I want to focus on standards and also have the students keep their “best works” in a section.  I may do the Art portfolio 2^nd Quarter in German IV and then possibly the history portfolio 3^rd or 4^th Quarter in German III.  I believe that I will use a combination of paper and digital portfolios. 

I think that I will have my students maintain a working portfolio that will be reduced to the final portfolio that will focus on meeting standards.   

Professional:  I think that I will make creating a professional portfolio one of my Goals this year and include completed workshops and goals to present at a workshop.  I need to list ideas for presentations and maybe I could actually present. (It makes me nervous  to think about presenting,  I am not confident in my ability to do a good workshop, yet I know that it would be a good, challenging experience.) 

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The three Illinois Foreign Language Learning Standards are: 

1. State Goal 28- Use the target language to communicate within and beyond the classroom setting. 
2. State Goal 29- Use the target language to develop an understanding of the customs, arts, literature, history, and geography associated with the target language. 
3. State Goal 30- Use the target language to make connections and reinforce knowledge and skills across academic, vocational and technical disciplines. 

 Visit the Illinois Learning Standards Page for further information. 

Possible items to include in the level portfolios:  (Best Works (Evidence of meeting Standards) & Works based on the Multiyear Portfolio Evaluation:   

German I:  Personal Introduction (written & oral), My Pet, My Family, School, Giving Direction, the body, Birthday cards, countries where German is spoken, famous German speakers/ German-Americans, my weekend, Travel WebQuest 

German II:  my vacation (summer) – past,  picture story (past), My Best Friend, Fashion Show, the body, history of communication, Germany 

German III:  holidays, my (dream) house, a bike tour, eating, sports, comparing USA/Europe, history (art webquest), Max und Moritz, (careers) 

German IV:  environment, history (art webquest), If I had a million dollars…, advertisements, foreigners (building bridges), careers, novel/drama 

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German Authentic Assessment Tools (Ideas) 

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Portfolio Collection and Organization 

Storage:  The students will be responsible for storing their portfolios.  I am going to look into Digital Portfolio space.  I may be use a file cabinet in a classroom for some storage over the summer for continuing students.   

Organizational Flow:  Information for the portfolios will be collected throughout he school year and we will do quarterly reviews.  The students will use the standards checklist to decide what to keep during the year and the Multiyear evaluations at the end of the year.  I will be experimenting and getting student feedback. 

Organizational Tools:  There will be a table of contents to organize the portfolio and I will have portfolio labels for students to attach to their work.  I will most likely use post-it notes to make comments on specific works.  Many of the entries will have been already graded.   

Questions:  I am concerned about maintaining an organized systematic flow to the process.  I don’t want to get caught-up in the daily work and not emphasize the importance of the portfolio. 

Security:  The portfolios I have German students do will not contain any highly personal test score information.  I don’t think that security will be a problem. 

 Checklists 

As my students and I work this year with building portfolios we will use the standards checklist (above) and the planning matrix to keep the portfolio organized.  It is important that a variety of artifacts are included. ____________________________________________________________________ 

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Student Self-Assessments 

The following tools from Chapter 6 will be incorporated into the portfolio assessment process (I may not use all of them for every portfolio).  It is important that the students learn to set goals and self-evaluate their progress (accomplishments).  Studies have shown that successful individuals use these skills in order to maintain a focused path.  The hope is to foster lifelong learning, by showing students that they are partners in the learning process.   

            In German, I hope also to help students see concrete evidence of improvement so that they enjoy the language more and see reasons to continue their learning adventure. 

Goal setting  

Goal setting is an important life skill.  Many of the great minds in business and other fields tout the importance of setting goals to achieve success.  I have always found it difficult to actually write down my goals, yet it is easier to revisit and reevaluate a written goal than one in the mind.  Having written goals to reflect on and self-adjust is a crucial step in the portfolio process.  These written goals are the initial benchmarks.  A professional goal as I use the portfolio process in class is to help students see how wonderful and advantageous it is to know a second language.  Knowing German has opened up a whole new world for me and I want to share it.  I would like students to find their own value in it as they take the challenge.  Studying German is helpful to one outside of the school setting. 

Self Assessment Checklist 

I would like to use these checklists as a means of checking my own perceptions and I will let the students know this is one of my goals.  The checklist will be a means of the student recording their progress in work habits, study skills, and organizational skills; and if I have questions, we can talk about evidence and also work on improvement or problem areas.  I believe that students need to be able to monitor their own behavior, products, work habits, and thinking skills.  I want to enhance the social skills in my classroom and create a GERMAN environment, because I know that together we can do it and IT’S FUN. 

My Strengths and My Challenges 

As working professionals, people are often asked to list their strengths and weaknesses, the “My Strengths and Challenges” worksheet is a variation of this and it is an important tool.  Weaknesses as one of my portfolio classroom colleagues pointed out, are not bad unless you choose to ignore them.  These are areas we want to work on and there will always be areas to improve (nobody is perfect J).  Being able to phrase weaknesses in a manner which shows that you are a thinking individual is a skill that deserves attention.  So in this section we will be focusing on strengths and challenges as a means of growth!  

My Learning List & Journal 

I really like the learning lists and I would like to use them, because they are short and concise.  I would use the journal as a means of further reflective thinking.  I don’t have the students express themselves in English often and this would give me a way to see some of their thoughts and concerns, without us talking in class in English J.   

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Metacognitive Reflection Tools: 

Planning:

Visualization:  On the left side of a double entry journal I will have my students imagine what their portfolios might look like and what they are likely to demonstrate to an audience.  This vision is meant to be rough.  When the portfolio is complete they will comment on the process. 

Strategic Planning:  The strategic plan will follow my sequence and lesson planning.  This is a map that will require revision and changes even as the unit/quarter/semester/year progresses.  The students/ may develop a strategic plan together as time progresses. 

Establishing Benchmarks:  The portfolio process is long and my goal is to use the units as chunks.  The units together with standards will build the backbone of the portfolios.  I will encourage students to add any original work that they do outside of the units. 

Monitoring:

Labeling:  Labeling the work will make the portfolio easier to navigate.  For electronic portfolios it will be important to make sure all of the links are working and are organized.  Labels give the final portfolio more character as personalized comments and anecdotes are added. 

Bridging Questions:  These essential questions build continuity within the portfolio.  It shows the reader that the designer is aware of the process and keeps the designer focused on the goals and standards. 

Evaluating:

Artifact Registry:  This log allows students to look back and see the history of the portfolio and it’s growth and is important along with the log of deletions and additions. 

Anecdotes:  I especially like the anecdotes, because they help in the process of telling the story.  I have enjoyed reading anecdotes, because they add an additional dimension to the project or activity. 

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Assessment & Evaluation 

Most of the items in the portfolio will have been previously graded at the time of the assignment, so I have decided to do one grade for the entire portfolio combined with comments on some selections.  I will be especially looking for student evaluations and evidence of growth and meeting standards.   

Portfolio Rubric 

Student:  __________________________ Level: _______ Date: ______ 

o Self-Evaluation           o Peer-Evaluation           o Teacher Evaluation 

Portfolio Rubric … cont.

Something that I wish had been acknowledged in the rubric that wasn’t covered:

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Teacher Planner

For Portfolio Conferences

Who will be involved?

Classmates, teacher (possibly another teacher/counselor), other German classes, parents*

What type of portfolio conference will be planned?

Initially I will have the students have student-student conferences, then I would like to expand.  For electronic portfolios, I would like to have the students invite others to comment via email.  I plan to have the students share their portfolios with their parents at home, allow parents to comment at conferences, and perhaps have a portfolio exhibition at a German awards night in April or May.  This will have to be well planned

What are the goals?

The goal will be decided by the class.  One goal will be to share achievements with class members and others.  I will also have the students write their own goals.

When/Where/How Long?

The peer conferences will take place at the end of each of the four quarters and/or as a part of the final semester exam period.   The students will be seated in pairs to share and then go to groups of 4 and 8 (progressively).  We may wish to combine foods from the German speaking countries with this conference.

The parent-teacher conferences are in November and in March and at this time students can share their portfolios with their parents.  The sharing will take place before the conference date. 

When I do the showcase the portfolios will be arranged on tables for the parents and guests to view at their leisure.  At this event I would have juice and cookies. J

How will you evaluate the conferences?

I will have the students fill out portfolio conference evaluations and then a PMI Chart to evaluate the overall conference and give suggestions.

My Learner Profile

This learner profile was completed in June of 2002 and is a record of where I am today.  I will continue to improve as I grow as a teacher. J

Name: Cherie Lodl
Date: June 22, 2002

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