Leave the paper behind. Reflect, blog, organize on-line. Upload documents, add photos and podcasts, even add links to websites and videos. Online portfolios are a great way to get students reflecting on their learning, keeping track of their progress, and inviting parents into the classroom to catch a glimpse of the way the classroom works and their child's assignments. Edmodo, Sophia, and seesaw are all great programs available to have students create interactive notebooks online. Portfolios or interactive notebooks have many purposes but most importantly it is a fun, creative way for students to stay organized and motivated.
Feedback can be instant. Students share their ideas via the class blog through writing and podcasts. Every student has a voice and they can chose to make something public for the class or private to me. Also, only their parents have access to their portfolio. Writing a class blog keeps the class discussions open and flowing even outside of school. Students post questions and they answer each others inquiries. This builds a community of learning. This also, builds trust and respect as before any entry gets posted to the class page, it is approved by me. I model blogging and podcasts as well to make sure students are comfortable posting and sharing.
Reflection is key for growth. Having students write privately for me as well as for one another keeps them focused on becoming better writers as well as better listeners. They need to read several other blog posts per week and comment on them. The conversation is fluid and informative. Their portfolios are full of writing samples, pictures of makerspace assignments, podcasts, videos etc. This gives students one place to check out their progress. Also, when their grade falls behind parents can also see their progress and what they are missing. Better communication, better progress. Interactive notebooks have become the norm in many classroom, however, online-portfolios have not yet truly taken off. But, with a little patience they can be integrated into any classroom making it more inclusive, engaging, and cooperative.
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