Before assembling your portfolio, begin planning by thinking about purpose and audience. Teachers develop portfolios for a range of purposes--job searches, departmental reviews, award nominations, and other situations--and each brings an audience with a unique set of expectations and needs. Reflecting on purpose and audience can help give shape to your portfolio.
What is your main purpose in creating this portfolio? What basic argument about your teaching will you make, and why?
Who are the primary readers? What do you know about their beliefs about good teaching? Are their beliefs consistent with your own?
What types of evidence of teaching effectiveness will be most convincing to these readers? What evidence will they expect to find?
Assessing and Refining Your Draft
Finally, when you have drafted your portfolio, think back to your analysis of the audience and purpose and consider whether your document will achieve what you set out to do. Does your portfolio give the reader a sense of who you are as a teacher? What is the most striking claim you make about your teaching in the portfolio? Will the evidence presented for this claim be convincing for this audience? Are all of the claims and evidence offered for teaching effectiveness relevant?
