Developing your Early Childhood Education Portfolio

A portfolio documents your beliefs, development, experience, and classroom use of best practices. It is a visual tool to help you verbally answer questions.

The key to success lies in how you organize and use the portfolio.

The Presentation

  • The first glimpse a potential employer or instructor gets of your e-portfolio is the cover. It should be professionally designed. Make sure your name stands out in a way that identifies you as the creator of this professional document.

Setting Up Your E-Portfolio

Organization of the Portfolio

A e-portfolio can be placed on a CD, memory stick or sent electronically. Dividers designate each section, to assist with management. To access materials within each section, hyperlink tabs should be used.

Sections

Personalize the entrance page with title, your complete name (no nicknames), school, and date and decorated in a professional manner. The next slide or title page will include your name, the internship teacher’s name, grade level, name of the school in which you are interning, and dates of internship.

Table of Contents

The Table of Contents organizes the evidence you wish to display. The Table of Contents should be a directory of all the documents that are included in your portfolio, listed in the order in which they appear. Do not number items or pages because the articles may be constantly changing or being added to.

Philosophy Statement

This should be placed after the Table of Contents and will lay the foundation for your portfolio. Your philosophy statement is thoughtful, well-written philosophy statement detailing you beliefs and values related to teaching, learning and young children. After you have written your philosophy practice before videoing and inserting into your document.

Section I: Personal Background

This section provides a glimpse of you as an ECHE student, and offers a profile of your background and experiences.

Answer question: Insert scans when appropriate

  • Who am I? (something about yourself, your interests and hobbies)
  • What is important for others to know about me? Why you decided to become an educator. What qualities do you possess that will enhance your qualifications as a teacher? What were some early experiences influenced why you want to teach and how you plan to teach?
  • What experiences have I had that will demonstrate my readiness to teach?
  • This section also contains an autobiography, a resume, and a copy of a recent report card, references, certificates, certifications, and supporting documents.Letters of reference (3)
  • Records of workshops and other training
  • List of memberships (NTHS, FCCLA, NHS, BETA) and offices held
  • Certificates of achievement for volunteer work or professional development

What to include in your e-portfolio

Typical contents include:

  • Cover Page
  • Title Page
  • Table of contents
  • Résumé
  • Statement of philosophy on early childhood care and education
  • Letters of reference (3)
  • Records of workshops and other training
  • List of memberships (NTHS, FCCLA, NHS, BETA) and offices held
  • Certificates of achievement for volunteer work or professional development
  • Classroom experiences (Internship)
  • Reference letter from mentoring teacher
  • Lesson plans that you have created, that demonstrates your competency to effectively create developmentally appropriate activities in math, science, art, pre-literacy and social studies and any supporting photos. For example, if your plan outlines an art and math lesson in which the children made a shape collage, add in photos of the child made art work.
  • Add video of reading activity, puppetry, teaching activities
  • Field trip announcements (if participate in during internship)
  • A few photographs or samples of children’s work related directly to and placed with the featured lesson plans or field trip. Take pictures of children’s work.
  • Sample letter to families or other form of family communication
  • Examples of steps to guide a child’s behavior

Additional items

  • Latest report card
  • CPR certification if have

Things you’ll need:

  • Computer
  • Scanner
  • Lesson plans
  • Photos of classroom activities
  • Camera
  • Report card

Resources

1.

2. The Benefits of Developing a Professional Portfolio by Cheryl Priest

3. Star Events: Early Childhood, Star Events Manual, Family Career and Community Leaders of America, Inc.

Section II: Preparation:

Theorists and Theories

  • Maslow
  • Bloom
  • Erikson

Lesson Plans

Lesson plans that you have created, that demonstrates your competency to effectively create developmentally appropriate activities in math, science, art, pre-literacy and social studies and any supporting photos. For example, if your plan outlines an art and math lesson in which the children made a shape collage, add in photos of the child made art work.

  • Math
  • Science
  • English
  • Reading
  • Physical Activities

Philosophy of Education

I believe that…

Each child is a gift.

Fun equates to engaging in active learning.

My job has great significance

Each child is significant and has special needs.

A teacher is a facilitator of education.

Teaching will not only benefit the children, but also myself.

Children learn by interaction and play.

Communication between facilitator and parents is very important.

I can touch and impact children’s lives.

I will be a great teacher because it is such a hug part of who I am

And who I want to be.

My Philosophy of Education Statement

I believe

That the goal of education is

I believe

That knowledge is gained through experiences. A child needs more than

I believe

That the role of a teacher is

I believe

That all children should have the opportunity to a full education. Children are

I believe

That a teacher should build and keep strong working relationships with

Use some (minimum of 3) of the following quotes and describe in a paragraph what it means to you.

Example 1 of Resume:

For job seekers with solid experience and a logical job history, the chronological resume is the most effective. Career changers and those who lack formal on-the-job experience (like new graduates) find this resume the most difficult to write.

Example 2 of Resume:

The functional resume might be thought of as a "problem solving" format. The functional resume gives you latitude to "make sense" of your work history and match up skills and accomplishments that might not be obvious to the employer in a traditional chronological format.


Rubric for Portfolio Evaluation

Criteria / Performance Level
Contains required content / One / Two / Three
Contain required content / Missing many parts or significant ones / Nearly all parts included; may have small omissions / Contains all required content; may contain more than required
Well organized / No sense of order apparent; random arrangement / Minor problems with arrangement; may lack logical progression / Order follows table of contents in logical pattern
Clearly written / Written material lacks complete sentences; meaning hard to follow / Points made are understandable although not polished / Writing is clear and thoughtful, with out-standing vocabulary and phrasing
Free of grammar problems / Written material contain many grammar problems; hampers readability / Some grammar mistakes are present; no evidence of a serous problem / Few, if any, grammar problems; attention given to detail
Content accurate / Questionable material in terms of accuracy; may not have used resources / Effort made to make sure information is accurate; may be some questions / Evident that reliable resources were used; ideas carefully stated
Content thorough / Skippy work; items lack complete coverage; missing information / Topics covered adequately but not in depth / Topics covered well; provides extra coverage that adds information and interest
Contains original work / Little attempt to do any original thinking; may have copied ideas from resources and peers / Effort made to come up with original ideas and materials / Highly successful in coming up with own ideas and materials; evident throughout strong reliance on own skills
Shows creativity / Little or no attempt at presenting work in interesting, creative manner / Effort made to take a creative approach on most projects / Demonstrates highly creative approach; ideas and materials are distinctive and presented in interesting way
Demonstrates knowledge / Material shows little mastery of subject / Material shows working knowledge of subject / Material shows mastery of subject and perhaps knowledge beyond that learned in class
Shows skill development / Few, if any, work samples show skills the student has practiced and improved / Work samples show several skills the student has practiced and improved / Skills are amply depicted in work samples; clearly shows how student has advanced and acquired skills
Neatly presented / Poor appearance: rumpled, dirty papers; material not typed; lacks margins, headers, etc. / Acceptable appearance, but could use some improvement / Outstanding appearance; clean and neat; may have used design elements that add to presentation
Appropriate for use in job search / Would hinder student when presented during a job interview / Would be helpful in showing abilities to a prospective employer / Promotes the student in a very positive way; likely to contribute to securing a job.

Resources

1.

2. The Benefits of Developing a Professional Portfolio by Cheryl Priest

3. Star Events: Early Childhood, Star Events Manual, Family Career and Community Leaders of America, Inc.

4. Developing and Presenting a Professional Portfolio in Early Childhood Education, 2nd edition, by Nancy W. Wiltz, ISBN-13: 978-0-13-714914-8