Holy buckets! Get ready for a load of work!
I do have to say that one of the perks of this program versus another is that the final task is a portfolio and not a thesis. However, as a few of our cohort members have already mentioned, it would have been greatly beneficial to have some understanding and mention of how the portfolio was going to play into everything else. There were several tasks that I struggled with putting together, mostly because I couldn't see them having an immediate place (or any place) with my little kiddos in early elementary. Having the guidance of the standards that we had to select, or knowing how it would be used later on for the portfolio, may have helped give me a little more direction, which also creates a peace of mind and confidence that what I was doing had a place and focus. I pulled a bunch of artifacts and put them into my site already, but realized that most of them were created with an inspiration from the program, not necessarily for the program. I hope that at some point, there will be an opportunity to look through them with the class (not just teammates) and that the instructor will be taking a peek, so that if something isn't correctly placed, it isn't addressed on the last week, but sooner.
I agree and am too worried about the amount of work and the work samples that are required. It is important to have good samples that reflect our growth in the program and not just forms of what was meant to be done.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the fact that we're placing these artifacts so early in the class is a sign that they'll be reviewed by a few different people. But yes, I agree that I hope we do get some support on that.
ReplyDeleteI have the same concerns! I wish I would've known exactly what was expected when we started so I made sure to make artifacts that fit what was expected. On the other hand, I am glad we are making a portfolio instead of writing a paper. I feel down the road if I were to look for a new job a portfolio would be something I could use as a resource.
ReplyDeleteSome of our instructors required us to create everything in Wolfmail Docs and label it so it could be easily found later, but I think about half of our work was not required in that fashion. Docs even has the ability to "tag" documents for later searching, which would make this process easier. As great as using the WIKIs and other tools were, I really wish we had known more about the portfolio process earlier on....and for that matter reminded about it in every class!
ReplyDeleteThe standards will be the big hurdle for me. We haven't really focused on them up front in too many of the classes we've had. They've always been lurking behind the scenes and I guess now is the time when they're going to rear their ugly heads...
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