Tips and Guidelines for Portfolio Preparation & Presentation*

Tips from former student teachers:

1.  Don't procrastinate!  Work on your portfolio regularly throughout your coursework and student teaching.

2.  Get the Performance Task charts done (as much as possible) BEFORE you student teach!

3.  Request that your professors accept your project for the Performance Task as an artifact to be put in your portfolio rather than as a hard copy of a paper or project.

4.  Take advantage of computer lab time built into seminars!

5.  Use off-campus computing  (remote access and VPN)!

The Portfolio Presentation should be considered a pseudo-interview.  As such there are a number of things about which you should be mindful as you strive to create a professional presentation.

1.  Your attire should reflect a professional (not sexy) appearance.  Schools, in general are conservative work environments.  Your attire for the presentation should reflect how you would dress for an interview in this environment.

2.  Remove your gum when speaking.

3.  Talk to your audience as you would a panel of educators who may want to offer you a position.  Eliminate distracting language like "um", "you know", "like", "you guys", etc. 

4.  Be mindful of your body language and what you "aren't saying" (e.g. stand up straight, arms uncrossed, etc.).

5.  Each portfolio presentation will be a little different and that is fine.  The portfolio is a professional glimpse of you, the individual and teacher.

6. The direction your presentation takes (e.g. what you choose to show, talk about, or highlight) is, in most cases, up to you.  Some supervisors may ask to see certain documents while other supervisors will let you decide how to present your artifacts.  Check with your supervisor for direction on this.

7.  The length of the presentation depends on the size of the cohort group.  Generally, each person is given 10 - 15 minutes of presentation time.  Plan your time well by rehearsing what you will say and do during the time you share your portfolio.

8.  Make sure your portfolio includes all the necessary items as they are listed in the Portfolio Checklist.

9.  Check the Portfolio Rubric to see what your supervisor will be looking for in terms of quality of your portfolio in general and your artifacts in particular.  This form is signed by both you and the supervisor and turned in along with a copy of your portfolio on CD.

10. Following your presentation, your supervisor may ask the audience (your cohort group) to comment on the strengths of your portfolio and for suggestions that may assist you in improving it for the future.

Remember that a portfolio is never a completed project.  It is always an ongoing work in progress.  Each time you change professionally, it also changes.  Make a mental note to go back to your portfolio over and over again.

*Mr. Boyd Campbell, UWSP student teacher supervisor, is the author of many of these suggestions.  Additional contributions to this list were written by Dr. Sue Slick.