Do you use an ongoing portfolio system? How do you keep track of students’ daily performance each day, month, or year? What if each teacher turned in useful student work samples to the student’s new teacher for the upcoming school year? If so, this would help the upcoming teacher make informed decisions based on the student’s previous performance. The reality is, the more data we have, the better informed our instructional decisions will be. Portfolios aren’t perfect—new students don’t have portfolios when they first enroll in the school, portfolios are sometimes incomplete, and students’ skill mastery may erode somewhat during long breaks—but it is valuable nonetheless. Even if the use of a portfolio isn’t your reality, having access to any of your students’ previous work may help you to get a better idea of your students’ strengths and needs.
As you begin looking through students’ portfolios, I have identified places where the use of a portfolio can help start a conversation and give a stronger picture of a student’s strengths and areas of growth:

• Grade level planning meetings
• Data meetings
• Parent conferences
• PLCs
• Student conferences
  

​So the question is, how can you use portfolios to get to know your students’ strengths and needs? Portfolios provide a snapshot of the strengths and areas of growth for students. There are great benefits for using portfolios as a strong data point to quickly determine a great starting point for the year. Because there isn’t a formula for developing portfolios each year, it can be challenging to know what’s useful and what’s not. 

I had an interesting conversation with a parent and we were talking about how we both don’t have time to sit down and enjoy a good book. Better yet, our love for reading is beginning to diminish because of our busy schedules. We were brainstorming on ways to help our struggles. I shared with her how our “no TVs in room” rule backfired on us! Our kids begin to stay up until eleven and twelve o’clock, laying in their bed, listening to audio books. Between Harry Potter, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Percy Jackson, my children were fully engaged. I quickly realized that learning was taking place, regardless of their ages. To this day, my elementary, middle, and high school children STILL love to fall asleep to a good audio book. Auditory and comprehension skills were strengthening even in their sleep…literally. Audio books are a type of Read Aloud and they are great for English Language Learners, struggling readers, special education students, and all learners kindergarten & beyond. The power behind a live Read Aloud is when the reader stops and models their thinking. Seems simple but it’s so helpful. In addition, you are modeling good fluency. I remember how excited and animated I would get and how my upset my students would get when we ran out of time. Showing students how to engage with the text helps to foster or strengthen their love for reading. Here are a few questions that I would ask myself as I read to my students...

• What does the author want me to know?
• What does ______ mean?
• Can I relate to that character?
• I predict…