Digital Portfolio Reviews

Kathleen Fischer’s Electronic Portfolio
1. My first impression of her portfolio was that it was really busy, and I didn’t know where to look first. It didn’t look very well organized, but it seemed very interesting and stimulating. I liked all the colors she used, and how her picture is very real and not posed at all. I also liked that her resume was right on the homepage so it was easy to access.
2. Kathleen’s strengths are that she has a lot of credentials, and she seems very familiar with technology. She also provided images and visuals of her artifacts, and those helped intrigue me instead of just plain text. There are examples for each thing she includes, so this gives her credibility.
3. I can see that Kathleen is very active, and she definitely loves what she does. She’s also very creative, and an entrepreneur because she’s using ads to make money off of her portfolio. This shows the vastness of her ability, and how she might be able to help in positive ways at a school to use the resources available.
4. I would hire this person as a future teacher, because she seems very innovative and goal-oriented. She knows how to maximize her resources by making money off of her portfolio with the ads she’s using. She also seems very ready and willing to be flexible with people and new, unique programs.


Kye S. Hedlund’s Electronic Portfolio
1. My first impression of Kye’s portfolio was that it is really bland, and lots of small text with no pictures. It didn’t capture my interest or attention, and the colors weren’t stimulating at all. It seemed to be time-consuming to read, and nothing that would really be beneficial to me as a reader.
2. Kye’s portfolio seems to have lots of useful and credible information, and it is organized well. His weaknesses are that he has too much text, no pictures, and no vibrant colors. This does not promote good visual literacy, and it doesn’t intrigue the reader. They would have to be reading for a purpose, and not just browsing.
3. Kye seems very professional, but not too innovative when it comes to his portfolio. I’m sure that he gets his point across, and he accomplishes his main goal of putting his resume and artifacts online. But most people would not be attracted or impressed by this kind of webpage. It is not attractive or pleasing to the eyes. I’m sure Kye gets things done, but is more old-fashioned and less open to change.
4. I would not hire this person because his webpage bored me. He could be interesting, but his portfolio does not portray that at all. I need something that is exciting and enthusiastic, and I most likely wouldn’t get to the bottom of his portfolio without being bored and needing something more exhilarating.

Angela Veenstra’s Electronic Portfolio
1. I really liked Angela’s portfolio. The color scheme was good, and it seemed simple, but interesting. To open with a picture lets the reader get to know a little bit more about her, and have a visual to picture as they read her thoughts. She seemed very inviting and casual in her photos, but also professional with the way her portfolio is set up.
2. Angela’s strengths are that she did a good job with visual literacy, and her format is very organized and thorough. I liked that she had links to her blog and website, so if the reader wanted to learn more they wouldn’t have to look very hard. A weakness to her portfolio is that it’s the standard outline, and there’s nothing that jumps out to me about it. She could have put some more creativity into it, and really made an impact on whoever was reading it at the time.
3. Angela’s personality is conveyed as laid-back, relaxed, and sweet. She looks very approachable, but she gets the job done. She also portrays someone that works well with others, and can be innovative when put up to the challenge.
4. I would hire Angela because she seems very approachable, and willing to go above and beyond for others. She can organize, and create projects with thorough information. She also seems like an asset to any faculty or employer.

Jennifer Hedrick’s Electronic Portfolio
1. Jennifer’s portfolio was very appealing and organized when I first look at it. She put up pictures not just of her, but of her with her students. This is very positive when it comes to working in a classroom. It shows that she has experience. I also liked the colors she used.
2. Jennifer has many strengths in her portfolio. She has links to her blog, resume, and other artifacts that she has created. It gives the reader some room to explore and get to know her a little bit more. She also included a lot of information about herself. A weakness is that she doesn’t have a lot to read other than her artifacts. By creating her webpage more interesting might make someone want to read and explore more.
3. From her portfolio, I think Jennifer is a very outgoing, interpersonal candidate for teaching. She included pictures of her smiling, and interacting with students. She seems to get along with others well, and will work hard to create an awesome product.
4. I would hire Jennifer because she could add a lot to the school, and can work to establish technology in the classroom. She has done a good job so far with her own webpage and portfolio.

The Struggle of English Language Learners

I've been reading some journal articles about different topics in education, and one article really set itself apart from the rest. It is called Testing Tension: Weigh Proficiency, Assess Content. I found it through the Rod Library's website on the University of Northern Iowa webpage. It came from a journal article in Education Week. Here are some of the interesting things I read from this article.

One good point that the article made was standardized tests that are required by the No Child Left Behind act are not fitting for some students. Since they are mandatory, teachers must require all students to complete them, even ELL students. Some think that this is creating a test anxiety since they are not prepared to complete them. Also, since standardized tests are given in English, ELL students are reviewed on how well they can explain themselves in English, and not their mastery of the material.

Another thing this article talked about how diverse the United States is, and how many ELL students are attending school. In Tennessee, within a typical year, there are 115-130 native languages represented by people that live there! Also, it takes a person around 5-7 years to learn lanauge. If we put this in the context of ELL students attending American schools, they might not fully comprehend English while going to school. And yet, these tests are incorporated students who can't even understand the questions. Isn't there a better way to assess all students, whom all learn differently and express themselves in different ways? This is something that each teacher must ask themselves. Are they willing to go the extra mile to differentiate instruction for each student with needs, even if it's a language barrier?

The National Association for Gifted Children's website shows a bar graph of the amount of funding that each program gets within an average school. Even this graph shows how an ELL program does not get an adequate amount of funding because of No Child Left Behind.

Are You Book Smart?

For so long, I have thought of someone as smart if they know alot of facts, and score well on math tests. But I learned very quickly that these are not the only areas which we can be tested and evaluated in. The idea of researching more information about multiple intelligences was very captivating and convincing of my time. I have studied this topic through a class called "Expressive Arts in the Elementary Classoom," and it clearly identifies children excelling in areas other than reading, writing, and arithmetic.

I found a particular blog called Lawasgna: Alternating Layers of thoughts, tricks, tips and other ingrediants to live and learn well in law and beyond. The writer's name is Anastasia Pryanikova. She seems to be very knowledgeable about the topic of multiple intelligneces, and very willing to share everything she knows with the rest of cyberspace. One of her posts was titled Kinesthetic Intelligence: Learning through Dance, and this caught my attention right away because one of my strengths in learning is by kinesthetically approaching a subject or topic.

I found an interesting link in this post to another blog entitled The brain dancer: How about a little movement in your mediation? Just a little? This was another blog post about stepping outside the social norms of teaching and viewing it as a challenge of how to reach students. It creates excitement in the classroom, and leaves an impression on students, and most likely impacts them more than a textbook or diagram could do. There is also an example of a dance that illustrates different regular and irregular verbs. This is a great idea and convenient resource for the classroom!

Both of these writers know alot about the topic they are discussing, and present in a way that is easy to follow, and they provide valid resources and links to their ideas. The information in the blogs is made up of facts, and some opinions. But there is nothing that is going to offend or speak out against anyone's thoughts or beliefs. In this changing world, everyone's new ideas are welcomed, and this is just one out of several that are available. After reading these blogs, I have to wonder, "Is there an end to creativity?"