Teaching portfolios

Summer is a great time to take stock of your professional progress, to think about where you are and where you hope to be going, and to compile evidence of your work. What did you accomplish in the last academic year, and what do you want to try next year? Are there any gaps in your experience? The teaching portfolio provides a model of how to do that for teaching, but it could be applied to your research agenda as well.

Take time to work on your teaching portfolio this summer. Even if you don’t think that you will need a full portfolio for the job market or promotion, it’s a helpful way to organize your teaching materials. Are there any gaps in your teaching experience that you can try to fill next year? Are you keeping track of your evaluations and other feedback you receive? Do you have an idea for a course you might want to propose, or a syllabus you want to develop? How do you want to talk about your teaching? Keep a folder of materials and remember to save emails or notes of praise so you have everything in one place. Working on this now will help you continue to be intentional with your teaching and to have your materials ready when you need them. 

Polished Owl has a great guide that walks you through all the components of the Teaching Portfolio! Check it out and add it to your list of summer projects. You will be well on your way to becoming a reflective practitioner.  Want to talk more? Don’t hesitate to be in touch.