Student Portfolios on Google Drive

Google Drive is a phenomenal teacher’s tool.  We can use it for instant feedback, exit tickets, parent surveys, student forms….the list goes on, and I’ll have more on that later.  For today, what I want to focus on is creating Student Portfolios via the Drive.  With the end of Quarter 1 just around the corner, it’s time for students to start compiling their work and evaluating their growth.  What better way to do that than digitally?

1:  To begin, login to your Gmail account and enter the Drive. 

2:  Create a folder on your Drive and label it “Student Portfolios.” 

3:  Next, create new folders within the “Student Portfolios” folder for each student in your class. 

4:  Share each student’s individual folder with them.  Be sure to enable them to edit the folders so that they can create Docs and upload projects to it in the future.

5:  Whenever your students create projects for classes, direct them to save them to their portfolio folder.

That’s it!

Each teacher should then modify the portfolio requirements for what works best for individual classes.

Here's an example of what I’ve created as a quarterly reflective system for the portfolios.  See the outline below:

STUDENT PORTFOLIOS:

Students will save all major tests, quizzes, and projects in a folder during each quarter.  They will then submit their best work for each subject per quarter by writing an evaluation/justification for why they selected each piece.  Each student will address the following questions in the evaluation/justification:

1:  This piece is about….

2:  Things I did well are….

3:  Two things I can improve on are….

4:  This piece displays that I have learned….

5:  I am proud of this work because….

Students may be given time in class to complete the portfolio evaluation/ justification piece, or they may receive it as homework.  The following rubric will be used to assess the portfolio submissions:

PORTFOLIO SUBMISSION RUBRIC

	3	2	1
Skill Growth	The piece portrays exemplary student growth compared to the last quarter’s work.  At least 4 areas of growth can be identified.	The piece portrays adequate student growth compared to last quarter’s work.  At least 2 areas of growth can be identified.	The piece portrays minimal student growth compared to last quarter’s work.  One or no areas of growth can be identified in the piece.
Justification/Evaluation	The student addresses each of the five evaluation prompts in full, providing at least two solid examples of either growth demonstration or needs of improvement in all responses.	The student addresses each of the five evaluation prompts, providing at least one solid example of either growth or needs of improvement for each response.	The student does not address all five points of the evaluation, or fails to provide examples for his/her reasoning in a prompt.

 Student Reflection Prompts:

Name:                                                                                     Date: 

1:  This piece is about….

2:  Things I did well are….

3:  Two things I can improve on are….

4:  This piece displays that I have learned….

5:  I am proud of this work because….