All teachers, from newly licensed teachers to those with years of experience, should have a teaching portfolio. Summarize your career and accomplishments in a way that goes far beyond a resume. But this valuable tool isn’t just for those actively searching for jobs. Here’s why and how to create and maintain your own teaching portfolio, plus plenty of real-world examples for inspiration.
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What is an education portfolio?
An education portfolio is a tool that highlights your strengths as an education professional. It can be used as a binder for paper-based materials to neatly organize and display them. Or, as is becoming increasingly popular these days, it can be digital, including videos and other multimedia elements. Most teachers use portfolios as a way to prove their abilities and accomplishments when interviewing for new positions.
Why do I need to create a teaching portfolio?
If you’re actively looking for a new job, you probably already have a portfolio on hand. You can bring real-life examples of yourself to the interview, such as lesson plans, photos and videos, and notes from children and parents. All of these will help potential employers get a more detailed picture of you as a candidate.
However, even teachers who are not currently job searching should keep their teaching portfolios up to date. By documenting your professional development, you can demonstrate that you meet the criteria for promotions and other advancement opportunities. Additionally, it pays to be prepared. Creating and updating an education portfolio takes time, but if you suddenly find yourself facing the job market again, it’s much better to add to your portfolio a little at a time than to build an entirely new portfolio from scratch. It’s easy.
But more than that, updating your portfolio gives you the opportunity to reflect on your accomplishments and identify opportunities for improvement. You will have the opportunity to reflect on your entire journey as an education professional and celebrate your successes. This is a huge advantage when being an educator is a little more difficult than you thought.
What does a strong teaching portfolio include?
Every teaching portfolio is different. The goal is to show your experience from different angles and highlight your accomplishments. Be sure to include quality examples to prove the points you want to make about yourself as an educator. Here are some common factors to consider.
educational philosophy
Each teacher should take a moment to think about the question, “What is your teaching philosophy?” Include this at the beginning of your portfolio and make sure the examples you provide throughout support that philosophy. To get started, check out these 40 examples of educational philosophies.
Career overview
This is similar to a resume, but allows you to provide more detailed information. This is where you can see the subjects, grades, and ages you taught, along with a list of the topics and materials you covered. Be sure to highlight the courses you’ve built from scratch and any significant professional development you’ve completed.
teaching sample
I’ll include some examples of particularly strong lesson plans, as well as samples of materials such as worksheets that I’ve personally created. For a digital portfolio, include a few carefully selected videos of classroom activities in action.
student’s work
You don’t need to cram your portfolio with endless student projects and materials, but you should choose a few representative samples that you’re particularly proud of. Include some work that shows how you will provide feedback to help students improve, such as suggested edits to drafts of the essay or notes for incorrect answers.
Evaluation and communication
This section is a place for positive communication, such as thank you notes from parents and students, statements about your accomplishments from colleagues and supervisors, and more. Include student evaluations and documentation of the student’s progress under your guidance.
professional achievements
Have you ever published an article in a magazine or written a textbook? Have a thriving Teachers Pay Teachers store or a blog with thousands of followers? Show your influence with this section of your portfolio Please flaunt it. Additionally, list any awards, honors, speaking engagements, committees, or other ways in which you have been recognized for excellence.
How do I choose materials for my portfolio?
As you begin to create your teaching portfolio, keep in mind that your goal is to provide evidence of your teaching experience from a wide range of sources. As you gather and organize your portfolio materials, you’ll have a better idea of what you want to include. Here are some tips to help you get started.
To be honest, when putting together your teaching portfolio, you don’t want to overstate your experience or qualifications. It doesn’t have to look perfect! Your portfolio must be an accurate and fair representation of your teaching career. Tell the world all about your successes. But don’t ignore losses either. Instead, focus on how you learned from the negative experience. Choose wisely: Include materials that demonstrate different aspects of your teaching. Choose carefully and think seriously. It is much better to have a strong, well-chosen set of materials than a large collection of documents that is unfiltered and overwhelming for the reader. Be organized: Your teaching portfolio should have a clear structure so readers can easily find the content they want to review. Include a table of contents and headers to keep everything organized.
Education portfolio example
Still not sure how to get started or looking for new ideas? Check out examples of top-notch teaching portfolios from real educators. Each has its own unique style and reflects the personality of its creator. You are sure to find some inspiration!
personal website portfolio
This digital portfolio has a clean presentation with simple navigation. A professional appearance will go a long way in selling this person as a potential hire. This teacher uses powerful examples, sample lesson plans, and videos to express herself in the best way possible.
Learn more: Gretchen Sabel
Google Sites Portfolio
Your digital portfolio should be well-organized and make it easy for people to learn about you. Share a link to your resume and cover letter, and bring your tablet or laptop to the interview so you can show it off at the interview as well. Primary Paradise has lots of great tips for creating high-quality portfolios using Google Sites, a free and easy hosting option.
Learn more: Elementary Paradise
Digital Professional Education Portfolio
This example digital portfolio includes a variety of subjects and helps showcase this teacher’s diverse experience. Many high-quality images help illustrate her achievements.
Learn more: Megan Carnaghi
Print student and teacher portfolios
In this video, a newly hired teacher in her first role shows off the portfolio that got her the job. If you have just finished your student teaching experience, this example is perfect for you.
More information: Hello Middle School (via YouTube)
Digital student and teacher portfolio
See examples of digital portfolios for student teachers looking for their first job. This example focuses on teaching philosophy, student engagement, classroom management, letters of recommendation, and more.
Learn more: Professor Cassandra Burke Portfolio
substitute teacher portfolio
Are you looking for a full-time position? Or are you considering moving from part-time to something more permanent? This teaching portfolio created by Sarah Cheesman may be perfect for you! Alternative Education work, as well as other relevant professional experience.
Learn more: Sarah Cheeseman
Hybrid education portfolio
This traditional style portfolio is digitized to PDF so you can access it anywhere. It is very comprehensive and contains a lot of valuable information for schools considering hiring.
Learn more: Holly Factora’s portfolio
World Language Teacher Portfolio
If you teach world languages or specialized classes, this example may be more useful to you. This Spanish teacher included comments from students and information about engaging classroom activities.
More information: Tyson Hazard, Spanish Instructor
Portfolio update
This YouTube video reviews what a third grade teacher included in her portfolio when she was looking for her first job. Throughout the video, you’ll get tips for revisiting and updating your teaching portfolio.
More information: Mrs. Katie at Elementary School (via YouTube)
Experienced teacher portfolio
In this video, a teacher with several years of experience presents a detailed portfolio. A great feature of this portfolio is that it uses a QR code to link to your digital website or portfolio.
More information: Busy with Mrs. Barron (via YouTube)
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