Teaching Portfolios

Portfolios can be an excellent way to keep track of your experience and showcase tangible examples during interviews. Creating a portfolio can provide a convenient and extensive way to organize your academic and career achievements. We recommend creating a portfolio as it can assist you during your academic experience, during interviews, and in transition to your teaching career.

Recommendations
● Be intentional about what you include. Display achievements you are most proud of, your best work, and specific samples of your teaching experience.
● Tailor your portfolio to the particular job you are applying for.
● Keep your portfolio up to date – it will be continuously updated throughout your career.
● Reflective components can add more personalization. Include details such as what you did, why you did it, and how the experience met the outcome goals.

Types of Portfolios
You may have a hard copy (organized in a professional 3-ring binder) or created in online resources. The information can be used in resumes to show tangible evidence and examples (for electric portfolios you can link the address directly on your resume).

What to Include

● Table of Contents
● Resume
● Transcripts or copy of your diploma
● State certification
● Letters of recommendation/references
● Certificates and awards
● Statement of teaching philosophy
● Short statement of career plans/future goals
● Student teacher evaluation report
● Summary or examples of pupils’ evaluations of teaching/student teaching
● Original test and test item analysis
● Samples of lesson plans
● Learning activity packet
● Pictures of bulletin boards
● Case study of pupil
● Course projects, work samples, etc documenting skills and achievements
● Writing samples (published articles, newsletters, etc)
● Continuing education units (CEUs)

Arrange these in an order that makes sense for and is easy for you to navigate.

Adapted from resources at the University of Notre Dame and the University of
Minnesota