Before you begin to develop any professional portfolio, reflect upon these questions:

Important Questions

Before you begin to develop any professional portfolio, you must reflect upon these questions in order to develop a theme or direction.

Who am I as a teacher? What are my greatest assets?
What do I understand and believe about how children learn?
How do I facilitate the learning of all children and work effectively with diversity? What have I done that distinguishes me from the "average" pre-service or in-service teacher?
How can I show others what I have learned and accomplished during my teacher preparation program or as a result of my professional career?
What evidence do I have of an authentic commitment to children and the field of education?
How can I document that I have interpersonal skills and work well with others? What evidence do I have of effective communication with parents and families? How have I demonstrated an ability to work with professionals from other fields (e.g., health care, social work, psychology, etc.)
What materials can I include that will convince others that I am capable of doing high-quality work in the future?