While not required, CNDLS encourages participants to create an online portfolio as part of their experience in the AT Program. Actively curating a portfolio will significantly enhance your experience in the program, as well as serve as a professional development tool to help prepare you for the job market.
Participants are welcome to use any online platform with which they are comfortable. Those not already familiar with creating their own website or those who wish to take advantage of the services Georgetown offers should visit Georgetown Domains. This tool offers personal domain names and web space to the Georgetown Community, encouraging the creation, development, and ownership of digital identities. Creating an online portfolio through Georgetown Domains will allow you to create and maintain a web presence around your teaching, providing evidence of your teaching effectiveness for prospective employers.
Suggestions for elements to include in your portfolio are given below. Tips on how to customize your site are widely available online; in particular, we recommend taking advantage of LinkedIn Learning, which has instructions on the use of most platforms. Once completed, the teaching portfolio can be selectively shown to prospective employers or made public on the web at your discretion. While the online teaching portfolio is an optional component of the program, it is highly recommended as a tool for future job searches and professional development.
The Reflective Teaching in Practice workshop is one of our core workshops, in which we talk more about the various kinds and uses of a portfolio. The elements you include are determined in part by your audience and goals. In addition to serving as a metacognitive tool and opportunity to showcase your approach to teaching, a teaching portfolio is an important means of curating your online presence.
The following are elements you may want to include in your Teaching Portfolio during your time in AT Program.
Introduction: Use this space to introduce yourself, including your name, discipline, year of graduate study, research interests, career goals, etc. Please also upload a CV or resume, and consider including a photo.
Philosophy of Teaching Statement: In this space you should include key points about your teaching philosophy. You should also attach a copy of your Philosophy of Teaching Statement. More information is available in our Teaching Portfolio Workshop.
Teaching Workshops: List the teaching workshops you attended, and include a brief reflection for each. Consider the following questions in your reflection:
Classroom Observation: Use this space to write a brief abstract about your guided classroom observation. Include a description of the class, your relationship to the class, and notes about classroom interaction, teaching practice, and student engagement.
Course Syllabus: Use this space to attach the Course Syllabus you created through the AT Program and briefly describe what class it is for, how it fits into the larger curriculum of the discipline, and the group of students you envisioned when you developed it. The Syllabus Design Workshop will provide you with additional information about creating a course syllabus. We also encourage you to visit the Teaching Commons page on Creating Your Syllabus.
Teaching Videos: Short videos of your teaching that illustrate a specific point, together with short written commentary can powerfully and personally illustrate your approach to teaching. You might also record your experience of preparing for and attending the videotaped teaching consultation.
Sample Assignments and Activities: Throughout the workshops in the AT Program you will have opportunities to experience, brainstorm, and design various assignments and classroom activities. Additionally, you may have assignments and activities from your own teaching. Select those that help to tell the story of your teaching. One useful technique is to hyperlink any mentions of a specific assignment or activity in your teaching philosophy to a page with more detailed description and analysis.
After your time in the program you will want to revise your portfolio for the job market. This may mean excising, adding to or adjusting the above elements in order to present yourself not as a reflective participant in a program but as a new faculty member.