Things to think about.

Think about where you are in your career.

• Have you recently qualified?
• Have you been teaching for a while?
• What are you confident that you do well?
• What would you like to do better?
• What areas of teaching and learning particularly interest you?
• What aspects of methodology would you like to explore and develop?
• Would you like to learn new approaches?

To help you, try the self evalution checklist.

Things to include.

The portfolio represents you, your experience, your development. Professional development is on-going and your portfolio should reflect this. For example, you might include your initial teaching qualifications then gradually add certificates of attendance at workshops, details of conferences attended, further qualifications you gain etc, as your career progresses. You may want to include a description of the levels you have taught and highlight areas you'd like to focus on. You could include materials you have created and examples of your learners' work. You may want to create a development plan with specific goals, or you may decide to get involved in peer observation and support. The important thing is to have a basis for reflection and build in regular reviews.

Have a look at these suggestions of items that could go into your portfolio.

Organizing your profile.

Create a system which is easy to use, where you can quickly store and access documents. Be selective about what you put in, be concise, update and weed out materials regularly. Divide your portfolio into sections - these can be themes, categories, or topics of interest. You can order things chronologically or divide by class/level. The structure will depend on your own teaching context and the purpose of your portfolio. Be prepared to be flexible and to add, change and delete regularly.