My students need binders so that we can collect student work and construct academic portfolios that will be used during student/parent conferences to evaluate progress.
Parents and students want to know if they are making progress throughout the year. Although I can share a folder filled with student work and discuss test grades, I don't feel like this way of reviewing student work benefits the students and their parents/caretakers.
My students are eager learners.
They are responsive to our inclusion classroom model and are constantly engaged in a variety of activities that encourage them to practice independence with a variety of skills. My students are rich in character! Although I work hard to pull resources from home to supplement my learning materials, it isn't always enough. In a district that suffered severe budget cuts, pulling together resources has become an even greater challenge this year. My students are very reflective; we use rubrics and other self-monitoring tools often to assess student work.
My Project
When we receive the binders and protector sheets, my students will create individualized learning portfolios. They will be able to include a biography page and interest survey. They will also complete a variety of learning inventories. We will use this information to reflect on our school year at the end of each term. Students will insert a variety of project and lesson assessments where they will use self-monitoring tools to assess their learning and set future learning goals. At the end of the school year students will have their entire fourth grade year in a "snapshot". The binder sheets will help protect their activities and save them from the wear and tear of flipping the pages back and forth. This is very necessary because students will refer to these learning portfolios often. They will be used during our classroom-student conferences. Students will also use these portfolios to lead their own parent conference at the end of the report card term.
Using student driven portfolios puts the students in charge of their learning.
They are able to reflect on what they did well and what they need to work on. They will have the opportunity to think about their learning and discuss this with both the teacher, their peers and their parents. By being able to discuss their strengths and weaknesses students will become active learners; they are viewed as equal learning partners. This ongoing project is both enjoyable and beneficial for my students!
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Wainwright and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
