This school year started off with a specific focus on goals and artifacts in several elementary schools around the district. Teachers at Geer Park, William Ford, Haigh, Maples and McDonald have begun using Mahara ePortfolios with their classes to keep track of goals and collect important artifacts throughout the school year.
First, elementary students create their portfolio. They can decide on the title, the layout, and can create skins (backgrounds) to make their ePortfolios unique. Next, they enter some basic profile information, as well as their personal goals and skills, academic goals and skills and career goals, based on their MLP. Finally, they may begin adding artifacts to their portfolios. Artifacts may include Google slideshows they have created, Google docs they have written, other files created in other Google programs, pictures and/or videos of classroom activities, and descriptions and/or pictures of projects completed outside of the computer.
Students have complete control over what they add to their portfolios, putting them in charge of evaluating their own work. They also have the ability to update their Mahara ePortfolios from home as well as in class, and are expected to do so throughout the year.
If you would like more information on getting your class started on Mahara, please contact a Tech Coach! We would be more than happy to pay you a visit and introduce you and your class to Mahara.
*Special thanks to Maria Iuliano and Jennifer Hourani (5th grade at Geer Park), Amy Vann (2nd grade at William Ford), Anne Joachim (3rd grade at Haigh), Jomana Saad, Mariam Farhat and Julie Wagner (5th grade at McDonald), and Danielle Currie and Lisa Stage (5th grade at Maples) for inviting me into your classrooms and embarking on the Mahara journey with me!
