Portfolios.

A child’s portfolio is a collection of his or her work to demonstrate reflection and growth, creativity and engagement. Portfolios should celebrate student learning through the PYP showing the development of the whole child, both within and outside of the Program of Inquiry in all subject areas. Portfolios are used by students to communicate this development with parents and with teachers and peers throughout the year. Portfolios are intended to be student-managed with teacher guidance so students take ownership of their portfolios. The balance of ‘teacher-selected’ versus ‘student-selected’ content in portfolios depends on the age and maturity of students. Teachers should help students learn how to thoughtfully choose which items to include/keep in their portfolios and provide students opportunities to thoughtfully remove items also. Portfolios should be easily accessible to students. Students should understand the purpose of portfolios, the process used to compile them, and be able to explain why specific materials are in the portfolios. Portfolio content need not be limited to written work. A variety of media can be represented to reflect different learning styles and experiences, including drawings, photos, voice recording, videos, and multimedia. Portfolios are stored in plastic display folders in classrooms.