CTE Archives | bulb

PTECH | HVPA: Preparing Students to be Workforce Ready After Graduation

rosilynnyoon — Fri, 21 Aug 2020 15:01:34 +0000

PTECH | HVPA: Preparing Students to be Workforce Ready After Graduation

College & Career Readiness, CTE, Equity & Access, Jobs & Employment, User Stories

Published August 21, 2020

Preparing Students to be Workforce Ready After Graduation

PTECH: Hudson Valley Pathways Academy prepares students with workforce readiness skills after graduation with specialized curricula and bulb Digital Portfolios.

Pathways and Technology Early College High School (PTECH): Hudson Valley Pathways Academy (HVPA) provides students with incredible opportunities to be workforce ready after graduation. Students are invited to apply to attend HVPA. Once accepted into the program, they start a 6-year learning journey; 4 years of High School and 2 years of College. Upon completion, they leave with a high school diploma and an associate degree without cost to themselves or their family.

PTECH: HVPA is located in New York’s Hudson Valley, one mile away from the Hudson River. It’s a small town. Some students have dreams of moving away after graduation, and others want to stay and continue their legacy at home. PTECH is mindful about these feelings and adjusts their curricula to prepare students for any path they decide to take.

The young people who live in this geographic region are at risk for being in low-pay, high-turnover positions. They lack access to CTE courses or advance college opportunities, and often do not graduate from high school. HVPA provides them with the education to learn skills for middle income career opportunities to create a more fulfilling life within the comforts of their hometown, and beyond. Their curricula is heavily career focused. Students must display their work to show employers and recruiters the skills they learned. This is why they started using bulb school-wide. Students showcase their projects, certifications, and real-life learnings within their digital portfolios.

About PTECH: HVPA

The Kingston City School District received a grant to found HVPA 7 years ago. They worked alongside Ulster Community College and the Council of Industry of the Greater Hudson Valley to establish a triad partnership. Together, their goal was to understand and establish the skills students need to be employable after graduation.

Part of their regular process is working with industry partners to identify job opportunities. Then, they create curricula to teach the students the skills they need to meet those job requirements. Throughout the school year, HVPA continues to work with local partners, organizations, and the community college to move their students along one of three pathways: Manufacturing, Network Administration, Health Informatics

Principal Peter Harris

HPVA’s current Principal is Peter Harris. Peter has 26 years of experience in education; 15 years as an English teacher and 11 years in administration. In his current role, he creates programs for young people who live in the region and do not normally have access to CTE courses or advance college opportunities. He initiated a digital portfolio program. His students needed a way to document their work for a few reasons:

To track progress and celebrate growth
To demonstrate to potential employers their skills
To give educators and industry professionals a way to provide students with direct feedback
To create and fortify the school’s industry partnerships, giving more opportunities for students to have real work experience and opportunities for employment
To encourage continual learning for each student

bulb was the answer.

Hands-on learning

Students learn workforce ready skills at HVPA through skills-based and project-based learning. They learn how to accomplish work and workflow in a tactical way.

One of the first projects incoming freshmen complete is LEAN manufacturing training—creating an efficient workflow by streamlining and organizing each step of a process. Students are challenged to build a clock. Through a series of iterative feedback, they reach the most efficient workflow possible, usually by the 4th simulation. This process shifts the students’ thinking and creates a solid foundation of understanding on how to execute projects throughout their career.

The portfolio difference

One of the biggest challenges for Principal Harris was finding a quality way to highlight the achievements of his students to HVPA’s industry partners. Along with finding a platform where students document each step of their projects and present their work, they wanted their industry partners to be able to give the students direct feedback.

“Feedback from industry partners, people who are capable of critiquing based on product mastery, is essential to what we do,” says Principal Harris. “Our goal is to provide all learners the skills to articulate and curate their work in a clean, clear way to a public audience. bulb allows students to do this.”

bulb met all of Principal Harris’ needs for the type of platform he was looking for. It allows the students to dynamically showcase a project from launch to reflection. Curation, ideation, critique, it’s all done in bulb now so students can:

Access their portfolio from any device, so they can address feedback and make direct edits in their portfolios at any time.
Capture all of their learning from different projects in one place to see their growth. This also helps students identify what concepts make them excited, so they can fulfill a role with the skills they like to learn.

Even during school closures due to COVID-19, bulb enabled the school to keep the learning going. At the end of each year, graduating students give Chapter Presentations where they are given 7 minutes to present their entire learning journey to HVPA faculty. Usually this event is held in person, but this year it was done online with students using their bulb digital portfolios to walk through their learnings.

"bulb is another partnership we can leverage to accentuate the success of our kids. During a professional meeting, I can pull out my phone and in a few clicks show dynamic student work."

Principal Harris

After Introducing bulb

PTECH: HVPA enhanced positive outcomes for each student. With their portfolios, they’re able to prove themselves, to educators, and potential employers that they are workforce ready and have the skills to be successful. Their portfolios show the world that they’re able to take a concept and complete a task; they use creativity; they have multiple technological fluencies; they are self-disciplined; and they are global citizens ready to be led and to lead.

bulb For K-12

bulb For Higher Ed

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The ePortfolio Challenge: bulb x Miami-Dade Schools

rosilynnyoon — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 18:28:01 +0000

The ePortfolio Challenge: bulb x Miami-Dade Schools

College & Career Readiness, CTE, Digital Storytelling, Equity & Access, User Stories

Published August 4, 2020

Photo by Lance Asper on Unsplash.

The ePortfolio Challenge: bulb x Miami-Dade Schools

The 4th largest school district in the U.S, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, excites students and teachers to use ePortfolios by hosting a high energy event around CTE, STEM and STEAM.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is the 4th largest school district in the U.S. The district holds 392 schools—133 of them have made it to the list of 2020 Best High Schools, according to the U.S News & World Report. In addition, four of their high schools are among the top 100 in the nation, and nine of their high schools are in the top 20 for Florida. Often recognized as a leader in education, the district continues to grow by innovating ways to intrigue students and encourage their learning.

In 2018, the Dade School CTE Program at Turner Tech first started using bulb and then expanded to all NAF students across their network. At first, they used the platform in simple, small ways to achieve short-term goals. Over time, they started applying the digital portfolio for other reasons and expanded its use around the district, eventually encouraging all students to use it. They wondered – what would be the most captivating and exciting way to motivate students to create and maintain their own digital portfolio? Thus, they added a ePortfolio Challenge to their already successful annual Innov@ate Challenge. This challenge, along with Miami-Dade’s use of the digital portfolios over time, has gotten students and teachers excited about the possibilities of using the tool.

Miami-Dade Innov@te Challenge

Miami-Dade Innov@te Challenge is one of the teachers’ and students’ favorite days. The annual competition grows every year with more participants, attendees, educators, mentors, scholarships, guest speakers, and more. The energy is electric at this event. Students can walk around and network, they can participate in any of the STEM and STEAM challenges, and they can get creative in their own way within any category.

At the Innov@te Challenge in December 2019, there were 22 challenges (see here), including the ePortfolio competition. Students were asked to create a bulb digital portfolio to tell their story in front of a panel of judges.

One of the judges for the eportfolio competition was Keynote speaker, Justin Shaifer, also known as Mr. Fascinate. His mission is to inspire under-represented kids to pursue STEM and STEAM careers. Justin’s latest venture is the “Magic Cool Bus”, a mobile STEM exhibit that excites kids in the New York City area. Learn more about this venture here.

ePortfolio Competition

Students who participated in the ePortfolio challenge were asked to build a portfolio to showcase their best work from their high school years. They were encouraged to include extracurricular activities, passion projects, talents and an About Me page. The goal: to create an ePortfolio to share when applying for internships, jobs, and to colleges. After presenting their portfolios, the five judges then presented feedback to the students as if they were potential employers.

The students were judged on three main categories:

Ability to showcase their personality and tell their full story using their digital portfolio.
Organization and appearance. The portfolio needed to be well organized, easily navigable, and visually appealing, all while showcasing the student’s personality.
Quality of the content included in the portfolio. Students were encouraged to use audio, video, embed their work, and use pictures to show what they know and who they are.

When asked about why the students chose to participate in this challenge over the other categories, here’s what a few participants said:

“Making something that’s personal to me is really important because it helps me improve myself when I’m looking at different parts of me.” —Ciara | Miami Sunset Senior High School “Most people I’ve asked about the program say it seems wonderful – and that the portfolio really showcases me as a person.” —Sadre | William H. Turner Tech High School “The main reason I did this competition was to put myself out there and gain experience from it. it wasn’t about winning. I wanted to get feedback on my portfolio, to make it better to get a job or an interview.” —Berniya | William H. Turner Tech High School

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How Digital Portfolios Help Students Explore Career Paths

rosilynnyoon — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 20:49:39 +0000

How Digital Portfolios Help Students Explore Career Paths

College & Career Readiness, CTE, Jobs & Employment, Student Portfolios

Published August 3, 2020

Student digital portfolios and education.

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash.

Educators have one of the greatest challenges— to prepare students for success in a future too technical and unpredictable for any one of us to determine. So, how, under these circumstances, do we ensure success for our students?

We give them the right tools.

The most relevant resources in education are the ones that help students discover their passions and design their careers. The right tools inspire students to enjoy learning, try harder, and develop and attain goals. By giving our students the best resources, we’re giving them every opportunity to succeed.

So, what tools do our students need to achieve their dreams?

A digital portfolio is required by the Federal Perkins guidelines for CTE students. However, all students should be encouraged to use a digital portfolio, for it is one of the most accurate representations of a student’s successes and potential for college applications, freelance or career opportunities. It leaves an impression like no other and goes beyond a resume or a test score. Digital student portfolios, in our ever-so-competitive market, are a competitive advantage and perhaps the single deciding factor between your student and others.

But of course, we believe bulb is the best digital portfolio option. Why?

Experience, explore and showcase career interests in a multitude of ways. If your student is a great speaker, writer, illustrator, bulb supports multimedia and the different avenues students perform. For example, Megan Coleman created a collection to document gardening and pre-agriculture work.

Document every step of anything—hobbies, passions, academic achievements, processes, etc. In the midst of it all, see where talents, passions, and strengths collide to better understand career options, and yourself. Rocky Mountain High School student Caroline Schulze kept her engineering designs in bulb. She’s continuing her work at the Oregon Institute of Technology.

Demonstrate an entire lifetime of learning. With unlimited storage on bulb, the possibilities are endless when organizing and creating content. Thus, CTE students have the ability to reflect. refine and realize their capabilities when striving to meet life goals or explore careers.

The best way to confront the unknown future is to feel confident in the journey towards it. And the best way to do that is to give our students bulb digital portfolios. Because as educators, it is one of the most rewarding challenges to help our students thrive.

So, let’s set them up to succeed with bulb.

Explore the Resource Center for more helpful resources. Or contact us to set up a demo.

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Students Use Digital Portfolios to Build Career Paths

rosilynnyoon — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 20:34:22 +0000

Students Use Digital Portfolios to Build Career Paths

Classroom Tips, College & Career Readiness, CTE, Student Agency

Published August 3, 2020

Photo by Saulo Mohana on Unsplash.

Explore student portfolio examples.

Students Use Digital Portfolios to Build Career Paths

Digital portfolios are one of the best places for career exploration and execution. It’s no wonder they’re required for all CTE students by the Federal Perkins guidelines. Though digital portfolios should be required for all students in general.

It’s difficult to determine a career path, especially with an increasing amount of occupations. Starting a digital portfolio early in an academic career uncovers passions, talents, skills—and most importantly, direction.

Take a look at a few bulb digital portfolio examples from CTE students, who successfully differentiate themselves to land a job in some of today’s most competitive industries.

Culinary Arts

Darrell Walker uses his bulb to plan his career. To have the best representation of himself, he’s added:

A personalized voice introduction.
Annotated maps to demonstrate detail and research abilities.
Thoughtful and thorough answers to the frequently asked interview questions.

Arts, Audio/Video Technology & Communication.

This student uses bulb to express their aesthetic and passion for art. You’ll find:

Compilations of art inspiration as a unique way to get to know the student.
Resources in one designated place to access for any project at anytime.
The evolution of their career as a creative.

Marketing & Sales.

Keith McBrayer uses a website and bulb to practice business. His website showcases his products. His bulb showcases his abilities, perhaps to an investor someday. He uses the platform to:

Embed interactive presentations and spreadsheets.
Practice the set up and structure of a business plan.
Demonstrate both his creative and analytical side.

Trebuchet project

No matter the career field, we know the importance of process and outline for outcome. bulb acknowledges that in its design. And teachers are capable of mimicking practical job skills and applications when creating their projects.

Like this trebuchet example⁠—which shows every step of the process from the design to the final report.

But any project can follow the above outline. In fact, we already made the template for you. Get creative; build a project for the upcoming year.

With so many possibilities and opportunities on bulb, how will your students thrive with bulb digital portfolios?

Explore the Resource Library for more helpful resources. Or contact us to set up a demo.

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Study Group: Giving Students a Competitive Edge in the Graduate Job Market with bulb

rosilynnyoon — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 14:42:53 +0000

Study Group: Giving Students a Competitive Edge in the Graduate Job Market with bulb

College & Career Readiness, CTE, Jobs & Employment, User Stories

Published April 22, 2020

Giving Students a Competitive Edge in the Graduate Job Market with bulb

After a successful 600+ student trial, Study Group partners with bulb to give students across their entire network the advantage in the ever-changing graduate employment market.

The leading provider of international education, Study Group, realized their students need a platform where they can display their employable skills alongside their academic studies, in response to the ever-changing global graduate employment market.

Working in partnership with bulb, Study Group decided to embark on a trial that equipped over 600 students at a UK International Study Centre (ISC) with digital portfolios. After a successful trial period, where the value of digital portfolios was apparent, bulb was deployed across their entire student network.

An all-in-one solution

bulb is a multipurpose tool. Students can use it day-to-day to complete school assignments, take notes, and organize their work in one place. They can also use it to build a dynamic, multimedia resume that not only tells employers about their skills but shows employers what they’re capable of. Study Group knows their students are more than just a number in a grade book, and digital portfolios are the perfect tool for students to evidence their learning journey and extra-curricular achievements.

A tool for reflecting and curating experiences

Students use bulb to document and showcase their interests, skills, passions, and hobbies. bulb keeps their work archived, so they have the ability to see past projects and reflect. Reflection is a key practice for every student. It helps them identify areas to improve on, inspires them to keep learning, and tracks progress over time. It gives students a better understanding of themselves inside and outside of the classroom, revealing how they learn. A consistent effort to document and reflect compounds over time.

"Digital portfolios enable our studnets to record personal reflections and identify their own strength and areas for development."

Study Group

A dynamic competitive advantage

A digital portfolio gives students a competitive advantage because it shows evidence of their work. When applying for a job, it might be difficult for some students to summarize their knowledge or explain their drive. Even during an interview, the opportunity for students to show the employer a project that they’re proud of, their exceptional ability to organize, or their creative potential, is often missed. With a digital portfolio, students have the platform to do that.

Study Group’s students are ambitious and come from diverse academic backgrounds. bulb is customizable to each individual and their story.

“This partnership ensures our ISCs continue to support and develop students’ skills for success, future plans, and meet the demands of the modern workforce.”

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5 Differences Between Resumes & Digital Portfolios

rosilynnyoon — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 02:38:19 +0000

5 Differences Between Resumes & Digital Portfolios

College & Career Readiness, CTE, Professionals/Career, The Portfolio Difference

Published March 10, 2020

5 Differences Between a Resume and a Digital Portfolio

See the power digital portfolios have to showcase experiences, skills and competencies beyond a traditional resume with these user examples.

1. Resumes are one-dimensional.

Digital portfolios are multi-dimensional.In his professional portfolio, William Robinson uses video, audio, and photographs combined with writing to add dimension to his experiences. He also uses a Quicklinks page as a Table of Contents directing his viewer to additional pages and collections for more information.

2. Resumes are brief. Digital portfolios tell your full story.

Brook Bowen spent a semester at sea, traveling to 12+ countries. On a resume she would have to condense her semester abroad to a few sentences. Her digital portfolio allowed her to recount her experiences and thoughts of each country in a dynamic, visual way. Her in-depth explanations help readers understand what she learned and how she grew.

3. Resumes are visually boring.

Digital portfolios are dynamically beautiful.Artists and creatives have always used portfolios to showcase their work accompanied by a resume to explain their skills. A digital portfolio gives artists the platform to explain their skills and processes behind each piece, merging the visual and explanation. Jr. Creative Director, Kate Petrik, uses her digital portfolio to document entire processes of a project. Being involved in many aspects of one project, this platform allows her to explain and show her contribution, starting from pitch to final product, using text, images, audio, video and media from other apps.

4. Resume storytelling is challenging.

Digital portfolio storytelling is easy.Explaining long-term, detailed projects in 3-4 sentences on a resume does not adequately give others a complete understanding of your contribution, the skills you developed, and the goals you reached. The solution? A digital portfolio. Montreal filmmaker, Martin Villenueve, uses his portfolio to give readers an in-depth look at his creative processes. With each film, readers take a journey through his contributions and skill development.

5. Resumes limit sharing options.

Digital portfolios open them.Email or employment-oriented websites (like LinkedIn and Indeed) are the traditional ways of sharing resumes, but it limits how and what you’re able to share. With digital portfolios, you’re able to share when and how you’d like, with who you’d like. Create a private or public link in one click, add additional notes, and easily share your work with anyone in the world.Take what you learned from these examples and create a free digital portfolio today. Stand out from the traditional resume at your next opportunity.

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7 Reasons Students Need a Digital Portfolio

rosilynnyoon — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 15:44:46 +0000

7 Reasons Students Need a Digital Portfolio

College & Career Readiness, CTE, Jobs & Employment, Social & Emotional Learning, Student Voice

Published February 10, 2020

Every student needs a digital portfolio. It most accurately represents the student’s individuality and skills for academic and professional opportunities. The benefits of a digital portfolio are vast; from helping students get the job, or developing a deep love of learning. Here are the top seven reasons every student needs a digital portfolio.

7. See growth overtime.

Keeping your work in one place allows you to see growth over time. Seeing growth helps students realize where they began. It’s inspiring to see skills improving over time. This motivates students to put more effort into improving their skills and deepening their learning. A great example of this is this article where an “Artist Shows His Progress From 2 Years Old To 28” (photos included in the link).

6. Tell a student’s story beyond GPA.

What exactly does GPA measure—good study habits, strong test-taking skills and on-time completion of assignments? A high GPA is rewarding, but the fact will always be that GPA is a number. Numbers can’t express individuality, passions and skills like a digital portfolio can. Numbers are unfavorable to students that are poor test takers or who don’t perform well in structured environments Unlike GPAs, digital portfolios are capable of telling a student’s whole story.

5. Identify learning methods.

Traditionally, students are not taught in a classroom setting how to identify their learning style. It takes time and consistent effort and resources to discover how a student learns best. Digital portfolios provide students with the tools to explore their learning preferences. Being able to work with any type of media gives the student options in displaying their work, and helps the educator identify more productive ways to teach the individual student. This article goes more into detail about why “It’s Worth Taking The Time to Figure It Out”.

"Some information changes over time but the ability to learn lasts forever. That's why we need to focus more of our time on the process of learning, not just the product."

George Couros

4. Focus on the learning process.

Learning with digital portfolios helps students capture and reflect on their process, which:

Allows students to explain their thinking, find ways to improve, and come up with new ways to solve problems.
Helps identify strengths and weaknesses, refine skills, and find a career the student can be passionate about.
“Fosters a growth mindset, creates a student-centered environment and reduces stress for students”
(Focus on the Process and Results Will Follow).

3. Leave school with a lifetime tool.

When students consistently use digital portfolios over the course of their learning, they graduate with more than a transcript. Research shows that student engagement increases by 33% when digital portfolios are used in a classroom. A more engaged student means better retention of the materials covered. Students are also building a practical tool that can be used to apply for internships, jobs and educational opportunities.

2. Build critical skills for a career.

Using a digital portfolio requires skills that are needed in the workforce. Behind the creation of e-portfolios lie skills of ordering, planning, selecting, synthesizing, discussing, reflecting, and designing content to present to different audiences. While developing this content, learners may also give and receive feedback and will almost certainly improve their digital capability.

1. Digital portfolios are the new resume.

“Here’s What Employers Are Looking at When They Google You”: an online portfolio. Today’s students need a digital portfolio. Not only are modern demands in education and the workforce moving students towards creating digital portfolios, a resume that’s accompanied by an ePortfolio also helps students:

Stand out from the competition
Establish an online presence beyond a social media
Show individuality and professionalism
Provides evidence of accomplishments and skills

Employers want to see proof of the skills on resumes, as well as individuality.

"Resumes are a point in time and are not reflective of the human."

Penny Queller, SVP and GM of Monster's staffing business unit

It’s no wonder “57% of employers are less likely to interview a candidate they can’t find online,” A resume is not enough. A digital presence is needed.

Digital portfolios are not only the foundation of a student’s continuing education and employability but an integral component of classroom instruction, right here and right now.

Explore the Resource Center for more helpful resources. Or contact us to set up a demo.

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8 Must-Have Items to Include in a Professional Portfolio

stevemiller — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 22:55:02 +0000

8 Must-Have Items to Include in a Professional Portfolio

Classroom Tips, CTE, Professional Development

Published July 31, 2019

8 Must-Have Items to Include in a Professional Portfolio

Author: Lisa Johnson

Oftentimes, we are poor historians of ourselves. Creating and maintaining a professional portfolio provides evidence and examples of all the things we are doing day to day and throughout the year. Building one is the perfect way to present your accomplishments for annual reviews, earning micro-credentials or badges, and for applying to a new job.

Your portfolios is used to communicate with many audiences. A professional portfolio is what you’d use to showcase accomplishments with your current administrator and any future employers. Prepping for those meetings is quick and easy because all pertinent information will be in one place.

Visual provided by Lisa Johnson

1. Professional Development Attended/Completed: I used to keep all of this info in a binder but over the years this has become digital. You may also use a tool like Eduphoria to host this info. It is helpful to keep a running list though (especially to document your professional development and continuing education hours).

2. Micro-credentials and Awards and Affiliations: If you earned any certifications or digital partnerships, I would include those too (e.g. Apple Teacher, Google Certified, bulbhead, Thinglink expert, PBS Educator, etc.). Work done to attain the distinction can also be created and kept in your bulb digital portfolio. I would include any additional awards and grants.

3. Leadership Positions: Leadership positions don’t just have to be department chair. Consider adding roles like mentoring a new teacher, coaching basketball, leading a book study, piloting a tool or new pedagogy like Project Based Learning. It could also be participation in an application or selection-based cohort or academy.

4. PD presented or Publications: If you present sessions at your campus, in district or beyond (e.g. conferences, webinars, Twitter chats), I would include these. I would also include publications like a blog, any articles or books you have written. It could be an article that mentioned your classroom.

5. Topics of Focus/Interest: I spent a few months doing this. A wise person once said, “You can do anything but not everything.” My list helps me focus on the topics, pedagogies and strands that I really want to zero in on for the academic year. I use it as a guide when choosing the best books, articles, webinars, Twitter chats, podcasts and conferences. College and Career Readiness Skills, Instructional Design, Visual Literacy, Social Emotional Learning, Productivity and Time Management, and Digital Minimalism are at the top of my list.

6. Books Ready + Reviews/Reflections: Journaling or jotting down notes about books read is great for reflection and useful when preparing for a new year or semester. I also like to list the professional books I’ve ready and keep a running record for reference.

7. Quotes and Endorsements: Words of gratitude typically say more about you than you could yourself, so include quotes from students and staff. Keep them in your bulb. IMPORTANT NOTE- If you plan on using student endorsements publicly, I would suggest wording the attribution as “former student” or “6th grade student” rather than including their actual name. If these are from a staff member or from a session, I don’t think there is an issue with using full names – just ask permission first. If you are taking an online course, you may ask the professor or course admin to share a few words about you as a student as well.

8. Exemplars: Any time I am teaching or leading professional development, I love to take pictures. If I am working with students, then I ask permission to photograph their work. If I am taking photos of students, I typically take it from the back of their heads or blur photos using Skitch as I don’t want to worry about likeness permissions. If you have a lesson that went really well, type up a few notes about the lesson and include a student exemplar. IMPORTANT NOTE – If you plan on sharing student work publicly (rather than just with your administrator or for your own reflection), I would check with your school and your parents on how they would like their student’s work shared online, if at all. Some parents are fine with the work, but not a picture of their student. Others are okay with the work as long as their full name is not listed. I always try to err on the side of caution, and asking permission instead of forgiveness should be the way to go when sharing student work online.

Your professional portfolio is evidence of your lifelong learning. As educators we spend so much time creating for others and often, we forget to create, document and archive our own work. Being architects and promoters of our own lifelong learning is powerful and important to your continued growth and success.

Having one will give you better perspective. And when all your information is in one place, it’s easier to reflect and identify trends topics that interest you.

If this process still seems overwhelming, start building with information you have or with topics of highest interest.

Still feeling stuck? Check out some of the resources I’ve curated:

Digital Portfolios Deep Dive: This is a site that I have curated that includes several student and staff examples.
Cultivating Communication in the Classroom: If you are interested in student portfolios, I go deeper into the why, how and what of student portfolios and resumes in chapter 5 of my first book, Cultivating Communication in the Classroom. If you are curious as to what I cover, here are a few free support resources for that chapter. Cultivating Communication in the Classroom book on Amazon.
Creatively Productive: If you are interested in inspiration for personal and professional reflection and ways to absorb what you read into your practice, I dig deeper into these processes in chapter 5 and 6 of my second book, Creatively Productive. If you are curious as to what I cover, here are a few free support resources for each of those chapters. Creatively Productive book on Amazon.

Lisa Johnson works at a 1:1 iPad HS in Austin, Texas. To learn more about these topics and many others, follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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An Interview: Belinda Medellin from CAST Tech High School

stevemiller — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 18:29:26 +0000

An Interview: Belinda Medellin from CAST Tech High School

College & Career Readiness, CTE, Jobs & Employment

Published July 26, 2019

An Interview: Belinda Medellin from CAST Tech High School

UX design was the number one, in-demand job in 2018. Knowing this, Belinda Medellin, from CAST Tech High School in San Antonio, TX, took action and created the first ever, high school level UX design course. As a master teacher of digital art, animation and professional communications, Medellin knows the importance of creativity and the right tools to feed it. Today, she’s bringing relevance and revolution to her school.

We wanted to learn more about her work and why her students are using bulb digital portfolios.

Q. Do you feel the skills needed to curate a digital portfolio coincide to skills required for the job market today? Do digital portfolios play a prominent role in the national trends or demands you predict?

A. Creating a digital portfolio requires choice and for students to work through different questions, obstacles and design thinking (problem solving with design).

Industry partners are interested in seeing what future hires can do, rather than what their resume says. They want soft-skills. To curate a portfolio, soft-skills are a must and (are developed) when students share their bulb. It’s more interactive and personable than a slideshow and the tendencies for communication and listening heighten. So does teamwork and empathy. Companies value that.

Q. Do you feel digital portfolios accurately and uniquely measure competencies beyond a testing environment?

A. Yes. I struggled with taking tests in high school. I always gravitated towards the arts. I loved projects and the process of getting to the final product. Digital portfolios show what my students can do, their “aha” moment and my visual data to see what each individual student needs.

Q. How often do you use bulb to support project based and personalized learning in your classroom?

A. About 90% of the time. I spend about 2 to 3 days creating a collection with the timelines, rubrics, tutorials and resources. I personalize with station rotations and give students choice from how they work best. I always require a reflection page in bulb. It’s my favorite to assess.

Q. Will you use this year’s resources in your bulb for next year? Once implemented, does bulb ease your planning process for upcoming years?

A. Yes. Using bulb has made my life so much easier. Once the students learned bulb, the expectations were set and met. The “bulb” entered their vocabulary, and it makes it easy when there’s a sub. I conduct professional development with bulb. I easily share info with interactive sessions, rather than boring slide presentations.

Belinda Medellin defines wanting the best for your students. And she isn’t stopping soon, as some of her goals include:

Teaming up with corporations and UX designers for impactful project based learning
Pursuing grants to take as many students to a UX design conference for training
Personally reaching out to as many districts and teachers to let them know what UX is, why they should offer it and help with training

Belinda’s main goal is to give her students the opportunity to be top contenders in this exciting career field. She’s making it happen and transforming CAST Tech High as a pipeline for the tech industry today. Hear from one of Belinda’s students about how they are using their bulb portfolio to secure CTE career opportunities.

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The post An Interview: Belinda Medellin from CAST Tech High School appeared first on bulb.