2017 Resolution?

I hesitate to say that my New Year's Resolution for 2017 is to force myself to post my thoughts and ideas on this blog because I, like many of us, don't do so well on maintaining my resolutions.  As a result, I won't commit to the term resolution, but will instead make it a goal to post weekly thoughts on what I am reading, working on in school, or what I have seen taking place in education.  This is really a way to help me move what is processing in the back of my mind to the front of my mind, but part of the value is also getting feedback and comments about those thoughts and ideas as well.  As a result, if for some odd reason you are still reading this blog, feel free to provide feedback or comments (preferably constructive or thought provoking)  :)

Actually, the timing to revisit this blog didn't really come about due to the calendar, but rather from my reaction of reading George Couros' book "Innovator's Mindset" and visiting his blog page at  George Couros: Principal of Change .   I don't have the book in front of me now, but this is something to think about when referencing other texts in the future on this site, but to paraphrase, he emphasized the importance of getting your thoughts not only down on "paper" for reflection, but out to others for feedback.

George also discussed electronic portfolios in the classroom and their value of showing student learning.  I spent 15 years in the classroom as a Biology and Chemistry teacher, but never used portfolios.  As a result, I couldn't speak to the value of these as a resource.  Now, as an Assistant Superintendent, I no longer have the ability to try this out in the classroom, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to investigate.  What I came up with was experimenting with my own electronic portfolio.  My  learner's portfolio can be found at mrobertolearnersportfolio, so feel free to check it out.  By experimenting with this portfolio, I hope to have a better understanding of the value as well as the pitfalls of an electronic portfolio.  Ultimately, if it proves to be valuable I hope to have other teachers do the same for their own evaluation purposes and potentially for those of their students.