My Money Where My Mouth Is: A Digital Vita (foregrounding process)
Idea:
Annual Faculty Professional Activity Report: do what we are asking students to do.
Use the digital portfolio to mechanize professional reflection in the categories upon which we are evaluated: Teaching, Scholarship, Service
Each category links to a page (easily archived), making it easy to sort for annual report or other collateral.
For every event:
List and describe the event (ie: I went to This Professional Conference; I gave this professional presentation: I participated on this professional panel), followed by a reflection of the experience: annotation, interpretation, connection.
- How was this event important?
- What best idea emerged?
- What was a new floating term or idea? What was the overall zeitgeist…etc.
Events encapsulate what I learned, what I got, what I contributed, what it sparked in me to do next, etc.
In other words, I write a more in-depth reflection on how what I do affects me and my sense of the impact of my actions.
The form of this digital portfolio is not simply a list significant coded/labeled events (This Conference In My Discipline), but reflects a particular story of significance to me.
For example, when I hear a story like my current student Xinyao Li’s response to former student Jordan Casteel’s Leader Story, I post on the event, tagging Jordan, alumnae, art, etc., and I catalogue this particular story in my teaching archives.
This is what we are asking students to do.
Perhaps we can offer “reflection hour” –a community activity of writing together — an hour at the end of the day, or week, to mark the significant moments of the week. Is this a way to mechanize intentional teaching and learning?
STEPS:
- Describe the event
- What did I get out of it?
- How can I apply it to my life (where do I apply it, how does it fit?)
- What more do I want from this (where/what next action from this?)
