A portfolio is a picture of you. It is a short collection of works and records that reveal you as a student, a participant, and a person. A portfolio answers the question: “Who are you really?”
As a snapshot of your student, a portfolio is especially useful in the college admission process.
A portfolio grows our students in three areas:
- Proactiveness : Imagine yourself in 4 years, what do you want to have completed by then? What are the goals you have for your high school years. Where do you want to go after high school. Our student roadmap is a great guide to get our students started on this path of proactively engaging with their high school years, and it’s free - Just register for the free membership and access it in the toolbox.
- Organization : Do you know what’s worse than staring at 4 years of piles of papers and trying to sort them into a portfolio? Me neither. Starting a portfolio when our students are just entering high school is so simple and also teaches our kids to start mastering the key skill of organization.
- Participation : Our students are often faced with opportunities to participate in volunteer work, clubs, and leadership programs. Simply knowing that each opportunity becomes a record in his portfolio may be all your son needs to get more involved in the community.
While a portfolio is mostly collected for college admissions, it is clear that isn’t its only benefit. A portfolio stretches our children to be better students, participants, and persons. It helps our children filter through the muck and highlight their strengths. It gives a physical record for our student’s progress in high school, and it challenges our students to grow more.
How do we create a portfolio?
What specifically do we include in a portfolio?
When do we share our portfolio?
These questions and many more are being contemplated, discussed, and answered on our blog this month and on our facebook page. Join us as we explore the high school portfolio!