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How to Make a Professional Early Childhood Portfolio

Creating a professional early childhood portfolio will help you demonstrate your skills to a potential employer. Current early childhood teachers can collect materials they've used in their careers, while teachers straight out of college can use materials from their practicum and student teaching experiences. Keeping an ongoing portfolio throughout your career will help you evaluate your performance and make improvements when necessary. Always use your portfolio to highlight your best work.

Things You'll Need

  • Tabbed dividers
  • 3-ring binder
  • Lesson plans or descriptions
  • Pictures of students and their work
  • Care sheets
  • Written observations
  • Letters to parents and coworkers
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Instructions

    • 1

      Use a tab divider for each section of your portfolio and place them in the three-ring binder. Include lesson plans, care sheets, observations and communications.

    • 2

      Collect your best lesson plans or write descriptions of your most successful activities. You may not have formal written lesson plans when teaching in an early childhood classroom, but written descriptions of the activities you facilitate in the classroom will show a potential employer that you're more than a babysitter.

    • 3

      Take pictures of bulletin boards, student projects and your students playing and working in the classroom. Include captions and add the pictures to the appropriate lesson plan or description.

    • 4

      Include samples of care sheets you use for your students. A care sheet is a form you fill out as you take care of your students' needs, such as feeding and diaper changes as well as any information on that child's mood and behavior for the day. These show your potential employer that you're focused on each child's individual needs.

    • 5

      Add any written observations you've received from supervisors or cooperating teachers. Write notes on the observations showing how you plan to improve.

    • 6

      Include examples of written communication with coworkers, supervisors and parents, such as letters to parents, monthly newsletters and memos to other teachers.

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